Baldwin Library Board on Guns in Libraries: "We Can't Let the Issue Die"

Baldwin Public Library isn't backing down in its attempt to lobby Michigan lawmakers to ban guns in Michigan's public libraries. 

Last week, the Library Board made plans to aggressively court lawmakers in the State House and Senate in an attempt to have libraries included on the list of public places where firearms are not allowed. 

"We can't let the issue die," Library Board Member James Suhay said at Monday's board meeting. "We have to keep pushing." 

Library's efforts to ban guns spurred by Sean Combs protests

The effort isn't Baldwin's first. The Library Board drafted its first letter to then-State Rep. Chuck Moss and State Sen. John Pappageorge (R-Troy) in July after a group of open carry advocates — in Birmingham at the time protesting the arrest of Troy teenager Sean Combs — entered the library brandishing firearms in June. 

Specifically, library board members were looking to change a Michigan law that allows for certain institutions to ban weapons. Libraries are not on the list, which includes:

• Churches
• Courts
• Theaters
• Sports arenas
• Day care centers
• Hospitals
• Establishments licensed under the Michigan Liquor Control Act

"The Baldwin Public Library Board would like the Legislature to change the law to include libraries amongst places where citizens are precluded from carrying weapons," the letter reads.

A few weeks later, a man whom library employees believe to have been Combs himself entered the library with a gun strapped to his waist, accompanied by another man and a cameraman.

Meanwhile, while village council members from Beverly Hills voiced their support of Baldwin's ban, both Pappageorge and Moss responded to the Library Board, noting that support for a ban would be hard to get in Lansing. While Moss said the library's request was not impossible, he noted there was "little appetite to restrict Second Amendment rights on either side of the aisle." 

Also during this time, the Michigan Court of Appeals overturned what could have been a landmark decision in banning guns at libraries. In October, the court overturned a decision to allow the Capital Area District Library System in Lansing to banish openly-carried firearms.

Library Board to advocate for House Bills 4105, 4104, encourage residents to speak out

Despite these setbacks, the Library Board decided last Monday that the next step should be to meet with Larry Neal, director of the Clinton-Macomb Public Library system and chair of the Michigan Library Association's legislative committee.

By meeting with Neal, the Library Board is hoping to find ways to advocate for House Bills 4104 and 4105, both introduced by Rep. Andy Schor (D-Lansing). Both would ban concealed and openly-carried guns in libraries.

However, Library Board Member Sheila Brice said that after talking to Birmingham's newest representative, Rep. Mike McCready (R-Bloomfield Hills), "due to politics, it's highly unlikely that (those bills) will even make it out of committee."  

"The only way this is going to get traction is if you flip the majority in the House," Library Board President Andrew Harris said. "I don't think we can wait for that." 

Both bills are currently being discussed by the State House's Committee on Local Government, and according to Board Member Bob Tera, if Baldwin wants the bills to pass, they need to start by talking to those commitee members. 

"If I were going to put together an action plan," Tera said, "the obvious thing would be to identify the members of that committee and have one-on-one meetings ... and put as much heat on them as possible because that's exactly where the hold up is." 

Tera added that he's concerned about the success of Baldwin's project, noting there needs to be a groundswell of public support for the bills to pass. 

Baldwin Library Director Doug Koschik agreed. He said McCready spoke at a recent meeting of the Birmingham Rotary Club, noting that when it comes to gun control, legislators hear most from pro-gun advocates, like the National Rife Association. If Birmingham residents believe guns should be banned in libraries, they have to let legislators know.

"People have to reach out to their representative and their senators," he said. 

Library Board Member David Pisano wasn't as optimistic. "It's just a sad state that we're in right now," he said. "People are afraid we're going to take their guns away. We just want to protect our patrons so they feel safe."

"It just doesn't seem that we can accomplish anything unless something bad happens." 

Do you think legislation to ban guns in public libraries has any chance of being passed? What do you the Library Board's efforts?