Librarians Would Rather You Die Than Shoot Back

Eastern New Mexico News

Time and time again, we have said that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. When a disturbed young man decided to shoot up the library in Clovis, New Mexico, killing two and wounding four, he only stopped when police arrived. The murderer thankfully did not continue his spree or engage the responding police. Nor did he kill himself. Instead, he meekly surrendered. In fact, most high-profile spree killers either surrender or kill themselves on the arrival of police or application of force.

One wonders what would have happened if an armed citizen was there that day. If the killer knew that someone inside the library might well be armed, would he have gone there? The killer almost certainly targeted the library precisely because it is a location where police are not. It is perceived to be a place of safety, like schools, but instead of acknowledging the threat and planning accordingly, librarians prefer to bury their head in the sand.

Nevada library officials would have their employees and patrons cower and hope for the best, praying that the police can make it in time to limit the body count. I guess they never heard of the axiom that “hope is not a plan.” If a similar shooting is to happen in Nevada, the hands of every anti-gun library official and everyone involved with SB 115, the attempted library gun-free zone/open carry revenge bill will have blood on them. Nevada libraries, particularly the law-breaking, recalcitrant Las Vegas Clark County Library District, have practically screamed that they are soft targets.

Unsurprisingly, the public library community is filled with liberal, hoplophobes as the American Library Institution’s (ALA) website attests in its affirmation of everything connected to the Progressive agenda. The ALA gave its support to the Clovis-Carter Library. “Unfortunately, we must all be prepared for violence in public places. The ALA encourages its members to work closely with local law enforcement and officials to prepare and train for violence prevention and response. The ALA also provides resources to assist with this issue.” This training and advice is limited to mostly escalation and prevention techniques, rather than practical self-defense.

Rather than empower staff and library patrons to fight back and kill those who would kill them, the ALA is actively seeking to empower murderers to have a resistance-free killing zone. In January of 2017 they issued a resolution basically saying guns are bad, Leftist gun control solutions need to be implemented, and libraries need to be gun free zones.

In the aftermath of the Charleston, SC, church shooting in 2015, the ALA issued a resolution deploring American gun violence and blaming it on “the ready availability of guns (handguns, assault rifles, etc.) in the United States due to ineffective gun laws, the absence of sensible gun control laws, and the efforts of the gun lobby and the manufacturers of guns to resist these controls.” It was not the work of a deranged, racist young man, but rather the NRA and gun companies who were responsible. They reaffirmed their commitment into making libraries into gun free zones.

Apparently, besides their Leftist, anti-gun bent, their motivation for this statement seems to be in part the death of “colleague” Cynthia Hurd, was killed in Charleston. After the Orlando gay nightclub shooting, they called for libraries to make more inclusive communities, as if the radicalized Muslim terrorist would have changed his mind if only the local library had more books on Sharia. The ALA’s stance should disgust everyone, but it hardly surprising.

New Mexico’s tragic situation could have happened here in Nevada, as the Land of Enchantment has similar open carry laws. In both states, the open carry of handguns is legal in public buildings, but Nevada bans licensed concealed carry. New Mexico does have a constitutional amendment forbidding local regulation of firearms, which more elegantly and efficiently stops shenanigans like LVCCLD’s illegal open carry ban than our mere statute. Despite that, open carry is far less popular than open carry and many “no gun” signs are given far more weight than they legally have, often dissuading people who might otherwise protect themselves and others. It’s unknown if the Clovis-Carter Library was posted (likely it was not, given state law), but in any case, the idea of the library being a sacrosanct gun free zone does not lend itself to safety.

So the take-away is not that libraries need more tools to ban guns; rather it is that libraries need to encourage responsibly armed citizens to patronize them and for employees to carry firearms for their own protection. Violence can strike anywhere and encouraging the innocent to remain defenseless only emboldens and encourages psychopathic murderers. Nevada library officials need to understand this point and drop their illogical and emotional opposition to the legal carry of firearms.

Fun fact: Did you know the Las Vegas Clark County Library District Board of Trustees seems to have violated NRS 241.035 by not approving its minutes within 45 days? If not, why would they approve eight meetings worth of minutes in one session? And why do so many of the meetings have their approved minutes missing from the website?

Why We Need Libraries

This is a bit off the usual topic of conversation, but as recent sentiments of the gun community and extreme libertarian community have come to light, it's time for me to argue in favor of public libraries.

Some tinfoil hat types have declared that libraries are outdated, that their contents should be digitized, and the buildings and librarians turned over to the free market. They are angry at the academic predisposition to socialist, leftist ideologies that have percolated into the local library. Many scoff at the idea of  using tax dollars to pay for anything that isn't related to an absolute necessity for basic civilization and order. Wanting to quash any government subsidies they disagree with, these types forget some core American principles.

Getting rid of libraries isn't going to do anyone any favors. Libraries serve as a community education institution and place of recreation. Libraries are for the mind what public pools, parks, and playgrounds are for the body. In past centuries, books were prohibitively expensive and treasured possessions. Even with the revolutions in printing technology, books were still very expensive for the poor. The concept of a public library was revolutionary; all of sudden, huge volumes of books were available to anyone. Money was not a barrier to reading. Literacy soared.

Likewise, parks and playgrounds were popularized as cities grew and there were no longer any open spaces for the public to enjoy. In the days when 'bad air', miasma, was thought to cause disease, parks were seen as a solution to crowded, and polluted slums. Playgrounds got kids to play somewhere other than busy streets, littered with garbage and sewage. During the Depression, community centers were hubs of activities and educational programs. Without all these public accommodations, the poor would have to do without.

Public money going to libraries and public recreation facilities like them are vitally important. Imagine how many children would not be educated if public schools weren't available or if schooling wasn't mandatory. Set aside any bias for public schooling you might have; if it weren't for free, public education and that it is required, how many people would prefer their kids get jobs instead? Most of us have relatives in living memory who were under educated and wished they had more schooling. Dumb people are not a benefit to the world.

So let's say we get rid of libraries. Are we going to subsidize Kindles or tablets for the poor? Of course not. If we lose libraries, we loose a valuable part of our community. Free books are suddenly gone. People stop reading. History and culture is forgotten. Books are also more durable than digital media. Books will survive for centuries, where digital media will be outdated in a decade and subject to environmental factors like EMP or solar flares. If electricity disappears, we lose out on millennia of recorded human knowledge.

Books also have a great value too simply as books. In today's world of short attention spans and popular social media it's easier to post a meme on Facebook, bitch about whatever upsets you, and then go on with your life without doing anything to solve the problem you were complaining about. I'm absolutely shocked at how few gun owners do more than bitch. If they were willing to read or do research, they would find this blog and our website, and get the answers to their questions in astonishing detail. Nevada Carry weaves together years of collective knowledge into one place to make it accessible to anyone who can use Google. Yet even clicking a link to read a 1500 word article is too hard!

Sitting down and reading a book or an article allows one to take the time to mentally digest what they are reading. Without images, a reader has to think about what they're reading. Books give us new insight and perspective into issues that are often glossed over or not suitable for visual media. Read a darn book! Think!

Libraries also protect the right to free speech. Librarians are as hardcore about that as gun owners are about the Second Amendment. A public library means that the content inside isn't restricted by membership, money, or to a certain ideology. Just imagine if the only libraries were private ones and run the same way the mainstream media is run, or if they were funded by billionaires like Michael Bloomberg. Do you think that the Islamic Reading Room would have a wide diversity of viewpoints and authors? Access to a diversity of ideas is vital and only a public library, protected by the First Amendment, can maintain access to all.

If we get rid of libraries, we get rid of all that. No free DVDs, no free internet, no study spaces. If you want to save tax money by dumping public libraries, then you better dump public parks, pools, and rec centers. But I'm willing to bet that people who can't afford huge book collections, Netflix fees, the Internet, a house with a yard or a pool will want to keep subsidizing libraries. It's money well spent, even if the people who run the places might not agree with your particular view on something.

I have to admit my own bias.One of my chief complaints with libraries today is that they are not about books. I was shocked to see CDs and DVDs come into the library. I have to admit I feel derisive towards those who use libraries are simply a free version of Netflix. It seems that most people come to the library for an air conditioned space with free WiFi or computers. Heck, in my days as a library page I had to dodge children who spent the after school hours in free, unsupervised childcare at the library. Even if I don't like the 'dumbing down' of libraries, it's a public service that those people deserve.

Another one of the objections to libraries is..."Who needs them lie-berries when I got Google?" The Internet does not have always have the comprehensive answers that you need. Of course, even without Google, most people would rather post a question on Facebook rather than use Google to find a site like NevadaCarry.org that answers their questions in detail. But the kind of people who won't look beyond the surface for their answers probably don't give a crap about anything much more than their own narrow, self-centered world.

The world needs libraries. The world needs educated, well-informed individuals. The men who built America and penned the documents that enshrine your lights were literate men with extensive book collections. America and civilization was not built on memes and hashtags. Those of you who deride libraries and look for easy answers are not the kind of men that history is built on. You who do not read, who do not think, and who do not act are why America is in the trouble it is in today. This attitude that books, libraries, and reading are all outdated are all symptom of the same disease that makes those sheeple you love to joke about. You're one too; you just convince yourself you are a wolf in disguise.

Where Can You Open Carry?

For current information, click the link to be redirected to the Open Carry page at NevadaCarry.org.

Local Laws/State Preemption