Audio Report: Seattle Public Library Now Allows Patrons to Carry Guns Inside Library Facilities

From KUOW:

Librarians have long asked you to “shhh,” and starting Monday, they may also ask you to please stop waving your gun around.
That’s because the Seattle Public Library now allows patrons to pack heat – provided they do so respectfully. The library’s board reversed its long-standing rule banning firearms after reviewing a state Supreme Court ruling last year allowing firearms in parks and community spaces. The high court had chosen not to overturn two lower court decisions.
[Clip]
Marilynne Gardner, the library’s chief financial and administrative officer, said the rule change doesn’t mean people may now pull out their guns in the library. She said intimidated patrons could “immediately go to the nearest library staff person and inform them of their concerns.”
“And then we would talk with the person and assess the situation,” Gardner said. “Is the person indeed, legally carrying a firearm, and is it acceptable behavior?”
The new library rule prohibits carrying, exhibiting, drawing or firing a firearm in a way that alarms or intimidates others.

Read/Listen to Complete Report (Runs 5:53)
Additional Coverage From KIRO-TV, Seattle
See Also: Kansas: Topeka Library Board Approves 4-Year Concealed Carry Exemption (October 16, 2013)
See Also: Michigan Libraries Can’t Ban Guns, Court of Appeals Rules (October 26, 2012)

Filed under: Libraries, News, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries