No concealed weapons in public libraries

The shooting incident in a public library in Clovis is shocking on many levels (“Library shooter kills two in Clovis,” Aug. 29), and raises an immediate issue with regard to policy and public safety. The first is the law regarding terms and conditions for concealed handguns: In New Mexico, they are prohibited in preschools, schools and universities. These are all places of learning. How did lawmakers miss the need to protect public libraries in this particular sense?

The Santa Fe Public Library System has weekly offerings for infants and toddlers, making it not dissimilar to protections for “premises of a preschool that provides care to infants, toddlers, and children aged five and younger,” as cited in the New Mexico statute regarding prohibitions and concealed carry.

The public library needs to be a place where people of all ages go and feel safe and at ease to pursue their various quests. Yet, according to the Public Library Association, New Mexico is one of 28 states that allow guns in public libraries. Of interest to this particular point is a Johns Hopkins and University of Massachusetts study that found that the vast majority of high-casualty mass shootings have happened in places where guns are allowed, or at least not explicitly banned. In other words: Banning guns is protective in settings such as schools or libraries.

While policies cannot completely prevent tragedies from happening, they can and do reduce risks to individuals and communities. Banning guns in libraries is an excellent example of research-based risk reduction. With deepest sympathy for the people of Clovis and their Clovis-Carver Public Library.

Susan Nalder is a retired public health epidemiologist who oversaw the development of New Mexico Child Fatality Review and efforts to inform policy through case study and risk reduction research. She volunteers with Friends of the Santa Fe Library and lives in Santa Fe.