Carrying a firearm in a public library

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I was just reading a topic on here about carrying in a public library. If the library is really a public run, and funded library. doesn't pre-emption come into play? I was curious after reading the post, and went to my local public library (Kalamazoo Public Library) website, and it states that you may not possess a firearm or any other weapon on the premises. How do I make sure that the library is a public building? I know the name states it, and they also show how their budget breakdown on the website, which includes income from property taxes. I just want to find out for sure.

Here is the post that got me wondering
http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum30/22352.html

Here is the library website.
http://www.kpl.gov/policies/rules-of-conduct.aspx

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Find outwho is in charge of the library, County, City, etc. Ask them if the library is run by and owned by the municipality. If it is, preemption comes into it and they can not ban firearms.

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It appears preemption would apply.

."... voters agreed to form a district library which would function under its own board of trustees."

http://www.kpl.gov/local-history/library/history.aspx
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I also noticed that the Budget states that the library was formed under "1989 PA24". (p. 17) http://www.kpl.gov/uploadedFiles/Budget/64609-kpl-gasb-34-0608-final.pdf
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I looked up the pertinent Public Act. I found this:

"District" means the territory of the participating municipalities that is served by a district library established under this act."

397.174 District library agreement; provisions.Sec. 4.
(1) The agreement shall provide for all of the following:
(a) The name of the district. For a district that is created on or after the effective date of the amendatory act that added section 3a, the name shall include the word "district".
(b) The identity of the municipalities establishing the district library.
(c) The creation of a board to govern the operation of the district and the method of selection of board members, whether by election or appointment. If board members are selected by appointment, the agreement shall provide for the term of office, the total number of board members, and the number of board members to be appointed by the legislative body of each participating municipality. If board members are selected by election, the agreement shall provide for the number of provisional board members to be appointed by the legislative body of each participating municipality.
all found here: http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-397-171

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The rules state that if you bring a "weapon", as defined by the board, into the library you will be banned for a specific period of time; you do have a right to appeal though. It is notable that, if they just removed the word "firearm", the code would probably be legal.

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DrTodd wrote:

The rules state that if you bring a "weapon", as defined by the board, into the library you will be banned for a specific period of time; you do have a right to appeal though.   It is notable that, if they just removed the word "firearm", the code would probably be legal.

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While the code may be legal, the enforcement upon a user carrying a lawfully obtained firearm is not, due to MCL 123.1102 (Preemption). Thus, in this Public library, you may legally Open Carry without legal repercussion. You'll most likely be hassled until the library is put in its place with a lawsuit.

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Ziggityzoo,

Preemption DOES NOT apply to the other items listed as weapons, just the firearms. If they removed firearms from the list of prohibited items, it probably would be legal. In a nutshell: with the word firearms, it appears it is illegal, since it is, as you said, a public library.

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DrTodd wrote:

Ziggityzoo,

Preemption DOES NOT apply to the other items listed as weapons, just the firearms.  If they removed firearms from the list of prohibited items, it probably would be legal.  In a nutshell: with the word firearms, it appears it is illegal, since it is, as you said, a public library.

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That's why I specifically mentioned firearms in the above post. They can leave it worded as is. But if they attempt to enforce it when you're carrying a firearm, they are in violation of MCL.

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Good, just wanted to be clear that I was in no way saying that I believed enforcement of the "firearm" provision to be legal.

CARRY on...