I’ve ranted about my disdain for bookstores in the past, and I’m a fan of public libraries. They are a great first-step for residents to seek all types of information, and they have morphed dramatically over the years. With that said, they have room for improvement. One such way local libraries can expand their offerings to become a truly inclusive community space is by lending out firearms. Yes, you read that correctly, and yes, I’m serious.
There are several use cases for libraries lending out guns; one of which is hunting. There are some cases in which hunting is absolutely necessary to balance the ecosystem. However, buying a hunting rifle can be a cost-prohibitive barrier to those looking to try the sport. A better option would be if public libraries could just lend out a rifle to residents of their jurisdiction. That way, the prospective rookie hunter needs to only cover the cost of ammo and a hunting license; far less preventative than buying a rifle. Best-case scenario is they enjoy hunting and pull the trigger on purchasing their own rifle. Worst-case scenario; they find out that they dislike hunting; borrowing the rifle prevents a needless hefty expense.
Another practical use case is renting out handguns for women in the community. Women fear walking alone at night, and hence having a firearm would level the playing field in a violent encounter. Women traveling out of town or who work nights for a short stint would be able to borrow guns from the library to bolster their self-defense chances.
Another solid use case is the inherent try before you buy model. This would be particularly valuable for rural areas or other jurisdictions that do not have an indoor firing range/gun shop within any reasonable distance. Having a decently-size catalogue of guns available for check-out would be a great way for citizens to decide what would work best for them before committing to a major purchase. This is an objectively great idea, and the only people who would oppose this are those trying to prevent gun sales; those folks ought to be viewed with a ton of scrutiny.
The library can also lend firearms with a historical interest. Some examples of firearms with regional interest include Confederate rifles in the South, Thompson Submachine Guns (aka “Tommy Guns”) in the Midwest, Revolution-Era muskets in New England, or the Colt 45 in the Southwest; all of these are ways for citizens to gain an appreciation of past conflicts. For those seeking an international lesson, being able to borrow an AK-47, a Mosin Nagant, or a Walther PPK are fantastic ways to explore history. These guns can be shot at a range or on a large plot of land to gain an appreciation for the reloading difficulty of a musket, the resilience of the AK, or the reliability of the Colt 45. Furthermore, taking these guns apart to clean them, or simply just to observe their inner workings, would be a great learning experience in itself. The educational aspect from these hands-on exercises will help drive home the difficulties of what our forefathers went through far better than any history teacher (read: un-motivated public sector employee with a slide deck) ever could.
“But Dan” an incorrect naysayer will spew “libraries are just for books”. That is patently false. Libraries have branched out significantly in recent years; and I don’t just mean movies and music either. When I was in college, my local library began lending out video games. At the time, I remember remarking to myself that they would have a one-year learning curve. A year later, that small dairy farming town had amassed quite a collection of video games for its residents to borrow.
“Well Dan, can you give an example besides just media and entertainment”. Of course! Libraries now rent out all sorts of stuff, such as lawn care equipment, leaf blowers, tennis rackets, and ski equipment. The skis and tennis rackets are especially poignant examples; those are pieces of sporting equipment. You know what else is a sport? Hunting! So, it isn’t completely unrealistic for a public library to lend out guns.
One of the criticisms that I’ll inevitably get is that “Librarians aren’t trained for that”. While this is technically true, there is a lot that is missing here. Of course, librarians have historically not been trained in the ins-and-outs of all things calibers, cleanings, and storage. However, as with the video games example referenced earlier, librarians are generally quick on the uptake and will adapt to the needs of their community pretty quickly. Besides, we over look one important detail about librarians; they’re smart as hell. Librarians go through a surprising amount of training and go through years of graduate school to become librarians.
Those who oppose this idea are inherently opposed to the library serving the needs of the community that it operates in. Given that, it is wise to heavily scrutinize the motive of those who have this viewpoint. It would seem that the “Libraries are meant for books and not guns” crowd are more interested in ideological purism and a romanticized vision of a bygone era than they are interested in filling a need of the community.
“But Dan, what if somebody borrows a gun and uses it to break the law” is a question that I’ll inevitably get, so allow me to address that. That’s a batshit stupid take because criminals, generally speaking, try not to leave a trail that can easily be traced directly to them, you goddamn paint chip snacker. A hypothetical murder committed with a library-owned gun would be pretty easy to trace to who borrowed it, thanks to the library card system. If libraries can track who spilled a beverage on a book to charge them for damages, then they’d certainly be able to track who borrowed a gun that was used to break the law. Thus, this is such a low likelihood to begin with.
From a liability standpoint, libraries that lend out guns that are used to commit crimes are highly unlikely to be held liable in court, given that gun sellers are not liable for the crimes committed by purchased firearms. There’s decades of legal precedent all over the nation that support this, so the liability concern is essentially dead on arrival.
But, to further appease the masses and to stress-test the idea I propose a six-month trial run. This will generate use data of which type of firearm (handgun, long-gun, semi-auto, bolt-action, et cetera) and caliber is borrowed most frequently; vitally important data in determining the needs of the community. The trial run will also track instances of gun violence during that time. I’m confident that this trial run would work, given that states with constitutional carry laws tend to have low rates of gun-related deaths; New Hampshire being a prime example of this
Seriously,…give it a shot sometime!
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