Bloomington complies with state law allowing guns in public property

Permit holders across the state of Indiana have been allowed to bring their guns to most public places since the beginning of July. The Bloomington City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday night to comply with the new state law since it supersedes municipal gun restrictions.

“I think this is a step backwards, but I understand our city council attorneys wanting to be in compliance,” council member Dave Rollo said at the meeting.

Indiana residents may now bring guns with valid permits to parks, libraries and many city council chambers across the state.

Updating local law seemed to be a formality, Council Member Stephen Volan said.

Bloomington Police Department Capt. Joe Qualters said to his knowledge, the local police have never had problems with firearms at public buildings.

“The vast majority of people probably do not take firearms into public buildings,” Qualters said.

And, added Qualters, nothing prohibits the police from asking someone to display their permit.

The Indiana legislature included exemptions for schools and buildings with courtrooms, Qualters said. More volatile situations could obviously arise in the courtroom setting, he said, thus the exemption was necessary.

Qualters described the legislature’s challenge as finding a balance between Second Amendment rights and the preservation of security.

“Hopefully, there will be no incidents that show that the legislature went too far in that extension,” Qualters said.

The Monroe County Public Library updated the language of its policies to comply with the law, Community Relations Coordinator Margaret Harter said in an email.

The library has also adopted a new, one-sentence policy, which reads, “The Monroe County Public Library prohibits the intentional display of a firearm or other weapon at a public meeting.”

Library Director Sara Laughlin said the policy regulates behavior, which is still within the library’s purview. Its policy has also been updated to prohibit library employees from carrying weapons into work, an exception that is allowed under the law, Laughlin said.

“We’re concerned. We don’t like the law one bit,” Laughlin said. “But it’s a state law, so we changed our policy in June to comply.”

Qualters said he hopes people will not display their weapons or use them for intimidation.

“Hopefully, people will use appropriate discretion and common sense,” Qualters said.

At the city council meeting Wednesday, Rollo deemed the state law significant, as members have received threats in the past.    

“We don’t have any type of filtering to try to prevent people from coming in, and I like that and I prefer that,” Rollo said. “But this is a concern of mine, because it is clearly a major change.”

Assistant City Attorney Patty Mulvihill also spoke at the city council meeting, where she said she doesn’t think the matter is finished. The Indiana Association of Cities and Towns is attempting to change portions of the state law through lobbying.

“We do the public’s business in a public forum, and so I think that our concern for everyone in that forum should be obvious,” Volan said.