Hi all!

Not that I have any law based back ground, but is this not a mute point.
Artifacts that are on display in Museums are not or should not be relegated by
current laws and restrictions.  New donations should be accepted based on
these laws, but old artifact existing in your collection, should not be culled
because of law changes.

Cases to consider

Old drug store jars with drugs, do we destroy the jars that contain or did
contain what is considered now to be controlled substances.  These substances
at one time were readily availible, but legislation changes. Do we cull our
collections? NO.

WW1 or Civil War, Brass knuckles or trench knuckles, these were legal at one
time and produced in great numbers.  Many local governments now consider them
illegal weapons, do you dispose of them? No.

Rare endangered species mounts, at one time people could hunt different
animals, fish, and foul than what current legislation says.  Do we cull our
collections because we have a trumpeter swan, a bald eagle, and a albino
aligator? NO.

Automatic weapons from WW1,WW2, Korea, Vietnam. Thousands of captured enemy
weapons and Allied weapons were brought home and ended up in museums, some
properly rendered nonfiring some not.  There has been numberous BATF
statements issued over the years that regulates these weapons.  They are
suppose to be registered but there is nothing that requires demiling or
destruction of weapons currently in collections. Do we dispose of them? NO.

Any sort of rifle with a baynoet lug and "flash suppressor", or magazines that
hold more then 10 rounds were banned from being produced for sale to the US
general public, by Bill Clinton in 1996?1997?.  Do we go through our
collections looking for what fits this?  NO. This is a law that affects future
products, not what was already produced and legally possessed by the public.

Switch blades and drop knives or gravity knives were issued by the hundreds of
thousands to paratroopers to clear their lines or entanglements (Mostly the
last two types are more common).  They are very common and not out of the
ordinary.  They were issued to GIs as a survival tool when jumping.  Do we
dispose of them?  NO.

Bottom line is that rules and laws change.  What was legal at one time is not
legal now, things that were produced in the past can't be produced now.  This
is society.  Our mission as museums is to educate people.  Show them the past,
show them what the local cutlery works once produced, don't be 1984 and deny
things of the past.

Artifacts in collections are donated through out time, in one way they
repesent kind of time lines of our past, one has to be aware of this when
surveying one's collection.  Don't fall into the trap of 1984, and erase the
past.  To be sure certainly consider current rules and legislations when
accepting new donations, but don't worry about what was donated in the past
and if it meets today's rules.

If anything, consider the board and if it is deemed to be objectible remove
the object, or perhaps label it in a way that better explains the object.

Greg Hansel

Museum Studies Student

(coming soon, to a job market near you!)


Quoting David Palmquist <[log in to unmask]>:

> Good questions.  Under the Penal Law "older" or antique knives don't
> have any special exempt status.  Knives are knives; they still cut.
> Older firearms, however, the law's thinking goes, are "antique" if they
> use an ammunition that is no longer manufactured, seemingly making them
> more safe.
>
> The law provides that a person is in compliance if they turn in such a
> prohibited weapon to the county sheriff or the State Police.  Where it
> will probably be destroyed, not put on display.
>
> David Palmquist
>
> >>> [log in to unmask] 10/28/03 05:42PM >>>
> First note i see is you say "older knives" this would classify it as
> antique, wouldn't it? Why call the sherriff?
>  I'm loost on this one.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Palmquist" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 12:25 PM
> Subject: Museums and historical societies possessing weapons
>
>
> > Our AG is asking what authority a museum or historical has to own
> and
> > display certain weapons whose possession is outlawed by New York
> Penal
> > Law sec. 265.01, including switchblade knives, machine guns, etc.
> There
> > is no applicable exception provided in Penal Law sec. 265.20.  Note,
> > "antique firearms" are exempted by sec. 265.00.
> >
> > The question came to the AG from a Village Board concerning a
> > historical society which owns and has a display of older knives
> produced
> > by the local cutlery industry, including at least one switchblade.
> >
> > Does anyone know of any circumstance that might allow a museum to
> > possess and/or display such weapons?   Can anyone suggest how the
> > historical society might handle this material, short of turning it
> over
> > to the local sheriff or State Police, such as disarming the knife?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > David W. Palmquist
> > Head, Chartering Program
> > NY State Museum
> > NY State Education Department
> > 3097 Cultural Education Center
> > Albany NY 12230
> > 518-473-3131
> > FAX 518-473-8496
> > e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
> > web site:  www.nysm.nysed.gov/charter/
> >
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