VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science recently changed its weapons policy, allowing visitors with a concealed weapons permit the right to bear arms on their premises. According to the DMNS museum board, their updated policy is in line with Colorado law.
Concealed carry laws allow for a person to carry a gun in all areas of the state, barring spaces prohibited by federal law, schools, private properties (if the owner disallows it), and public buildings containing security personnel and electronic weapons screening devices.
Despite DMNS’s longstanding contrary policy, the board came to its controversial decision in light of recent mass public shootings. “Paris and San Bernandino got people thinking ‘are we doing best practices?’ ” Ed Scholz, the museum’s vice president of finance and operations, told the Denver Business Journal. Scholz said that “the safety of our guests and staff is the No. 1 priority of the museum … it always has been, and we believe we’re doing everything we can to keep people safe.”
In light of this change, here are other museums that, technically in keeping with their respective state law, allow for concealed carry of guns in their galleries:
- The Pratt Museum, Homer, AK
- University of Maine Art Museum, Bangor, ME
- Portland Art Museum (“prefers” if you’re a law enforcement officer), Portland, OR
- Museum of Nebraska Art (currently reviewing policy), Kearney, NE
- New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
- Alexandria Museum of Art (in line with policy at Louisiana State University of Alexandria, which allows for concealed carry), Alexandria, LA
- Museum of Idaho (technically doesn’t have a policy in place, previously decided it was a non-issue), Idaho Falls, ID
- Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
And here are a bunch more museums—just a sampling and not comprehensive—where weapons are strictly for display cases and may not be carried:
- Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
- Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
- Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
- Historic Arkansas Museum, Little Rock, AR
- Spencer Art Museum, Lawrence, KS
- Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
- Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
- Kimbell Art Museum (except law enforcement officers), Fort Worth, TX
- Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN
- South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, SD
- Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
- Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, OR
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
- Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS
- Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
- Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
- Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL