
VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
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:
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: