New York state’s gun legislation has made an exception for reenactors.
As part of the new state budget, which passed Tuesday night, language was included that exempted those participating in historic reenactments, theatrical productions, museums that have firearms in their collections and military honor guards from the new gun laws.
Thanks to the change, any reenactments statewide can go ahead as planned.
This was originally included in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s and State Senate budget proposals, but was left out of the initial State Assembly budget.
The new law that went into effect Sept. 1 listed parks and government property among “sensitive” places where guns were not allowed. It included flintlock muskets and other historic muzzleloading firearms in its scope, which caused reenactors across the state to cancel some events last year.
Old Fort Niagara was one organization that sent letters to the state government urging them to exempt historic firearms, arguing that musket demonstrations are its most popular event and this would negatively impact the revenue it gets from programming.
These reenactments generate around $340,000 per year, or 21% of the state park’s operating revenue.
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