Wyoming Minute

Museum Minute: How A Museum Decides What To Collect

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio

Cody Firearms Museum

The Cody Firearms Museum has over 7,000 firearms in the collection. So are they looking to add anything to the collection?

Danny Micheal, the curator of the museum, said yes, "but we tend to be really, really selective."

Micheal said the mission of the museum is to interpret all of firearms history.

"So in that way, we can kind of justify anything from a hand cannon to, you know, something like a very modern 3d printed firearm, since that's been in the news lately."

But they do still need to be conscious of what they can care for, manage and make sure to be good stewards of the collection they have already. Plus, when it comes to certain topics, Michael said the collection is already pretty well represented.

"We end up turning away a lot of things because we already have it. A good reference point would be, since we have the Winchester Arms collection, we have Winchester history really well represented. So it has to be a really, really unusual Winchester for us to bring it in," he said.

But when other firearms manufacturers are not as well represented, Micheal said they may take something that's a bit more common.

Kamila has worked for public radio stations in California, New York, France and Poland. Originally from New York City, she loves exploring new places. Kamila received her master in journalism from Columbia University. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring the surrounding areas with her two pups and husband.
Related Content
  1. "It's Undeniable These Are Cowboys. They're Real," Black Photographer Dives Into Black Rodeo
  2. Proposed Rule Looks To Make Homemade Guns More Traceable