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Weapons of Mass Instruction
In Louisville, Ky., more than just another gun museum.

BY MARK YOST
Wednesday, June 16, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

LOUISVILLE, Ky.–When visitors walk into the new Frazier
Historical Arms Museum, the first thing they see is an 1880s
Gatling gun. But if they think this is merely another gun
museum, they soon learn otherwise. For after touring the
three floors of gallery space, visitors not only have a
clear understanding of the evolution of armaments but of the
historical events in which they were used. And that’s what
sets this museum–which opened May 22–apart.

The museum is the brainchild of Owsley Brown Frazier of the
Brown-Foreman liquor empire. No mere hobbyist, Mr. Frazier
and his guns are held in high regard by serious collectors.
That’s why Britain’s Royal Armouries have made the Frazier
Historical Arms Museum their U.S. home.

To take advantage of the great historical context in which
these weapons are displayed, visitors should head straight
to the third floor and the Royal Armouries exhibits. After
a short film about the Tower of London, England’s armory
before it became a tourist attraction, visitors are taken
back to the Middle Ages. Each gallery includes life-size
tableaux depicting armed conflict of an era. Featured here
are the Battle of Hastings (1066) and the Wars of the Roses
(1455-85), among others.

One of the many significant artifacts is a 15th-century mail
shirt, suspected to be the oldest still in existence.
There’s also another short film explaining the artistry and
technology that went into making the shirt.

“We have four goals,” said Paul Gerrard, vice president of
marketing for the museum. “To not just display firearms,
but to explain them in terms of technology, exploration,
artistry and conflict.”

And the museum succeeds very well, with each gallery
unfolding along a historical timeline, explaining not just
how arms evolved, but what was going on in the world around
them. In the Medieval period, for example, visitors learn
about the first use of the long bow at Agincourt in 1415.
The tableau for the Tudor period (1485-1603) is the gun deck
of an English warship.

In addition to bows, arrows, pikes, spears, swords and the
first wheel-lock rifle (believed to have been designed by
Leonardo da Vinci), there is an extensive collection of
armor, some of which features the finest artistry and
craftsmanship of its time. Indeed, we learn that during the
Style Wars (1500-50), fashion was as important as function.
It was during this period that the Innsbruck workshop that
made armor for Emperor Maximilian was the first to combine
Italian curved forms with the angular designs of more
traditional German designs.

We also learn that guns became so powerful during the
English Civil War (mid-17th century) that armor was largely
abandoned and replaced by buff coats made of thick leather.
This English history lesson continues up to the eve of World
War I. For that alone, the museum warrants a visit.

But it’s on the second floor that we get to the really
significant pieces of the Frazier collection, along with an
equally good tutorial in American history.

The Colonial gallery starts off with a short film about the
role of arms in America, both historically and as an
industry. It’s important to note that the museum is
completely neutral on the issue of the Second Amendment.
Visitors need not come here fearing an NRA membership pitch.

Since this is Kentucky, there’s a display devoted to Daniel
Boone, as well as one to Eli Whitney, the father of
mass-produced firearms, including one of his 1812 muskets.

From the Civil War there’s a Model 1853 Sharp’s carbine, one
of 100 seized in 1856 by anti-John Brown forces from an
armory in Lexington, Mo. There’s also one of only two
surviving Texas rifles from the Battle of San Jacinto, where
they remembered the Alamo. And there’s Serial No. 2 (No. 1
was destroyed) of the .40-caliber Colt Paterson, the first
rotary repeating rifle ever made.

Moving on to the settlement of the West, there’s a great
film that dispels many Hollywood myths. For instance, we
learn that one-third of cowboys were black. There’s also a
good display on the buffalo hunters, including a Model 1874
Sharp’s buffalo rifle, described as “the workaday gun of the
1870s and 1880s.”

In retelling American history, the museum doesn’t shy away
from the uglier aspects, either. Discussed at length are
the long-term impacts of American settlement of the West on
both Indians and bison.

There’s even a gallery, Lawmen and Outlaws, dedicated to the
seamier side of frontier life, including the Colt
six-shooter Jesse James had when he died in 1882. Also
shown is how quickly the West became the caricature found in
Wild West shows. Buffalo Bill Cody’s and Annie Oakley’s
guns are on display, as are Geronimo’s bow, arrows and
quiver.

The Frazier collection ends with the Gilded Age, noting that
it marked the first time firearms were owned primarily for
sport rather than survival. To that end, we see “The Big
Stick,” Teddy Roosevelt’s beloved double-barreled
(.500/.450) safari rifle. It’s a bully conclusion to a
riveting journey through time.

The Second Amendment IS Homeland Security!!!