Old Fort Niagara affected by new gun law

Sep. 30—New York State's new gun law had a side effect that's causing concern among living history organizations like Old Fort Niagara.

Among new rules that went into effect Sept. 1, parks and government property are on the list of "sensitive" places where guns are off-limits.

The rules were geared more for semiautomatic pistols than flintlock and other muzzleloader weapons, but historic battle re-enactors who fear being arrested if they publicly re-stage battles from the colonial era to the Civil War are staying off the field.

Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration insists that historical battle re-enactments are still OK, and some have still taken place this month. But persistent skepticism among event organizers and participants has resulted in some cancellations, like a Revolutionary War raid that was to be staged this weekend at the Fort Klock historic site in the Mohawk Valley.

"The reason why we canceled it was for fear of exposing the people that we invited to the event to prosecution for committing a felony," said Robert Metzger, a re-enactor who chairs the board of Fort Klock Historic Restoration.

At Old Fort Niagara, Executive Director Robert Emerson said that, based on Hochul's comments, previously planned re-enactments at the fort are continuing; the most recent one, a War of 1812 encampment, took place over Labor Day weekend. But more than the governor's word will be needed to satisfy fears of the re-enactment community, he added. The OFN board of directors already sent a letter to Hochul urging amendment of the new law to lift restrictions on historic firearms and, in the interim, suspension of law enforcement where such firearms are involved.

"None of us understand why flintlock muskets were included," Emerson said.

The board's letter to Hochul pointed out that the firearms used in re-enactments shoot blanks and pose little threat to public safety.

It also warned that removal of re-enactments from OFN programming — and removal of historic firearms exhibits at the fort — would make OFN less attractive to visitors and therefore set back the nonprofit organization financially. About 20% of its operating budget comes from proceeds of re-enactment events, according to Emerson.

"We are a military museum. (Weapon displays are) pretty central to our mission," he said.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated New York's requirement that people must demonstrate an unusual threat to their safety to qualify for a license to carry a handgun outside their homes. Hochul and her fellow Democrats in control of the state Legislature quickly responded with a law that set strict new licensing criteria and limited where handguns, shotguns and rifles can be carried.

Some re-enactors looking at the letter of the law have concluded the old-style weapons they use could place them in the crosshairs of the new rules.

Metzger, the Fort Klock Historic Restoration board chair, said he realizes local sheriff's deputies have "a lot better things to do than to harass 70-year-old men with flintlocks," but there was a chance someone could complain. and the not-for-profit group did not want to take the chance of losing its state charter.

Hochul's press office, in a prepared statement, said historical re-enactments can continue under the law "and there should be no concern otherwise."

"We will work with legislators and local law enforcement to ensure these events can proceed as they have for centuries," the administration said. "In the meantime, individuals who have lawfully participated in reenactments should continue to do so."

Organizers of a re-enactment at Fort Ticonderoga in northern New York took that advice, hosting a recreation of a 1777 raid on the fort.

"Both the governor's office and state leadership advised us to just continue operations as usual," said Beth Hill, president and CEO of the Fort Ticonderoga Association. "So we haven't changed anything."

But the governor's repeated assurances have meant less to other groups. They say they will not feel secure on simulated battlefields in New York until there are changes in the law making it clear they won't become defendants if they act like historical soldiers.

"We want our history to live," Metzger said. "And they're making it quite difficult."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.