CODY FIREARMS MUSEUM GRAND RE-OPENING

Additional Information

Center of the West’s Cody Firearms Museum Grand Reopening July 6

The Cody Firearms Museum (CFM) at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West will unveil the museum’s major much- anticipated makeover on July 6, 2019. Home to the one of the largest collections of firearms in the world, this reopening follows an eight month, $12 million full-scale renovation, including major investments in advanced technology and experiential learning.

The new Cody Firearms Museum interprets over 800 years of history with more 10,000 artifacts in 40,000 square feet. The exhibitions invite visitors to engage with how people have used firearms throughout international history, in times of both war and peace. The new museum seeks to serve as a foundation for varied audiences to spark additional research and further discussion beyond the institution’s walls.

Visitors will have the opportunity to experience simulation technology, video, and mechanical and media inter-actives designed to educate on firearms safety and basics as well as the evolution of the technology. Other attractions include a state of the art documentary on the soldier, civilian, financial, and global costs of war, and a space for Veterans and active military to share their stories and document their history.

“The new CFM was designed to engage with all visitors, whether they are familiar with firearms or completely new to the topic,” says Ashley Hlebinsky, the Robert W. Woodruff Curator of the Cody Firearms Museum, “While there are widely varying opinions on the subject of firearms, legislation and politics, the museum is a space that allows visitors to learn and discuss the history of firearms as a means to better understand their roles both in the past and present.”

Grand Opening events will span several days following Cody, Wyoming’s famous Independence Day celebrations on July 4, 2019. The Grand Opening ceremony will take place on July 6, 2019, featuring a historic fly-over by a World War II era C-47 plane. Celebrated former special forces paratrooper Dana Bowmen will jump out of the plane to honor the occasion. From July 15-16, 2019, the CFM will host its third annual Symposium, The Kurt Swanson Bucholz’s Arsenals of History, which will gather the world’s most qualified authorities on firearms, including Sean Belair of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Jonathan Ferguson of Royal Armouries, to discuss the past, present and future of firearms. The Cody Firearms Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West will be open daily 8a.m. - 6p.m. For additional information, visit centerofthewest.org/explore/firearms or the CFM’s pages on Facebook and Instagram.

About the Buffalo Bill Center of the West
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. The five museums include the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Plains Indians Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, the Draper Natural History Museum, and the Cody Firearms Museum, all of which are an affiliate of the Smithsonian. Founded in 1917 by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney to preserve the legacy and vision of Col. William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and share the story of the authentic American West, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West is the oldest and most comprehensive museum complex of the West. It has been described by The New York Times as "among the nation's most remarkable museums."

Contacts
Ashley Hlebinsky, ashleyh@centerofthewest.org or 307-578-4092