As I squinted to read those words under the fluorescent lights of a back room at Collectors Firearms on Westheimer Road, I couldn’t help but remember\u00a0the classic\u00a0Indiana Jones line: \u201cIt belongs in a museum.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Danny Clark, the owner of Collectors Firearms, shows opinion editor Evan\u00a0Mintz a Kentucky rifle once owned by the Marquis de Lafayette and gifted to Native American Chief Tunis. \u00a0The rifle is engraved with the words \u201cPresented to Chief Tunis by Lafayette at Kingston NY 1824.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Sharon Steinmann\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Of course, I could have also said that about the silver dueling pistols that Collectors Firearms<\/a> President Danny Clark generously showed me, or the seal-hunting rifle that was taller than I, or any of the historic and fascinating weapons I saw during my tour of a gun shop that Clark touts as the biggest in Texas. A former Barnes & Noble on\u00a0Westheimer Road, the store already feels a bit like a museum. Who needs to exit through the gift shop<\/a> when the exhibit itself is on sale?<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Collectors Firearms, owned by Danny Clark, is the largest gun store in Texas. The store is photographed on Monday April 13, 2026.<\/p>\n Sharon Steinmann\/Houston Chronicle The Wallace Collection in London is a national museum that houses masterpieces of arms and armor.<\/p>\n Evan Mintz\/Houston Chronicle The Wallace Collection in London is a national museum that houses masterpieces of arms and armor.<\/p>\n Evan Mintz\/Houston Chronicle Guns are on display at Collectors Firearms, owned by Danny Clark in Houston, TX. The store, located on\u00a0Westheimer Road, already feels a bit like a museum.<\/p>\n Sharon Steinmann\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n Still, I had to wonder, why isn\u2019t there a similarly impressive firearm collection on permanent display at any of Houston\u2019s major museums?<\/p>\n I\u2019ll admit that despite being a lifelong Texan I\u2019ve never fired a gun, but I do love learning about fascinating artifacts in museums \u2014\u00a0and that includes guns. In fact, a few weeks ago my wife and I visited the Wallace Collection in London, a private collection donated to the public that includes room after room of historic martial weapons and firearms from India, Turkey and all across Europe.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Wallace Collection in London is a national museum that houses masterpieces of arms and armor.<\/p>\n Evan Mintz\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n Something seems wrong when London, a city where handguns are basically banned, beats the biggest city in Texas when it comes to lionizing the history and aesthetics of firearms.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Yes, you can find some impressive weapons on display at the Corps of Cadets<\/a> museum at Texas A&M University in College Station or the Bryan Museum<\/a> in Galveston. The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum<\/a> on Caroline Street is an old armory and has some guns but is currently undergoing\u00a0a remodel<\/a> and isn\u2019t open to the public. No doubt there are museum-worthy private collections to be found in the mansions of River Oaks or Memorial. But Clark told me that he had seen people try \u2014 and fail \u2014 to donate their impressive private collections to serve as permanent displays at museums.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s getting in the way of Houston having a world-class firearm exhibit at our museums?<\/p>\n Dirk Van Tuerenhout, curator of anthropology at The Houston Museum of Natural Science stands on front of a folding screen that depicts colonial Mexico City after the clashes between the Aztecs and the Spanish colonizers during the 16th century. The screen is a replica that will be exhibited as part of the La Virgen de Guadalupe: Empress of the Americas at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The exhibition will open Dec. 11, 2015. Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, in Houston. ( Marie D. De Jesus \/ Houston Chronicle )<\/p>\n Marie D. De Jes\u00fas\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n I reached out to Dirk Van Tuerenhout, the director of collections at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, to see if I could solve that riddle.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He helpfully pointed out that the HMNS had hosted several temporary displays about weapons, such as one exhibit about samurai<\/a> and another about medieval knights<\/a>. But there are a whole lot more steps involved for creating a new permanent exhibit. The board of trustees would have to agree that the exhibit fits the museum\u2019s mission and, perhaps more importantly, they would need to find space to accommodate the new exhibit. Basically, a permanent exhibit on firearms at any Houston museum would probably require not only building a new wing to display the wares, but also proper storage for any parts of the collection not on display. So even if someone donated hundreds of historic firearms, the museum would still face a hefty fundraising challenge.\u00a0<\/p>\n Customers look through the shelves at Collectors Firearms, owned by Danny Clark. The store, according to Clark, is the largest gun store in Texas. The store is photographed on Monday April 13, 2026. A former Barnes & Noble on\u00a0Westheimer Road, the store already feels a bit like a museum.<\/p>\n Sharon Steinmann\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n And, I would guess, raising funds for a museum display on guns might be more difficult than your usual expansion to make room for more coelacanth fossils or impressionist paintings, but not for lack of donors. That\u2019s because there is a sharp social divide around firearms. Research shows<\/a> that one of the best predictors of whether someone owns a gun is to look at their friends and family. If you\u2019re surrounded by gun owners, then you\u2019re probably packing, too. If everyone around you is pistol-free, then you\u2019re likely unarmed as well. And, I would bet, that social divide likely cleaves a good deal of the pro-gun folks from the museum fundraisers and curators \u2014 especially given that educational attainment<\/a> has become a strong predictor of political alignment.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s too bad. Guns have become a powerful partisan wedge issue for both Republicans and Democrats, and I think that we would all be well-served by having a museum exhibit on firearms that everyone could appreciate. Gun owners who feel like social elites treat them with contempt would see the weapons they care about elevated to a level of cultural respect. Non-owners would have the opportunity to learn about the history, science and artistry of firearms.<\/p>\n Swords are on display at Collectors Firearms, owned by Danny Clark in Houston, TX. The store, located on\u00a0Westheimer Road, already feels a bit like a museum.<\/p>\n Sharon Steinmann\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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