Davis Gun Collection Controversy Rages

By Rhett Morgan/Tulsa World ~ A commissioner for the J.M. Davis gun museum says the Claremore facility is in top condition.

Allegations of gun and artifact neglect at a state-operated historical museum "will be shown to be without merit," the chairman of the J.M. Davis Memorial Commission said Wednesday.

William Higgins, appointed by Gov. Brad Henry to the commission in August 2005, said in an e-mail to the Tulsa World that the J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum is in the "best condition it has ever been" and invited the public to view the collection.

The remarks by Higgins, who also spoke to the newspaper by telephone, were in response to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the J.M. Davis Foundation.

The legal owners of the collection, the foundation wants the firearms and collectibles returned, saying the state of Oklahoma has breached a lease requiring the collection's preservation.

An arm of the state, the commission oversees the Claremore museum.

Foundation representatives said Tuesday that if it prevails, it likely would sell the guns to benefit the city of Claremore.

A great nephew of Davis', who transferred his collection to the foundation in 1965, Higgins said he was disappointed by the litigation. "The Foundation was formed by Mr. Davis 'to establish, maintain and preserve an extensive gun collection and other historical artifacts for public use and view,' " Higgins, a Claremore attorney, wrote in an e-mail. "The entire collection was amassed by Mr. Davis during his lifetime and has always been located in the city of Claremore.

"I believe it was Mr. Davis' intent and desire that the collection would always remain intact and on public display in Claremore, Oklahoma. Obviously, the Foundation has another idea."

The petition cites neglect such as melted gun butts, rusted guns and swords, and moth-eaten military uniforms.

A July 2005 burglary at the museum sparked an audit by the state Auditor and Inspector's Office. Released the next year, that audit found that the museum was missing 125 firearms of the 13,354 guns that were actually counted.

Since the audit, the museum has made several upgrades, including adding a full-time curator, Jason Schubert, two years ago, Higgins said. He said museum officials also have made security improvements, written a comprehensive collection management policy and purchased a software program to assist in tracking the artifacts.

At a news conference Tuesday, foundation representatives displayed several photographs, including one showing firearms, swords and other artifacts stuffed in barrels.

"They probably picked the most inflammatory picture that they could to put in their press release," Higgins said by telephone. "In any museum, from what Jason tells me, you are going to have things that are basically junk. Jason characterizes anything in a museum as an artifact. But because it is an artifact doesn't mean that it has display value."

A prepared statement released Tuesday by state Rep. Tad Jones, R-Claremore, stated that lawmakers this year had provided $385,000 for the museum's operation, and that the facility's budget has increased $85,000 over the last five years. During the 2007 legislative session, Jones and state Sen. Sean Burrage, D-Claremore, secured a one-time, $150,000 appropriation for museum infrastructure needs, according to the statement.

"With gun enthusiasts everywhere, the Foundation has done a poor job of raising money to assist the museum," Jones wrote.

In his e-mail, Higgins wondered why the foundation had only "recently complained" about the collection's condition and museum operation. "The Commission feels that had there been real issues regarding conditions or operation, the Foundation would have brought those to someone's attention long before now," Higgins wrote.

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