Ashley Hlebinsky is the owner of The Gun Code, LLC – Firearms History & Industry Consulting. Ashley is an expert witness, a historian and former curator to the Cody Firearms Museum. Ashley testified at the 2021 Senate Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, in a hearing titled: Stop Gun Violence: Ghost Guns.
Ashley is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on firearms history. Recently, she served as both Curator of the Cody Firearms Museum (CFM) and Project Director for the museum’s multimillion dollar renovation that reopened in July 2019. Due to her and her team’s efforts, the museum has received positive reviews from both gun and mainstream media and is seen as the premiere gun museum in the world that fosters dialogue for a range of diverse audiences
Additionally, Hlebinsky is a highly sought-after museum consultant, guest speaker, writer, expert witness in the US and Canada, and a television host and producer.
In 2018, she founded the first academic association in the United States for the study of firearms history. As a historian who remains apolitical, Hlebinsky holds a unique niche in the field of firearms, engaging with many communities, including industry, academic, and media. She actively works to increase the level of scholarship in the United States to help create a better understanding of guns for the public. This work directly impacts legislation as well as university curriculum.
In response to her public education, she was awarded the NSSF/POMA Shooting Sports Communicator of the Year award and recently accepted the position of Curator Emerita and Senior Firearms Scholar at the CFM – an honor typically reserved for the end of one’s career – as well as Adjunct Scholar of Firearms History, Technology and Culture for the Firearms Policy Coalition, so that she can continue to expand her advocacy beyond the walls of the museum.
Ashley also has many TV credits to her name, including in 2018, when she joined a panel of celebrity judges for the Discovery Channel competition series, “Master of Arms”.
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Our guest today is Ashley Hlebinsky. Ashley is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on firearms history. Recently, she served as both Curator of the Cody Firearms Museum (CFM) and Project Director for the museum’s multimillion dollar renovation that reopened in July 2019.
Due to her and her team’s efforts, the museum has received positive reviews from both gun and mainstream media and is seen as the premiere gun museum in the world that fosters dialogue for a range of diverse audiences
Additionally, Hlebinsky is a highly sought-after museum consultant, guest speaker, writer, and expert witness in the US and Canada. And, in her “spare time” she is a television host and producer, as well as being a member of The DC Project.
1) In our intro we mentioned that you are an expert witness. You recently offered testimony as a subject matter expert to Senate Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, in a hearing titled: Stop Gun Violence: Ghost Guns. But, you don’t use that term and told the Senate as much. Can you expound on that?
– “Firstly, I will not be using the term ghost gun and that’s because as a historian I try to be as precise as possible and the term is used more as a rhetorical tool, a marketing tool and because of that, it can create a false sense of authority on the subject,” Hlebinsky told the senators. It’s too easy to conflate with something that is invisible, undetectable or untraceable. None of which is true. privately made firearms have been around for centuries, basically since the first system was developed over 500 years ago.”
2) The people who consider themselves Pro-Rights too often adopt the language of the Prohibitionists. We have “assault rifle”, “ghost gun”, and even “sanctuary cities”. In some ways there is strength in appropriating language. But, then we find ourselves on our back foot trying to un-attach the connotations that the Prohibitionists use to scare the public. As a historian, how do you see this language issue playing out in the long run?
3) You occupy a unique space in a heated and polarizing conversation. You are decidedly and agnostic in your political leanings in public and in your work. The 2A is not a political issue, but it has become political football over the years. How do you manage to be both neutral in our current political climate?
4) What other projects are you currently working on?
