‘Urgent action’ needed to fix troubling gun safety practices at Cowtown museum, audit says

Old Cowtown Museum has taken a Wild West approach to gun safety among volunteer reenactors, failing to inspect weapons and ammunition and allowing performers to participate in shootouts without full documentation that they are properly trained, a city of Wichita audit says.

The report calls for an “urgent action plan” to address deficiencies in the historic museum’s procedures after a performer was shot with live rounds during a 2020 staged gunfight. The City Council recently approved a $500,000 settlement for the victim.

The two-year internal audit, conducted between May 2021 and June 2023, found that proper inspections of weapons and ammunition were not consistently completed before gunfight performances, which are one of the museum’s main draws. Per Cowtown policy, the executive director is responsible for ensuring guns are properly inspected before a firefight.

The report also notes at least two instances in 2023 where performers’ signatures were forged on the sign-in sheet and says the museum has accepted text messages in lieu of signed waivers for participants in staged shootouts. Volunteers were consistently allowed to enter events without being asked to present their training card.

Executive Director Jacky Goerzen has been on administrative leave since at least July. City Council member Mike Hoheisel told The Eagle last month that day-to-day operations are being handled jointly by Arts and Cultural Services Director Lindsay Benacka and City Clerk Jamie Buster.

“They’re temporarily taking over there just to kind of get us through this phase right now,” Hoheisel said.

Cowtown receives more than $900,000 annually from the city. The City Council unanimously voted in June to approve the $500,000 settlement related to the 2020 shooting.

The victim, who was 24 at the time of the incident, was struck in the head, face and upper body with the live shotgun rounds. His injuries included a punctured aorta and pellets lodged in his skull and left eye socket, and required surgery.

Robert Hartung Jr. of Winfield told authorities that “he loaded his 12 gauge Winchester shotgun with what he ‘assumes’ are blanks that he brought with him” to the Cowtown museum on Sept. 18, 2020, according to an affidavit. He said that when he arrived at the museum that night, “there was not any type of formal safety briefing” that he knew of and “no one checked his guns.”

He was sentenced to three years probation last October after pleading no contest to one count of aggravated battery.

Audit recommendations

The audit recommends implementing background checks for all volunteers who go through training and orientation and suggests adding an alcohol and drug screening provision to ensure performers have not been under the influence of substances within 12 hours of an event.

It also recommends requiring Cowtown safety officers to attend training to ensure they are properly equipped to inspect each type of firearm used in reenactments, and implementing a gun inspection checklist that must be completed before a volunteer is granted entry to the museum.

“Inventory should be completed on the blank ammunition cabinet to verify that the ammo has not been tampered with and has not been removed or deemed missing,” the report states. “Per the policy, this inventory should take place on a weekly basis.”

The audit also notes that under the law, Cowtown is required to get the Wichita Police Department’s approval before events involving gunfire. The museum’s director of education and interpretation will be responsible for notifying and obtaining written approval from WPD of all scheduled gunfighting or discharging of weapons at the facility.