A .75-calibre Brown Bess flintlock musket, capable of firing a lead ball at 1,000 feet per second, carries the power to kill. Yet, despite this, weapons like those used by redcoats in 1776 are largely exempt from gun regulations across the United States. This legal loophole stems from federal and most state laws, which do not technically classify many antique or replica guns as "firearms." Consequently, in numerous places, even convicted felons are permitted to own these potent historical weapons unrestricted. "I suspect the average judge would be surprised to find that out," remarked Dave Hardy, a Second Amendment scholar and gun-rights attorney, who proudly owns two Civil War-era long guns himself. The late actor Charlton Heston famously underscored the sentiment around such weapons during a National Rifle Association event in 2000. Hoisting a flintlock, he declared Democrats would have to take it "from my cold, dead hands." Given the current legal landscape, his concerns appear largely unfounded. A.J.…