Register a flintlock in NYC?

[Hardcase]

I know, I know, it's New York City. But even so...

The summary: A fella had a blacksmith make a pretty nice looking flintlock rifle. He left the receipt at a Staples. Somebody at Staples called the cops. Now they want him to register it with the handgun licensing bureau.

From the relevant NYC ordinance:

Exempt from permit and certificate of registration requirements are antique rifles and shotguns incapable of being fired or discharged or which do not fire fixed ammunition or those weapons manufactured prior to 1894 and replicas for which fixed ammunition is not commercially available.

Also exempt is "any unloaded muzzle loading pistol or revolver with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system, or a pistol or revolver which used fixed cartridges which are no longer available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade." This includes replicas.

NOTE: A license would be required to possess these handguns when the ammunition necessary to discharge them is possessed simultaneously.

Sigh...