New Hampshire
Permanent URL for this collectionhttps://dspace.firearmsresearchcenter.org/id/frc0001/4537
New Hampshire
This jurisdictional hub aggregates FRC holdings related to New Hampshire. It supports research on the state’s firearms history, technology, law, policy, and culture from the colonial and provincial periods through statehood to the present.
- Legal sources: statutes and session laws, administrative rules, attorney general opinions, appellate decisions, and select municipal ordinances.
- Historical materials: newspapers, photographs, maps, catalogs, militia and manufacturing records (e.g., armsmaking and machine-tool industries), and oral histories tied to New Hampshire people and places.
- Research outputs: technical reports, academic studies, training manuals, and curated datasets relevant to the state.
Cite the Firearms Research Center and the item’s handle/DOI when using materials. Rights and licensing vary by item.
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Item type:Item, 4 Laws of New Hampshire, Revolutionary Period 39-42 (Henry Harrison Metcalf ed., 1916)(1776)An Act for forming and regulating the Militia within the State of New Hampshire in New England, and for repealing all the Laws heretofore made for that purpose: Retained the recently established age limits of 16 to 50. Any "good Fire Arm" was acceptable. Also mandatory was a "good Ramrod." The latter was used to ram the bullet down the muzzle, into the firing chamber. It was essential to the use of a muzzle-loading gun. While some militia statutes specified a ramrod, many left it to implication. By requiring that a gun be "well fixed" or "good," the less specific statutes implicitly required all appropriate accoutrements, including the ramrod. For gun cleaning, the worm and priming wire had long been mandated. The new laws had an additional item: a brush. Two types of edged weapons were needed. First, "a Bayonet fitted to his Gun." In close quarters fighting, an infantryman would attach the bayonet to the front of his gun. Then the gun would be used as a spear. Since there was a bayonet, there had to be "a Scabbard and Belt therefor." Besides the bayonet, one additional edged weapon was mandatory: "a Cutting Sword, or a Tomahawk or Hatchet." The ammunition items were: "Pouch containing a Cartridge Box, that will hold fifteen Rounds of Cartridges at least, a Hundred Buck Shot, a Jack Knife and Tow for Wadding, six Flints, one Pound of Powder, forty Leaden Balls fitted to his Gun." Finally, field supplies: "Knapsack and Blanket, a Canteen or Wooden Bottle sufficient to hold one Quart." Persons who were self-sufficient had to supply themselves with the required items. As for others, "all Parents, Masters, and Guardians, shall furnish and equip those of the Militia which are under their Care and CommandItem type:Item, 4 Laws of New Hampshire, Revolutionary Period 273 (Henry Harrison Metcalf ed., 1916)(1780)An Act for Forming & Regulating The Militia within this State, and for Repealing All the Laws heretofore made for that Purpose: Militiamen had to attend musters and drills, and sometimes had to march off to fight in distant locations. Further, all males under 70 who were capable of bearing arms were put on the "alarm list." This meant that they had to have all the same arms and gear as militiamenItem type:Item, 1699 N.H. Laws ch. 1: An Act for Restraining and Punishing Privateers and Pirates: Penalty for Nonappearance in Armes, in 1 Laws of New Hampshire: Province Period 656 (1904)(1699)"And all and every person and persons that upon orders given him or them shall refuse to repair immediately with his or their Arms well fixed and Ammunition, to such place or places as shall be appointed by the said Officer, and not readily obey his Command in the premises, shall be Imprisoned without Bail or Mainprize, until the next General Session of the Peace within the same County, and by the Justices of the same Court fined, not exceeding Ten Pounds, or be corporally punished, not exceeding Ten Stripes, at the direction of the Justices."Item type:Item, 3 Laws of New Hampshire: Province Period 83 (Henry Harrison Metcalf ed., 1915)(1754)Made the parents over persons under twenty-one liable for fines imposed for their sons' militia delinquency or neglect.Item type:Item, 1 Laws of New Hampshire: Province Period 537 (Albert Stillman Batchellor ed., 1904)(1692)Changed the militia from all "persons" over sixteen to all males over 16. For arms, everyone had to be "well provided w'th a well fixed gun or fuse," plus "Sword or hatchet." Along with the typical colonial requirements for gunpowder and bullets, a knapsack, a cartridge box, a powder horn, and flints. Further, "every Soldier Shall have at his habitation & abode one pound of good pouder & twenty Sizable bullets."Item type:Item, 2 Laws of New Hampshire: Province Period 284-85 (Albert Stillman Batchellor ed., 1913)(1704)"All Male Persons from Sixteen Years of Age to Sixty [] shall bear Arms." The primary arms mandate applied to "every Listed Souldier and Housholder (except Troopers)." In other words, the head of a house was required to have the specified arms, even if the head were not militia-eligible. These arms were "a well fix'd, Firelock Musket, of Musket or Bastard-Musket bore, the Barrel not less than three foot and a half long; or other good Fire-Arms, to the satisfaction of the Commission Officers of the Company." Now, the mandatory equipment included gun cleaning tools: "a Worm and Priming Wire fit for his Gun." Mandatory edged arms were "a good Sword or Cutlash." As for horsemen, they needed "a Carbine, the Barrel not less than Two Foot and half long, with a Belt and Swivel, a Case of good Pistols with a Sword or Cutlash, a Flask or Cartouch Box, One Pound of good Powder, Three Pound of sizeable Bullets, Twenty Flints, and a good pair of Boots, and Spurs.Item type:Item, 1 Laws of New Hampshire: Province Period 221-22 (Albert Stillman Batchellor ed., 1904)(1687)Demanded "that no person whatsoever above Sixteene yeares of age remaine unlisted." Equipment was "a well fixed musket" with a barrel at least three feet. The caliber was large: "the bore for a bullett of twelve to the pound." Also necessary were bandoliers and a cartridge box, plus bullets and powder. Officers had the option of allowing their men to have "a good pike and sword" instead of the musket. As for horsemen, "every soldier belonging to the horse" had to bring "a good serviceable horse covered with a good saddle with holsters breastplate and crupper a case of good pistolls and sword and halfe a pound of powder and twenty sizable bulletts . . . And every trooper have at his usuall place of abode a well fixed Carabine with belt and swivel.Item type:Item, 1786 N.H. Laws 383-84(1786)An Act to Prevent the Keeping of Large Quantities of Gun-Powder in Private Houses in Portsmouth, and for Appointing a Keeper of the Magazine Belonging to Said Town: That if any person or persons, shall keep in any dwelling-house, store or other buildings, on land, within the limits of said Portsmouth, except the magazine aforesaid, more than ten pounds of gun-powder at any one time, which ten pounds shall be kept in a tin canister properly secured for that purpose, such person or persons shall forfeit the powder so kept,Item type:Item, Temporary Acts and Laws of His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire in New England 9-10 (1761)(1761)An Act for Preventing and Suppressing Riots, Routs, and Other Unlawful Assemblies: Prohibited gathering in numbers of twelve or more and being armed with clubs and other weapons, or any group numbering thirty or more, from unlawfully, riotously, or tumultuously assemblingItem type:Item, 8 Documents and Records Relating to the State of New Hampshire During the Period of the American Revolution from 1776-1783, at 15-16 (Nathaniel Bouton ed., 1874)(1775)Requiring each firearm sold in the colony to possess certain specifications and pass inspection involving the safe firing of the gun.Item type:Item, Acts and Laws of His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire in New England 63 (1761)(1759)An Act About Powdr Money, § 1: That every foreign ship or vessel above thirty tons, coming into any port or part of this province from over the sea to trade or traffick [sic], all or the major part of the owners whereof are not actually inhabitants of this province, shall, every voyage they make, pay two shillings in money per ton, or one pound of good gunpowderItem type:Item, Acts and Laws of His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire in New England 1-2 (1761)(1759)And every justice of the peace within this province, may cause to be stayed and arrested, all affrayers, rioters, disturbers or breakers of the peace, or any other who shall go armed offensively, or put his Majesty's subjects in fear, by menaces or threatening speechesItem type:Item, 1702 N.H. Laws ch. 7: An Act for the Punishment of Criminall Offenders, in 1 Laws of New Hampshire: Province Period 679 (1904)(1702)Prohibited riding or going armed offensively to cause fear or affray of the people.Item type:Item, 1716 N.H. Laws 91, in 2 Laws of New Hampshire: Province Period 285 (Albert Stillman Batchellor ed., 1904) (enacted 1718)(1718)Required every "householder" to have a musket, bandoliers, cartridge box, bullets, powder, cleaning tools, and a sword. Penalty of six schillings for each arm and two schillings for each other defect.Item type:Item, Acts and Laws of His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire in New England 115-16 (1761)(1759)An Act in Addition to the Act for Regulating the Militia: No person or persons whatever in any town or garrison within this province, shall during the time of war, or of keeping a military watch in such town or garrison, presume to discharge or shoot off any gun or guns after sun-setting, or before the sun's-risingItem type:Item, 1786 N.H. Laws 409-10(1786)An Act for Forming and Regulating the Militia within this State, and for Repealing All the Laws Heretofore Made for that Purpose, § 7: [E]very non-commissioned officer and soldier, both in the alarm list and training band, shall be provided, and have constantly in readiness, a good musket, and a bayonet fitted thereto, with a good scabbard and belt, a worm, priming-wire and brush, a cartridge-box that will hold at least twenty-four rounds, six flints, and a pound of powder, forty leaden balls fitted to his gun, a knap sack, a blanket, and a canteen that will hold one quart.