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New Hampshire

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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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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    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 Command
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    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 militiamen
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    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."
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    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."
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    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.
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    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.