Virginia

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Virginia

This jurisdictional hub aggregates FRC holdings related to Virginia. It supports research on the Commonwealth’s firearms history, technology, law, policy, and culture from the colonial period through statehood to the present.

Legal sources: statutes and session laws, administrative code, attorney general opinions, appellate decisions, and select municipal ordinances.
Historical materials: newspapers, photographs, maps, catalogs, colonial and militia records, maritime and manufacturing archives, agricultural and law-enforcement collections, and oral histories tied to Virginia people and places.
Research outputs: technical reports, academic studies, training manuals, and curated datasets relevant to the Commonwealth.

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 - 34 of 34

1874-75 Va. Acts 282-83
(1874)
Ch. 239, § 6, sched. B(18): Included the value of all "rifles, muskets, and other fire-arms, bowie-knives, dirks, and all weapons of a similar kind" in list of taxable personal property, imposing a tax payable of 50 cents per 100 dollars of value.
The Charter and General Ordinances of the Town of Lexington 108 (1892)
(1873)
Prohibited the discharge of firearms and other weapons in public streets and alleys, punishable by a fine of one to five dollars.
The Charter and General Ordinances of the Town of Lexington 87 (1892)
(1869)
Penalized carrying concealed weapons (including pistols and bowie knives) with fines and forfeiture, except for officers on duty. Further prohibited supplying cigarettes or specified weapons to minors under sixteen, punishable by fines.
University of Virginia Board of Visitors Minutes 6-7 (Oct. 4-5, 1824)
(1824)
Banned students from keeping or using weapons or arms of any kind or gunpowder on campus.
An Ordinance, for the Government of the Powder Magazine of this City, and for other purposes (1828)
(1828)
That no person or persons within the City of Richmond, shall retain in his, her or their possession at any time, more than twenty-five pounds of Powder.
The Code of Lynchburg 116 (Thomas D. Davis ed., 1887)
(1887)
Prohibited discharge of any gun, pistol, other fire-arm, fireworks, or popcrackers without written consent of the mayor, or fire any cannon within one hundred yards of any dwelling-house. Violators fined not less than one dollar but no more than ten dollars.
Ordinances of the Corporation of the City of Richmond ch. 26, § 13 (1830)
(1830)
That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to fire or discharge any Gun, Pistol, Fowling-Piece or Fire-Arms, or to make any other unusual noise within the limits of this City, whereby the inhabitants thereof may be alarmed, except in cases of necessity or in the performance of some public and lawful act of duty, nor to discharge or set-off any Rocket, Cracker, Torpedo, Squib or Balloon, containing any substance in a state of combustion, or other Fire-works within the said City, without permission first had and obtained in writing, from the Mayor of the City, under the penalty of six dollars and sixty-six cents for each offence, if free
The Charters and Ordinances of the City of Richmond 227 (1859)
(1859)
An Ordinance Concerning Nuisances Other Than in the Streets, § 11: If any person shall sell, or expose for sale in this city, any torpedos, popcrackers, squibs, or other fire-works, of any kind whatever, except in packages containing each at least one hundred, or shall without permission in writing from the mayor, discharge, or set off, in any street or alley of the city, any balloon, rocket, torpedo, popcracker, fireworks or any combination of gunpowder, or any other combustible or dangerous material; or if any person shall, except under the fortieth section of the ordinance concerning streets, without necessity fire or discharge in this city any cannon, gun, pistol, or other fire-arms of any kind, or shall make therein any unusual noise, whereby the inhabitants thereof may be alarmed, or raise or fly a kite in this city, or if any auctioneer shall use any bell or herald to notify the public of any sale, except of real property, every such person herein offending, shall pay a fine of not less than one nor more than twenty dollars.
The Charters and Ordinances of the City of Richmond ch. 62, §§ 1–7 (1869)
(1869)
Ch. 62, Concerning Powder, §§1-7: Not more than fifty pounds of powder shall be transported in the city at one time, except by a military company, or in a vehicle constructed as the Engineer of the city shall prescribe.
1883-84 Va. Acts 180
(1884)
Ch. 143, § 1: Prohibited the concealed carry of any pistol, dirk, bowie-knife, razor, slung-shot, or any weapon of the like kind. Violators fined not less than twenty but no more than one hundred dollars. Violators also punished with confiscation of the weapon.
Thomas D. Davis, The Code of the City of Lynchburg 117 (1887)
(1887)
Section 19: Vehicles carrying explosives (gunpowder, blasting powder, dynamite) must secure them in kegs, boxes, or canisters to prevent spilling or escaping. Section 20: Limits vehicles carrying over 25 lbs (or one keg/case) of explosives to maximum stays of 2 hours within city limits and 30 minutes on public streets or sidewalks. Daytime transport from storage facilities to supply merchants or wholesalers is permitted as needed.
1881 Va. Acts 499
(1881)
Extra Session, ch. 119, § 1, pt. 18: Taxed the aggregate value of all shot-guns, rifles, muskets, and other fire-arms, Bowie-knives, dirks, and other weapons of a similar kind. Applied to all males over the age of twenty one.
Thomas D. Davis, The Code of the City of Lynchburg 116 (1887)
(1887)
Prohibited fireworks, firecrackers, and firearm discharge within city limits, restricted cannon firing, and imposed $1–$10 fines. It limited possession of gunpowder or explosives to 10 pounds, except for licensed retailers, who could store up to 50 pounds in secure metal containers.
1878 Va. Acts 301
(1877)
Carrying Concealed Weapons, ch. VI, § 7: If a person habitually carry about his person, hid from common observation, any pistol, dirk, bowie-knife, or any weapon of the like kind, he shall be fined not more than fifty dollars.
2 Va. Code, tit. 40, ch. 185, § 4695 (1919)
(1889)
Prohibited transfer "to any minor under sixteen years of age, cigarettes, or pistols, or dirks, or bowie knives."
1877 Va. Acts 305
(1877)
Ch. 7: Prohibited any person carrying a gun, pistol, Bowie-knife, dagger, or other dangerous weapon to a place of public worship while meeting for religious purposes. Violators fined not less than twenty dollars, and may be held without warrant for three hours by a "conservator of the peace."
1879-80 Va. Acts 104
(1879)
Ch. 5, § 4, pt. 19: To direct the location of all buildings for storing gun-powder or other combustible substances; to regulate the sale and use of gunpowder, fire-crackers, fire-works, kerosene oil, nitroglycerine . . . the discharge of firearms
1881-82 Va. Acts 233, ch. 219, § 1
(1881)
Prohibited the conceal carry of any pistol, dirk, Bowie-knife, or any weapon of the like kind. Violators fined not more than fifty dollars, nor less than fifteen dollars.
1885-86 Va. Acts 275
(1885)
Ch. 258, § 10: Any person who shall willfully destroy, injure or remove any tombstone or monument placed in the said cemetery . . . or shall shoot of or discharge any gun, pistol or other firearm within the said enclosure, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than five dollars. . .
1873 Va. Code 802–03
(1865)
Tit. 29, ch. 99, § 5: If any person shall hunt, shoot, fowl or range with or without dogs, on the lands of another, without the consent of the owner or tenant of such lands, or shoot along any public road, or in the streets of any town or village, in any of the counties of this commonwealth, on the lands comprehended in the survey of any proprietor, he shall be deemed guilty of a trespass, and shall be fined for each offense five dollars
The Charter and Ordinances of the City of Richmond tit. 7, ch. 46, § 12 (1869)
(1869)
Concerning Nuisances Not in Streets: No person, firm or incorporated company shall keep in any house in the city any loaded shell or shot, or any explosive material of any sort, not authorized by ordinance. And any person, firm or incorporated company violating the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars; and each day on which the same is so kept in the city shall be a distinct offence and punishable as such."
1838 Va. Acts 76
(1838)
Ch. 101, § 1: It is against the law to habitually or generally keep or carry about his person any pistol, dirk, bowie knife, or any other weapon of the like kind . . . hidden or concealed from common observation.
1875 Va. Acts 102
(1875)
Ch. 124: Prohibited the carry of any gun, pistol, Bowie knife, dagger, or other dangerous weapon into places of public worship without sufficient cause.
1847-48 Va. Laws 129, ch. 14, § 16.
(1848)
If any person shall go armed with any offensive or dangerous weapon without reasonable cause to fear an assault or other injury, or violence to his person, or to his family or property, he may be required to find sureties for keeping the peace for a term not exceeding twelve months, with the right of appealing as before provided.
Alexandria Gazette, Jun. 15, 1876, at 2
(1876)
An Act for Raising the Revenue for the Next Fiscal Year, § 2: Imposed a 10 dollar tax on shooting galleries
1847-48 Va. Acts 67
(1846)
Ch. 79, § 1: That if any person shall unlawfully shoot at another in any public square ... with intent in so doing to maim, disfigure, disable or kill such person, or to do him some other bodily harm, ... every such offender, his aiders and abettors, shall be guilty of a high misdemeanor. and shall on conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the common jail for a period not less than six months nor more than three years...
1875 Va. Acts 109
(1875)
Ch. 100, § 12: If any person shall, at any time, either in the night or day-time, shoot at wild fowl in any county bordering . . . with any gun which cannot be conveniently discharged from the shoulder at arm's length without a rest, or have such gun in his possession on a boat, a justice of any such county shall require such gun to be surrendered, and shall order it to be destroyed, and shall fine the offender ten dollars.
1847-48 Va. Acts 110
(1847)
Ch. 7, § 8: Created a fine for habitual conceal carrying of any pistol, dirk, Bowie knife, or weapon of the like kind. Fifty dollars
1875 Va. Acts 164
(1875)
Ch. 162: Approved a property tax on all males over the age of twenty-one on the aggregate value of all rifles, muskets, and other firearms, Bowie-knives, and all weapons of a similar kind.
1870 Va. Acts 1206
(1870)
Tit. 54, ch. 191, § 7: If a person habitually carry about his person, hid from common observation, any pistol, dirk, bowie knife, or any weapon of the like kind, he shall be fined fifty dollars, and imprisoned for not more than twelve months in the county or corporation jail. The informer shall have half of such fine.
The Charter and Ordinances of the City of Richmond 196–97 (1869)
(1869)
Ch. 34, § 42: If any person engaged in military exercise shall fire or discharge, in any street or public alley of this city, any cannon, gun, pistol, or any other firearms, except on the fourth of July, the twenty-second of February and the nineteenth day of October, or at military burial or some extraordinary occasion allowed by the Mayor (and by him notified through the newspaper, or by posting handbills or otherwise), or if any person shall, in any street or public alley in said city, play at bandy or throw snowballs, stones or other missiles, or discharge arrows form a bow or cross-bow, or blow a horn, he shall be fined not less than one nor more than ten dollars.]
General Ordinances of the City of Winchester, Ordinance XXI (1875).
(1875)
Gunpowder. To be kept in metallic canisters in limited quantities: "It shall not be lawful for any person or persons or firm, for any purpose whatsoever, to store or keep within the limits of this city a larger quantity of powder than twenty-five pounds. All powder shall be kept well secured in a close tin or other metallic canister ; provided that larger quantities may be kept in such magazine or other place as the council may provide or designate for the storage of powder, subject to such regulations and charges as the council may prescribe."
Revised Ordinances of the Corporation of Winchester 78 (1856)
(1856)
Section 3 prohibited firing a gun or pistol within the corporation carries a $1 fine, unless done out of necessity during public duty or during a military parade ordered by a commanding officer. Section 4 prohibited discharging a cannon or field-piece within 100 yards of a dwelling without the owner or occupier's consent, subject to a $5 fine for anyone participating, aiding, or abetting. Section 5 prohibited selling fireworks, firecrackers, or squibs within the corporation, punishing with a $5 fine per offense. Section 6 prohibited setting off fireworks or flying kites within the corporation, resulting in a $1 fine per offense, with half of the collected fine awarded to the informer.
Charter and Revised Laws of Alexandria § 23 (1821)
(1821)
An Act Reducing into One and Amending the Several Acts Respecting the Removal of Nuisances, § 23: That no person shall discharge any musket, fowling piece, pistol, or other fire arms, or any composition of gun powder, or fulminating powder, within the limits of the town of Alexandria, unless in the execution of some law, or in the discharge of some duty imposed by law. Every person ofiending herein, shall forfeit and pay one dollar for each offence."

Virginia

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