Pennsylvania

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Pennsylvania

This jurisdictional hub aggregates FRC holdings related to Pennsylvania. 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 code, attorney general opinions, appellate decisions, and select municipal ordinances.
Historical materials: newspapers, photographs, maps, catalogs, frontier and militia records, armory and manufacturing archives (e.g., gunmaking traditions), and oral histories tied to Pennsylvania 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 - 24 of 24

A Digest of the Laws and Ordinances for the Government of the Municipal Corporation of the City of Reading 240 (1897)
(1897)
City Park, § 20(8) : Prohibited any person from carrying firearms, or discharge in the common or within fifty yards therof, or throw stones or other missiles therein.
By-Laws and Ordinances of the City of Pittsburgh 188 (1828)
(1827)
Ch. 103, § 2: That if any person shall fire off or discharge wantonly and without reasonable cause, any gun, pistol, fowling piece, or any other fire-arms, at any place or from any house, within the city, or in any of the streets, alleys or highways of the said city, such person shall forfeit and pay for every such offence the sum of five dollars.
W.W. Thomson, A Digest of the Acts of Assembly Relating to and the General Ordinances of the City of Pittsburgh 496 (1893)
(1893)
Prohibited carry of firearms, shooting or throwing of stones, or setting snares within the limits of the park or within one hundred yards thereof.
Laws and Ordinances for the Government of the Municipal Corporation of the City of Williamsport 141 (1891)
(1891)
An ordinance prescribing the rules and regulations for the government and protection of Brandon Park, § 21: Prohibited carry of fire-arms, shooting in the park, discharging fire-works, throwing stones, or throwing missiles within the limits of Brandon Park
1847 Pa. Laws 266
(1847)
No. 208, § 1: That if any person shall open any tomb or grave in the lands of the cemetery of Laurel Hill cemetery company of Philadelphia . . . or shall shoot or discharge any gun or other fire arms within said limits shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. . .
Saunders Lewis, Ordinances of the Corporation of and Acts of Assembly Relating to the City of Philadelphia 128 (1851)
(1821)
A Supplement to an ordinance titled "an ordinance for the suspension of nuisances[.]" § 2: If any person shall fire off or discharge, wantonly and without any reasonable cause, any gun, pistol, fowling-piece or other fire-arms, at any place or from any house within the city of Philadelphia, or in any of the streets, alleys or highways of the said city, such person shall forfeit and pay for every such offence the sum of five dollars.
Frank F. Brightley, A Digest of the Laws and Ordinances of the City of Philadelphia 513 (1887)
(1887)
Commissioners of Fairmount Park, art. VII, § 57, pt. 2: Prohibited carry of firearms, shooting of birds, or throwing stones or missiles within fifty yards of Fairmount Park.
Acts of Assembly Relating to Fairmount Park 18 (1868)
(1868)
§ 21: No persons shall carry fire-arms, or shoot birds in the Park, or within fifty yards thereof, or throw stones or other missiles therein.
P. G. Carey, A Digest of the Ordinances of the Borough of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania 135 (1906)
(1906)
Parks § 1.4: Prohibited carry of fire-arms, shooting birds, throwing stones or other missiles within Reeves Park.
Laws of the City of Johnstown, Pa. 84 (1897)
(1897)
Any person who shall on any public street, alley, square, or public grounds, within the limits of the city, willfully discharge any gun or firearm - excepting in necessary defense of self or property - or shall wantonly throw any metal, stone, brick, bullet, or other missile, or who shall willfully explode any torpedo, bomb, fire-cracker, or fire-works in any place on either public or private grounds, or on the street corners or alleys, shall upon conviction pay a fine of not less than one dollar or more than fifty dollars with costs.
Annual Message of the Mayor and Annual Reports of the City Controller, Commissioners of the Water and Lighting Department, City Engineer, Building Inspector, Sanitary Committee, Chief of Police, Superintendent of the fire and Police Alarm Telegraph, Chief Engineer of the Fire Department and Ordinances Passed and approved During the Session of 1895, of the City of Harrisburg, Penna., for the Year 1895, at 180 (1897)
(1895)
§That any person who shall discharge any bow guns, air guns, sling shots, or play the game of catty, shinny or golf or any device dangerous to person or property, shall upon conviction thereof before the mayor or any alderman be fined not less than two nor more than twenty dollars, and in default of payment thereof be imprisoned not exceeding five days. § 3. That any person or persons found in possession of any bow gun, air gun, sling shot, or any device the use of which is dangerous to person or property, shall upon conviction thereof, before the mayor or any alderman, be subject to the same penalty as though discovered in the act of using the same.
1871 Pa. Laws 142, No. 148, § 20
(1871)
To pass ordinances providing for the punishment of discharging fire-arms of any description, rockets, gun-powder and fireworks in the streets of the city or in the immediate vicinity of any building.
1903 Pa. Laws 198-99, No. 142, §§ 1-2.
(1903)
§Be it enacted that six months after the passage of this act it shall be unlawful for any person to discharge, on the streets or alleys, of any city or borough in this Commonwealth, a flobert rifle, air gun, spring gun, or any implement which impels with force a metal pellet of any kind.§
Ordinances of Tyrone Borough, Pa. 35 (1893)
(1893)
That from and after the passage of this Ordinance it shall be unlawful for any person to discharge any gun, pistol, or other fire arm (in or upon any of the streets or alleys) within the limits of the borough of Tyrone. §2. Any person violating the provisions of this Ordinance, shall, upon conviction before the Burgess, be subject to a fine of not less than one ($1) dollar nor more than fifty ($50) dollars at the discretion of the Burgess, and in default of payment thereof be confined in the lock-up not exceeding forty-eight (48) hours.
John C. McCombs, Charter of the City of Allegheny 141 (1870)
(1870)
Any person who shall fire off, or discharge any gun, pistol, fowling piece, or other fire-arms, within the limits of the city of Allegheny, unless the same be in defense of person or property, shall forfeit and pay a fine of not less than $1.00 nor more than $4.00, upon conviction.]
A Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, from the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred to the Sixth Day of June, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty-Three, at 1451, Railroads, pt. 10, § 194 (11th ed., vol. 2, 1885)
(1876)
If any person shall break, pull down or destroy any part or parts of said inclined plane, or other property of the said corporation, or shall willfully obstruct the passage in or to said inclined plane, or any part or parts thereof, each such person shall forfeit and pay to the said corporation the sum of ten dollars for each and every such offence, to be recovered as other debts of a like amount are recoverable; and if any person shall be guilty of carrying a lighted cigar or pipe, or carrying fire into the station-houses and buildings of the corporation, in any manner except in a lantern, or shall discharge any pistol or gun, or any fire-works in or near the building of the said company
1874 Pa. laws 91, Ferries and Bridge Companies, § 31, cl. 5
(1874)
If any person . . . shall discharge any pistol, or gun, or any fire-arms on or near said bridges, he, she or they so offending shall forfeit and pay to the said company the sum of five dollars each. . .
PHOENIXVILLE, A DIGEST OF THE ORDINANCES, Parks, § 1, no. 4 (Daily Republican Print 1906) (Passed 1878).
(1878)
No person shall carry fire-arms or shoot birds or throw stones or other missiles therein."
T. Henry, A Digest of the Ordinances of the Corporation of the District of Penn, and Acts of Assembly Relating Thereto 286 (1852)
(1851)
That there shall be appointed a captain of the watch, and a sufficient number of able bodied men as watchmen, as may be deemed necessary from time to time; and it shall be the duty of the said captain to aid the watchmen in preventing burglaries, robberies, and other outrages and disorders within the district. And to that end, be and they are hereby empowered and required to arrest, apprehend and confine all persons whom they shall find disturbing the peace, or shall have cause to suspect of any unlawful or evil design, or persons discharging or firing off any hand gun, pistol or other firearms, or shall cast, throw or fire any squibs, rockets or other fireworks, or make or assist at making bonfires within the regulated parts of the district in the night time; and shall take the person or persons so apprehended, as soon as conveniently may be, before the police or other magistrates, as may be from time to time directed, to be examined and dealt with according to law?
Purdon's Digest, A Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, from the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred to the Twenty-Eighth Day of May, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-Three, at 107, Burial Grounds § 2 (Vol. 8, 1853)
(1849)
Any person who shall willfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure or remove any tomb, monument, grave, stone or other structure, placed in any cemetery or grave yard appropriated to, and used for the internment of human beings, within this state, or shall willfully injure, destroy, or remove any fence, railing or other work for the protection or ornament of such places of internment, or shall willfully destroy, cut break or remove any tree, shrub or plant within the limits of said places of internment, or shall within the same, shoot or discharge any gun or other fire arms, or shall open any tomb or grave within the same, and clandestinely remove or attempt to remove any body or remains therefrom, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof, before any justice of the peace of the county where the said offence is committed, be punished by a fine, at the discretion of the justice, according to the aggravation of the offence, of not less than one nor more than fifty dollars, for the use of the said county. . .
Ordinances of the Borough of Phoenixville, at 9-10, Ordinances 25-26 (1855)
(1855)
§It shall not be lawful for any person or persons whatever to wantonly fire any gun, pistol or any other kind of firearms within the bounds of the Borough, and any person or persons so offending, upon conviction before the Burgess or either of the Justices of the Peace, shall pay a fine of five dollars for each offence, and in default of payment of said fines and costs shall be committed to the jail of Chester County: Provided, That this ordinance shall not apply to the High Constable or to any officer appointed by the Burgess or Town Council in the legal discharge of their office. Also prohibited the concealed carry of firearms
1848 Pa. Laws 182, No. 147, § 13
(1848)
. and if any person shall be guilty of carrying any lighted cigar . . . or who shall discharge any pistol or gun, or any fire arms on or near said bridge, so that the said bridge, by possibility, be set on fire, or injured by said cause, he or she so offending shall forfeit and pay to the said corporation, the sum of five dollars for every such offence. . .
1822, By-Laws, Rules and Regulations of the?Company for Erecting a Permanent Bridge over the River Schuylkill, at 89, Rules and Regulations, pt. 14.
(1822)
No guns or other firearms shall be discharged on or near the bridge. And the toll collectors and watchmen are hereby authorized and required to take every legal measure to bring offenders to justice, who, in violation of this regulation and the laws of the Commonwealth, thus annoy passengers and endanger the bridge. A suitable reward will be given, when such offenders are convicted as the law directs.
An Act of Incorporation for that Part of the Northern Liberties, Lying between the Middle of Sixth Street and the River Delaware, and between Vine Street and Cohocksink Creek, with Ordinances for the Improvement of the Same 51 (1824)
(1824)
That no person or persons shall fire, or discharge any cannon, or piece of artillery, or small arms, or prove any pistol, gun, musket barrels, or cannon, or illuminate, or cause to be illuminated, any house within the regulated parts, incorporated as aforesaid, in said township

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

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