North Carolina

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North Carolina

This jurisdictional hub aggregates FRC holdings related to North Carolina. It supports research on the state’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, militia and frontier records, coastal and naval stores archives, manufacturing and law-enforcement collections, and oral histories tied to North Carolina 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 - 29 of 29

1782 N.C. Sess. Laws 413-14
(1782)
Created a draft for the Continental Army. Subject to the draft were "all the inhabitants ... between the ages of sixteen and fifty." To prevent the widespread community practice of filling draft ranks with the most vulnerable and least motivated, the act specified that "no British or Hessian deserter who hath not been a resident of this State twelve months, or orphan or apprentice under eighteen years of age, Indian, sailor or negro slave, shall be received as a substitute for any class volunteer or draft whatever."
1792 N.C. Sess. Laws 33-34
(1792)
The minimum age remained 18, while the maximum dropped to 45. The mandatory arms paralleled the federal statute. Each infantryman was required to "provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than 24 cartridges suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball ; or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch and powder-horn, 20 balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder."
1777 N.C. Sess. Laws 1
(1777)
The Militia of every County shall consist of all the effective men from sixteen to fifty years of age.
1746 N.C. Sess. Laws 244
(1746)
Mandated that each militiaman appear with "a Gun, fit for service, a Cartouch Box, and a Sword, Cutlass, or Hanger [a type of sword], and at least Twelve Charges of Powder and Bail, or Swan Shot, and Six Spare Flints
1715 N.C. Sess. Laws 29
(1715)
The Militia of this Government shall consist of all the Freemen within the same between the years of Sixteen years & Sixty. This included free blacks. Each militiaman had to provide himself with "a good Gun well-fixed Sword & at least Six Charges of Powder & Ball."
1760 N.C. Sess. Laws 518
(1760)
"[T]hat all Freemen and Servants within this Province, between the Age of Sixteen and Sixty ... there be mustered, trained, and exercised in Arms, and be provided with a well-fixed Gun, shall forfeit and Pay, if at a private Muster, Six Shillings, if at a general Muster Ten Shillings; and shall also be provided with a Cartouch-Box, a Sword, Cutlass or Hanger, and have at least Nine charges of Powder (made into Cartridges) and sizeable Bullets or Swan Shot, and Three spare-flints, a Worm, a Picker..."
1715 N.C. Sess. Laws 30
(1715)
"And Be It Further Enacted by the Authority afors'd that all such persons who by this Act are exempt from Enlisting themselves or appearing at Muster as afors'd shall be ready at any time of danger to wait & attend the commands of the Governor or Commander in Chief for the time being completely provided with Arms & Ammunition on Penalty of Ten Pounds for such neglect to be levied by Warrant from the Governor or Commander in Chief as before in this Act is appointed for other times."
23 W. Clark, State Records of North Carolina 63 (1904)
(1715)
Ch. 46, An Act Concerning Servants & Slaves: Directed "that every Christian Servant shall be allowed by their Master or Mistress at the expitation of his or her time of srvice Three Barrells of Indyan Corn & two new Suits of Apparrel of the Value of Five ounds at leasr or in liey of one suit of Apparrel a good well-fixed Gun, if he bwe a Manservant."
1787 N.C. Sess. Laws 813-14
(1787)
The militia law kept the militia as "all freemen and indented servants within this State, from eighteen to fifty years of age." The required arms and equipment were now more specific and varied by role in the militia. For commissioned officers in the infantry, "side arms" (handguns) "or a spontoon" (a pole arm). For private and non-commissioned officers, a musket or rifle, plus a cartridge box, powder horn, shot pouch "in good condition," "nine charges of powder made into cartridges with sizeable balls or swan-shot," a spare flint, and one worm and picker. As for artillerymen, they "shall be armed and accoutred with small arms in the same manner of the infantry, except the non-commissioned officers, who shall have swords instead of fire-arms." Horsemen, whether officers or privates, needed "a strong, serviceable horse, at least fourteen hands high, with a good saddle, bridle, holsters, one pistol, horseman's sword and cap, a pair of shoe boots and spurs," plus "a proper cartouch-box and cartridges all in good order."
1785 N.C. Sess. Laws 710-11
(1785)
Raised the minimum militia age to 18. Militiamen included "all freemen and indented servants" (but not servants for life, a/k/a slaves). Militiamen had to arm themselves with "a well fixed gun and cartouch-box, with nine charges of powder made into cartridges and sizeable bullets or swan-shot, and one spare flint, worm and picker.
1792 N.C. Sess. Laws 33
(1792)
The minimum age remained 18, while the maximum dropped to 45. The mandatory arms paralleled the federal statute. Each infantryman was required to "provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than 24 cartridges suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball ; or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch and powder-horn, 20 balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder."
America's Founding Charters: Primary Documents of Colonial and Revolutionary Era Governance 232 (Jon L. Wakelyn ed. 2006) (Concessions and Agreements, Jan. 11, 1664)
(1664)
All inhabitants and freemen of Carolina above seventeen years of age and under sixty shall be bound to bear arms and serve as soldiers whenever the grand council shall find it necessary."
1760 N.C. Sess. Laws 521
(1760)
Every trooper (horseman) needed "Holsters, Housing, Breast-Plate and Crupper, a Case of good Pistols, a good Broad Sword, Twelve Charges of Powder, Twelve sizeable Bullets, a Pair of Shoe-Boots, with suitable Spurs, and a Carbine well fixed, with a good Belt, Swivel and Bucket."
1770 N.C. Sess. Laws 787-88
(1770)
Eliminated a conscientious objector exemption and ordered "all Male Persons of the people called Quakers, between the age of Sixteen and Sixty" to enlist in the militia. Additionally, the act provided that "the Father or where there is no Father living, the Mother of each and every Person under the age of Twenty One Years, shall be liable to the Payment of the Fines becoming due from their respective sons so under age."
1779 N.C. Sess. Laws 191-2
(1779)
[E]ach Militia Soldier [had to] be furnished with a Good Gun, Shot bag a Cartouch Box or powder Horn, a Cutlass or Tomahawk.
1777 N.C. Sess. Laws 1
(1777)
The Militia of every County shall consist of all the effective men from sixteen to fifty years of age.
Francois X. Martin, A Collection of Statutes of the Parliament of England in Force in the State of North Carolina 60-61 (1792)
(1792)
Restatement of the Statute of Northampton, prohibiting going armed with force and arms in affray of peace, nor to go nore ride armed by night nor by day in fairs, markets, nor "in the presence of the King's Justices.
1786 N.C. Sess. Laws 407
(1786)
An Act for Raising Troops for the Protection of the Inhabitants of Davidson County, ch. 1, § 5: That every able bodied man who shall be enlisted into the said service, and shall furnish himself with one good rifled or smooth bored gun fit for service, one good picker, shot-bag and powder-horn, twelve good flints, one pound of good powder, and two pounds of good leaden bullets or buck shot suitable to his gun . . . [shall be provided with certain items of clothing].
John Haywood, A Manual of the Laws of North-Carolina, Arranged under Distinct Heads in Alphabetical Order, Oaths and Affirmations 40 (1814)
(1814)
The oath of a Constable, § XXIII: You shall swear that you will well and truly serve the State of North Carolina in the office of a constable, you shall see and cause the peace of the State to be well and duly preserved and kept according to your power, you shall arrest all such persons as in your sight shall right or go armed offensively, or shall commit or make any riot, affray or other breach of the peace; you shall do your best endeavor, upon complaint to you made, to apprehend all felons, and rioters, or persons riotously assembled; and if any such offender shall make resistance with force, you shall make hue and cry, and shall pursue them according to law
James Iredell, A Digested Manual of the Acts of the General Assembly of North Carolina 75 (1847)
(1846)
Prohibited selling or delivering firearms and weapons to "any slave, or slaves, any gun cotton, fire arms, swords, dirks or other side arms."
James Iredell, A Digested Manual of the Acts of the General Assembly of North Carolina 73 (1847)
(1840)
Prohibited "any free negro, mulatto, or free person of color" from carrying or possessing any shotgun, musket, rifle, pistol, sword, dagger, or bowie knife without a license from the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of his or her country.
1777 N.C. Sess. Laws 41, 43-44
(1777)
Ch. 6, § 9: That all persons failing or refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance, and permitted by the County Courts, as immediately aforesaid, to remain in the State, shall be adjudged incapable and disabled in Law to have, occupy or enjoy, any Office, Appointment, License, or Election of Trust or Profit, civil or military, within this State, and shall not be capable of being elected to, or aiding by their Votes to elect another to be a Member of Assembly, and shall not by themselves, or by Deputy, Attorney or Trustee, execute any such Office, Trust or Appointment, and shall be disabled to prosecute any Suit at Law or Equity, or to be Guardians, Executors or Administrators, or capable of any Legacy, or Deed of Gift of Lands, and shall be disabled from taking any Lands by Descent or Purchase, or conveying Lands to others for any Term longer than for one Year, and shall not keep Guns or other Arms within his or their House, but the same may be seized by a written Order of a Justice of the County in which he or they reside; and after the Expiration of the said Sixty Days, he or they shall not be permitted to depart this State without Permission first had and obtained from the Governor and Council; and in Case of being suffered to depart, shall give Bond and sufficient Security, if such shall be required, not to be aiding to the Enemies of this State during his or their Absence; and in Case of their Departure without such Permission had, he or they shall forfeit all their Goods and Chattels, Lands and Tenements, to the Use of the state?"
1715-55 N.C. Sess. Laws 36
(1729)
An Additional Act to an Act for Appointing Toll-Books, and for Preventing People from Driving Horses, Cattle, or Hogs to Other Persons' Lands, ch. 5, § 7: Prohibited "slaves" to hunt on any person's land besides their master's with any weapon.
1756-1776 N.C. Sess. Laws 168
(1768)
An Act To Amend An Act Entitled, "An Additional Act To An Act, Entitled, An Act To Prevent Killing Deer At Unseasonable Times, And For Putting A Stop To Many Abuses Committed By White Persons Under Pretense Of Hunting, ch. 13: Whereas by the before recited act, persons who have no settled habitation, or not tending five thousand corn hills, are prohibited from hunting, under the penalty of five pounds, and forfeiture of his gun[.]
1715-55 N.C. Sess. Laws 69
(1745)
An Act to Prevent Killing Deer at Unseasonable Times: That it shall not be lawful for any person to kill or destroy any deer, running wild in the woods or unfenced grounds in this government, by guns, or any other ways or means whatsoever, between the fifteenth day of February, and the fifteenth day of July, yearly, and in each year, after the ratification of the said act; and that any person convicted of the same, shall forfeit and pay the sum of five pounds, current money . . .
N.C. Const. art I, § 30
(1776)
Declared a right to bear arms in defense of the state, and that standing armies are dangerous to liberty in times of peace and shall not be "kept up."
John Haywood, A Manual of the Laws of North-Carolina 234-35 (1814)
(1784)
Hunting, § 3: If any person or persons shall be discovered hunting in the woods with a gun, in the night time, by fire light, such person or persons so offending shall, upon conviction, by indictment or presentment in any court of record in this state, be fined by such court 20 current money, to be applied to the use of the county wherein the offence was committed until all costs accruing upon the presentment be paid.
John. A Haywood, Manual of the Laws of North-Carolina 199-200 (1808)
(1768)
Hunting, § 2: From and after the First day of January next, no person whatever (masters excepted) not having a freehold of one hundred acres of land within this province, or tending ten thousand corn hills, at least five feet distance each, shall hunt or kill deer, under the penalty of ten pounds proclamation money for every offence;
A Collection of all the Public Acts of Assembly, of the Province of North-Carolina 215 (1752)
(1746)
"the Militia of this Government shall consist of all the Freemen and Servants... between the Age of Sixteen Years, and Sixty?" Further, the statute required every member of the militia to be "well provided with a gun, fit for service, a Cartouch Box, and a Sword, Cutlass, or Hanger, at least 12 charges of powder and ball, or swung shot, and six spare flints?"

North Carolina

North Carolina

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