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Massachusetts

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Massachusetts

This jurisdictional hub aggregates FRC holdings related to Massachusetts. 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, armory and manufacturing records (e.g., Springfield Armory and industrial corridor), militia and maritime archives, and oral histories tied to Massachusetts 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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    The Compact with the Charter and Laws of the Colony of New Plymouth 1, 8-12 (William Brigham ed., 1836)
    (1620)
    Authorized the colony's council to appoint officials, enact laws consistent with English law, impose martial law during emergencies, recruit settlers, transport supplies duty-free, and use military force to defend the colony and exclude unauthorized inhabitants.
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    1793 Mass. Acts 289-90
    (1763)
    Requires free, able-bodied white male citizens ages eighteen to forty-five to enroll in the state militia and prove eligibility if questioned.
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    1 Thomas & E.T. Andrews, The Perpetual Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from the Establishment of its Constitution in the Year 1780 to the End of the Year 1800, at 340-47 (1801)
    (1788)
    Every militiaman "not under the control of parents, masters or guardians, and being of sufficient ability therefore in the judgment of the selectmen of the town in which he shall dwell," had to "equip himself, and be constantly provided with a good fire-arm," plus a ramrod, cleaning tools, a bayonet and scabbard, a cartridge box to hold "fifteen cartridges at least," plus six flints, one pound of powder, forty leaden balls suitable for this firearm, a haversack, blanket, and canteen." Officers and cavalrymen had to provide themselves with horses plus associated equipment, and a carbine (a shorter, lighter-weight long gun, well-suited for use while mounted). Militiamen who failed to equip themselves with the required arms could be fined.
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    1893 Mass. Acts 1049-50
    (1893)
    Ch. 367-An Act Concerning the Volunteer Militia, § 124: A law that unofficial armed associations are prohibited (1893): No body of men whatsoever, other than the regularly organized corps of the militia, the troops of the United States, the ancient and honorable artillery company, the veteran artillery association of Newburyport, the veteran cadet association of Salem, the veteran association of the independent corps of cadets of Boston, the Salem light infantry veteran association, the veteran artillery association of Amesbury and Salisbury, and the Boston light infantry association, shall associate themselves together at any time as a company or organization, for drill or parade with firearms, or maintain an armory in any city or town of this Commonwealth; nor shall any city or town raise or appropriate any money toward arming, equipping, uniforming or in any way supporting, sustaining or providing drill rooms or armories for any such body of men
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    Item type:Item,
    1866 Mass. Acts 219
    (1866)
    An Act Concerning The Militia, § 184: "Section 184. It shall not be lawful for any body of men whatsoever, other than the regularly organized corps of the volunteer militia, the troops of the United States, and the ancient and honorable artillery company, and the veteran artillery association of Newburyport, to associate themselves together as a military company or organization, or to parade in public with arms in any city or town of this Commonwealth, without the license of the governor thereof, which may at any time be revoked;§
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    The Compact with the Charter and Laws of the Colony of New Plymouth 115 (William Brigham ed., 1836)
    (1658)
    Required that one quarter of each militia to be armed during Sunday church services. Each militia member required to have a firearm, sword, three charges of powder and bullets. Violators fined two shillies and six pence for each day's neglect.