FRC Jurisdictions Portal

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This top community organizes Firearms Research Center holdings by jurisdiction. It provides separate collections for U.S. states, territories, the District of Columbia, and the federal jurisdiction, spanning the territorial period to the present.

Scope of Content

Legal sources: statutes and session laws, administrative code, attorney general opinions, appellate decisions, and selected municipal ordinances.
Historical materials: newspapers, photographs, maps, catalogs, company records, and oral histories tied to specific places and periods.
Research outputs: FRC reports, datasets, and interpretive materials that contextualize legal and technical developments.

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Browse: open a jurisdiction collection to view items for that state, territory, DC, or the federal jurisdiction.
Search: use keywords and filter by Jurisdiction, Date Issued, and Category. Record any Exceptions noted for applicability.
Cite: use the item’s identifier and provided links (Original Source and Duke reference) when available.

Metadata & Standards

Items are described using Dublin Core with standardized fields for Jurisdiction, Date Issued, Category, and Exceptions to support precise discovery and comparison.

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Now showing 1 - 40 of 59

1785-99 Md. Laws 845
(1798)
Required that "one complete company of infantry annexed to each regiment within this state, to be furnished with arms and accoutrements at the expense of the state … composed of men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty years."
1785-99 Md. Laws 455
(1793)
Raised the minimum age to eighteen and lowered the maximum age to forty-five.
18 Archives of Maryland: Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution 1775-1783, at 373-74 (1900)
(1781)
An Act to raise two battalions of militia for reinforcing the continental army, and to complete the number of select militia: Ordered local governments to draft one or two men to serve the Continental Army. Allowed lieutenants to play favorites: "to ease the good people, from the draught, every free male idle person, above 16 years of age, who is able bodied, and hath no visible means of an honest livelihood, may be adjudged a vagrant by the lieutenant, and by such adjudication he is to be considered as an enlisted soldier.
52 Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1755-1756, at 457 (1935)
(1756)
And be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that as much Gunpowder and lead as can conveniently be spared Shall be taken out of the Publick Magazine and transmitted in due proportions and as the Same may be needed first to the Colonels and Commanding Officers of the Frontier Counties of this Province then to the Colonels and Commanding Officers of the other Counties respectively to be distributed by them in just and equal Proportions to and among the Persons under their Command so as that no more than one pound of Gunpowder and three pounds of Lead be delivered to any one Person and in Case that after such Distribution any Surplus shall remain the Said Colonels or Commanding Officers are hereby required to retain and keep the Same in their Possession to be disposed of as hereinafter directed And be it further Enacted that if any private Man of the Militia of this Province shall in the Course of his Duty by the Command of his Superiour Officer expend any part of the Quantity of Powder and Lead by this Act directed to be brought by every Person to the Place of Muster it Shall and may be lawful for such Superiour Officer and he is hereby required to deliver to such Person a certificate of the Number of Charges so expended directed to the Colonels and Commanding Officers of the County in which Such Person resides and such Colonels and Commanding Officers or any of them in whose hands any Surplus shall be as aforesaid shall immediately on such Certificates being produced deliver to Such Person the Quantity of Gunpowder and Lead therein Mentioned. Provided always that no Gunpowder shall at any Time be expended in training unless by the Order and Direction of the Colonel or Commanding Officer of the County.
78 Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774-1776, at 20 (1836); see also 1777 Md. Laws ch. 17
(1775)
Required "[t]hat every able bodied effective freeman within this province, between sixteen and fifty years of age ... enroll himself in some company of militia." Further retained the new maximum of 50 years and excluded non-whites.
1 Archives of Maryland 77 (William Hand Browne ed., 1885) (enacted 1639)
(1639)
Required "every housekeeeper" to keep and bear one gun of "bastard muskett boare" design, bandeloors or shott bag, one pound of powder, four pounds of pistol or musket shot, sufficient quantity of matchlocks & flints, a sword, and belt.
18 Archives of Maryland: Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution 1775-1783, at 374 (1900)
(1781)
An Act to raise two battalions of militia for reinforcing the continental army, and to complete the number of select militia: Ordered local governments to draft one or two men to serve the Continental Army. Allowed lieutenants to play favorites: "to ease the good people, from the draught, every free male idle person, above 16 years of age, who is able bodied, and hath no visible means of an honest livelihood, may be adjudged a vagrant by the lieutenant, and by such adjudication he is to be considered as an enlisted soldier.
78 Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland, 1774-1776, at 20 (1836); see also 1777 Md. Laws ch. 17
(1775)
Required "[t]hat every able bodied effective freeman within this province, between sixteen and fifty years of age . . . enroll himself in some company of militia." Further retained the new maximum of 50 years and excluded non-whites.
1798 Md. Laws ch. C, § XXIII
(1798)
Required that "one complete company of infantry annexed to each regiment within this state, to be furnished with arms and accoutrements at the expense of the state ? composed of men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty years."
52 Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1755-1756, at 458 (1935)
(1756)
Kept the militia age at 16 to 60. This act changed the ammunition requirement to "nine Charges of Gun-powder and nine Sizeable Bulletts." Troopers needed to provide themselves with "a pair of good Pistols a good Sword or Hanger half a pound of Gun-powder and twelve Sizeable Bulletts and a Carbine —well fixed with a good Belt Swivel and Buckett."
3 Proceedings of the Council of Maryland, 1636-1667, at 345 (reprint 1965)
(1658)
Required that captains make "a perfect list" of "all persons able to beare Armes within theyr respective divisions that is of all men betweene 16 and 60 yeares of Age."
1 Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland 347 (William Hand Browne ed., 1883)
(1654)
All persons from 16 yeares of age to Sixty shall be provided with Serviceable Armes & Sufficient Amunition of Powder and Shott ready upon all occasions.
7 Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, October 1678-November 1683, at 53 (1889); see also 1698 Md. Acts 99
(1678)
Kept the militia ages "between sixteen and sixty yeares of age." Further required that each "appeare and bring with him one good serviceable fixed Gunn and six shoots of Powder." Troopers were required to bring their own horses, and "to find themselves with sword Carbine Pistolls Holsters & Amunition."
1908 Md. Laws 79
(1908)
§ 32A: That any person who breaks and enters, either by day or by night, any building, whether inhabited or not, and opens or attempts to open any vault, safe or other secure place by the use of nitroglycerine, dynamite, gunpowder or other explosive, shall be deemed guilty of burglary with explosives.
1910 Md. Laws 521
(1910)
§ 16c. That it shall be unlawful for any person to hunt, pursue or kill any of the birds or animals named in Section 12, 13, 14 and 14A of this Act, or any insectivorous birds (excepting English sparrows), in Allegany County on Sunday, or on election days, and it shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this Act if any person is found in the fields or woods with on a gun on Sunday or on election days, or to hunt or kill in any trap or destroy any of the birds . . .
1908 Md. Laws 397
(1908)
§ 31: It shall be unlawful for any person under the age of twenty-one years to fire a gun, cat rifle, pistol, or any explosive instrument of metal, within one mile in any direction of the Library Hall in Catonsville, Baltimore county; and any person under said age of twenty-one years, violating this section, shall upon conviction before the Circuit Court, or any justice of the peace for said county, be fined a sum not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail for not less than five days nor more than thirty days, or be both fined and imprisoned, in the discretion of the court or the justice of the peace.
1927 Md. Laws 156
(1927)
ch. 117, § 388-B: Prohibited possession of liquor in an automobile that also carries a gun, pistol, revolver, rifle machine gun, or other dangerous or deadly weapon.
1908 Md. Laws 416
(1908)
§ 116: It shall be unlawful for any person to shoot a gun, guns, or other firearms, from and off Eastern avenue bridge crossing Back river, in Baltimore county.
1900 Md. Laws 271-73
(1900)
An Act to Repeal All Existing Laws for Somerset County Relating to Wild Fowl and Game, Birds and Animals, and to Enact the Following in Lieu Thereof, for the Better Protection and Preservation of the Same, Ch. 203, §§ 5-6: And be it enacted, That no person shall trace, track or hunt for any partridge, quail, woodcock, pheasant, rabbit or other game which may be tracked in the snow, while the fields or woods are covered with snow sufficient to permit such tracking; and whosoever shall be found traversing woods or fields with dog or gun, while the same are covered with snow , as aforesaid, shall be deemed prima facie guilty of a violation of this section, and shall pay a fine of ten dollars upon conviction thereof. § 6, And be it enacted, That no person shall hunt for, shoot at or kill from boats or from the shore, with light in the night time, any muskrat, or shall hunt for, shoot at or kill at night with lights any partridge, quail or wild duck, under a penalty of five dollars for every such muskrat, bird or duck so killed
1904 Md. Laws 295
(1904)
An Act to Prohibit all Persons Under Fifteen Years of Age from Carrying or Having in Their Possession Firearms of any Description Within the Limits of Garrett County, ch. 177, §§ 1-2: § 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That it shall be unlawful for all persons under the age of fifteen years to carry or have in his or her possession any shot gun, rifle, revolver or other firearm of any description within the limits of Garrett County. § 2. And be it enacted, That any person convicted of violating this Act before any court of competent jurisdiction shall be fined not less than five dollars nor more than twenty dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail for not less than ten nor more than thirty days for each and every offense.
1900 Md. Laws 143-44
(1900)
§ 13: And be it enacted, That the Commissioners shall have the power, by ordinances duly enacted . . . to regulate or prevent the firing of cannon, guns, pistols, squibs, or any kind of firearms or explosives...
1882 Md. Laws 656, § 2
(1882)
Ch. 424 §1: Prohibited the manufacture, sale, barter, or giving away toy pistol cartridges
1882 Md. Laws 257
(1882)
An Act to . . . Exempt All That Portion of the Waters of the Chesapeake Bay Lying Northward of a Certain Line Therein Described from the Operation and Effect of Sections One and Three . . ., ch. 180, § 8: The special police appointed by this act are authorized to arrest any person or persons who may be discovered in the act of hunting or shooting crippled ducks, or in purloining ducks that have been killed by other persons having a proper license to shoot, as well as other persons violating the provisions of this section, and upon conviction thereof before any justice of the peace of Cecil or Harford Counties, the license of such persons or persons shall be revoked, and such persons or persons, whether licensed or not, shall be fined not less than twenty dollars for each offense, and shall forfeit the boat and gun or guns
1888 Md. Laws 1379
(1886)
§ 280: It shall be lawful to shoot teal ducks, mallards, black ducks, bald pates, and all other ducks known as marsh ducks, in any manner other than by swivel, gun or big gun, from one hour before sunrise until one hour after sunset every day, from the fifteenth day of August to the first day of October of each year, on the waters of the Chesapeake bay, lying and being within the bounds prescribed by section 278.
1886 Md. Laws 602
(1886)
Ch. 375: Prohibited carrying, concealed or openly with intent or purpose of injuring another, any pistol, dirk-knife, Bowie-knife, slung-shot, Billy, sandclub, metal knuckles, razor, or any other dangerous or deadly weapon whatsoever.
1904 Md. Laws 772
(1904)
An Act to Add an Additional Section to Article 27 of the Code of Public General Laws of the State of Maryland, title "Crimes and Punishments," sub-title "Distrubance of Public Peace," to be known as Section 67A, ch. 447,§ 67A: It shall be unlawful for any person or persons, body politic or corporate, or other form or association, to practice shooting at any mark, board, sign, tree, bank, or other object with any gun, rifle, cannon, mortar, pistol or other firearm within the limits of this State, whether on land or water, for military drill, amusement or skill, without first obtaining in writing the consent to so use any such firearms of all freeholders, tenants or occupants of real estate residing within the carrying capacity of such firearm, and secondly, without first obtaining leave of the Commissioners of the county within which said shooting is proposed to be carried on, and the petition to said County Commissioners for such leave shall be accompanied with the written consent of each and every of such freeholder, tenant, . . . and the Board of County Commissioners aforesaid shall in no case grant such leave to practice with firearms if in their opinion the use of the public highways or streets of any real estate sub-division be endangered by the use of such firearms . .
1894 Md. Laws 833-34
(1894)
Act of April 6, 1894, ch. 547, §§ 1-2: Every person not being a conservator of the peace entitled or required to carry such weapon as a part of his official equipment, and not carrying such weapon as a reasonable precaution against apprehended danger, who shall wear or carry any pistol, dirk knife, bowie knife, slung shot, billy, sand club, metal knuckles, razor or any other dangerous or deadly weapon of any kind whatsoever (penknives excepted,) concealed upon or about his person, and every person who shall carry or wear any such weapon openly, with the intent or purpose of injuring any person in any unlawful manner, and not for any proper purpose of self-protection, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or be imprisoned not more than two years in jail or in the house of correction
1886 Md. Laws 315
(1886)
An Act to Prevent the Carrying of Guns, Pistols, Dirk-knives, Razors, Billies or Bludgeons by any Person in Calvert County, on the Days of Election in said County, Within One Mile of the Polls § 1: Prohibited the carrying of a gun, pistol, dirk, dirk-knife, razor, billy or bludgeon on an election day within 300 yards of the polls. Punishable by fine of $10-50.
1900 Md. Laws 287-88
(1900)
General Powers, § 181: To regulate or prevent the storage of gunpowder, tar, pitch, resin, coal oil, benzene, turpentine, hemp, cotton, nitro-glycerine, dynamite, giant powder, petroleum, gasoline or gas, or any product thereof, or any other explosive or combustible material or any material which may seem to be dangerous.
1890 Md. Laws 297
(1890)
Sabbath Breaking, ch. 290, § 1: No person whatsoever shall hunt with dog or gun on the Lord's day, commonly called "Sunday," nor shall profane the Lord's day by gunning, hunting, fowling, or by shooting or exploding any gun, pistol or firearm of any kind, or by any other unlawful recreation or pastime, and any person violating the provisions of this section shall, for every such offense, upon conviction before any justice of the peace for the county, forfeit the gun, pistol or other firearm used in such violation, and be fined not less than five dollars, nor more than thirty dollars. . .
1794 Md. Laws 246
(1794)
That if any member of society shall suffer any damage by storing gunpowder in town, or breaming ships or other vessels at the wharfs, occasioned by the act, assent or direction, of such member, the insurance of such member so suffering damage, shall thereupon become void.
1879 Md. Laws 173
(1876)
Wild Fowl and Game § 23: The clerk of the Circuit Court for Harford county, and the clerk of the Circuit Court for Cecil county, shall upon the application of any resident of the State of Maryland, being the owner of any sink-box, craft or sneak-boat, such as is allowed by this act to be used and employed in shooting at wild water fowl therefrom; and giving satisfactory evidence to said clerk that the said applicant is a resident of the State of Maryland, and is the bona fide owner of the sink-box, craft, or sneak-boat, grant a license under the seal of his court, to such applicant to gun after and shoot at wild water-fowl from such sink-box or sneak-boat northward of the line named and described in first section of this act from the first day of November in each and every year to the thirty-first day of March next succeeding thereafter in each and every year; provided that such license shall not authorize any person using such sink-box or sneak-boat to gun after or shoot at wild water-fowl therefrom within a less distance than half a mile from any shore in Harford or Cecil County, or southward of the line particularly described in the first section of this act.
1811 Md. Laws 465
(1809)
§ 4: Prohibited carrying any pistol, hanger, cutlass, bludgeon, or other offensive weapon with intent to feloniously assault any person, or to be found in any dwelling house, warehouse, stable, or outhouse, garden, or area of a house with intent to steal goods or chattels.
1874 Md. Laws 224
(1874)
An Act To Protect Wild Fowl in Worcester County, ch. 164, §§ 1-2: § 1... no person shall, during the hours intervening between twilight at evening and twilight of the following morning, shoot or kill, or shoot at, capture with nets, by fire-light, any wild fowl within the limits of Worcester County. § 2. ...no person shall, at any time, kill or shoot at any wild fowl within the limits of Worcester County, with any swivel or pivot gun, or any kind of gun which cannot be conveniently discharged from the shoulder at arms length and without a rest.
58 Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly (1762-63)
(1763)
An Act for Prohibiting All Trade with the Indians, for the Time Therein Mentioned, ch. 4, § 3: Prohibited the selling and giving to "any Indian Woman" any gunpowder or to "any Indian Man" more than one pound of gunpowder, punishable by fine.
63 Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly 338 (1773)§
(1773)
§ 5: Banned carry of swords and other weapons in the House of Assembly, while the Assembly was sitting.
1870 Md. Laws 892
(1870)
Ch. 473 §§ 1-2: Anyone arrested for any crime or misdemeanor and found to have any pistol, dirk-knife, Bowie-Knife, slingshot, billy, brass, iron, or any other metal knuckles, razor, or any other deadly weapon whatsoever. Violators fined not less than three but no more than ten dollars.
1806 Md. Laws 44
(1806)
An Act to Restrain the Evil Practices Arising From Negroes Keeping Dogs, and to Prohibit Them From Carrying Guns or Offensive Weapons, ch. 81: Prohibited "any negro or mulatto" from keeping a dog or gun, except any "free negro or mulatto" who has a license for such purpose.
Resolution of the Maryland Council of Safety, August 19, 1775.
(1775)
Approving purchase of muskets with detailed manufacturing specifications and requiring that they be proved before purchase.
2 Edward Otis Hinkley, Supplement to the Maryland Code: Containing the Acts of the General Assembly Passed at the Session of 1864, at 76 (1865)
(1864)
Roads. § 12. No person shall fire any gun, pistol or firelock of any kind, on or within twenty yards of any public road, street, bridge, causeway or highway in Cecil county, under a penalty of not less than five nor more than twenty dollars, to be recovered in the same manner as prescribed in section one hundred and seventy seven of this Article.

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