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 55

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.
1893 N.C. Sess. Laws 468-69
(1893)
Pub. Laws, ch. 514, §§ 1-2: Prohibiting the transfer of any pistol, pistol cartridge, brass knucks, Bowie knife, dirk, loaded cane, or slingshot to a minor.
1893 N.C. Sess. Laws 148
(1893)
Pub. Laws, ch. 191, §§ 1-3: That no body of men composed of more than three persons calling themselves detectives or claiming to be in the employ of any detective agency or known and designated as detectives shall go armed in this state.
1893, N.C. Sess. Laws 356-57
(1893)
Pub. Laws, ch. 374, § 38: It shall be unlawful for any persons to organize a military company, or drill or parade under arms as a military body, except under the militia laws and regulations of this state; and no person shall exercise or attempt to exercise the power or authority of a military officer in this state unless he holds a commission from the governor, and any person offending against this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned at the discretion of the court.
1876-77 N.C. Sess. Laws 606
(1877)
Resolution of Mar. 6, 1877, N.C. Pub. Laws 606 (Resolution in Relation to Public Arms): That the adjutant general be required to collect and deposit in the state arsenal, such arms and equipments belonging to the state as are now in unauthorized hands, whereever they may be found, and that the necessary expenses of travel, freight and drayage, incident thereto, be paid by the treasurer of the state upon the warrant of the governor.
1883 N.C. Sess. Laws 819-20
(1883)
Ch. 96, § 3: That if any person after crossing said bridge shall refuse to pay toll, or shall drive rapidly, or ride at a trot, gallop or run, or discharge firearms at the bridge, the same shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction before a justice of the peace in Catawba or Iredell county
1876-77 N.C. Sess. Laws 53
(1877)
Ch. 4, §§ 1-2: That if any person shall cast, or throw, or shoot, any stone, rock, bullet, shot, pellet, or other missile, at, against, or into, any railroad car, locomotive, or train, while the said car or locomotive shall be in progress from one station to another, or while the said car, locomotive or train shall be stopped for any purpose, with intent to injure said car or locomotive, or any person therein or thereon, the person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine or imprisonment in the county jail, or the State prison, at the discretion of the Court.
1889 N.C. Sess. Laws 502
(1889)
Ch. 527, § 1: That it shall be unlawful for any person to point any gun or pistol at any person, either in fun or otherwise, whether such gun or pistol be loaded or not loaded.
1879 N.C. Sess. Laws 231
(1879)
Ch. 127, §§ 1-2: Prohibited the concealed carry of any pistol, Bowie-knife, dirk, dagger, slung-shot, loaded cane, brass knuckles, iron knuckles, metal knuckles, or other deadly weapon of a like kind. Violators guilty of a misdemeanor.
1887 N.C. Sess. Laws 885
(1885)
Ch. 58, § 22, pt. 50: Imposed a twenty-five dollar property tax on every pistol, Bowie-knife, dirk, sword-cane, or other deadly weapon.
N.C. Const. of 1875, art. I, § 24
(1875)
Reiterated the terms of the US second amendment. Included a second portion declaring that standing armies are dangerous to liberty and ought not to be kept up. A third section declared that nothing herein contained shall justify carrying concealed weapons or prevent the legislature from enacting penal statutes against said practice.
1879 N.C. Sess. Laws 355-56
(1879)
Ch. 198, §§ 1-7: Any tramp who shall enter any dwelling house or kindle any fire on the highway or on the land of another without the consent of the owner or occupant thereof, or shall be found carrying any firearms or other dangerous weapon, or shall threaten to do any injury to any person or to the real or personal estate of another, shall be punished by imprisonment at the discretion of the court, not to exceed twelve months.
1868-69 N.C. Sess. Laws 59-60
(1868)
Pub. Laws, ch. 18, § 1: [I]f any person or persons whomsoever shall be known to hunt in this state on the Sabbath with a dog or dogs, or shall be found off of their premises on the Sabbath, having with him or them a shot-gun, rifle or pistol, he or they shall be subject to indictment; and, upon conviction, shall pay a fine not to exceed fifty dollars at the discretion of the Court, two-thirds of such fine to enure to the benefit of the free public schools in the County of which such convict is a resident, the remainder to the informant.
1861 N.C. Sess. Laws 25
(1861)
Pub. Laws, 2d. Extra Sess., ch. 17, § 10: Every resident enrolled and notified, as is directed in the third section of this act, shall within one month thereafter, provide himself with a good musket, smooth bore gun or rifle, shot pouch and powder horn, and shall appear so armed and accoutred when called out to exercise or in actual service; the commissioned officers shall severally be armed with a sword or revolver at his discretion
1874-75 N.C. Sess. laws 280
(1875)
Ch. 207, §§ 1-2: That the Adjutant General be and he is hereby authorized, and directed, under the direction of the Governor, to draw if practicable such additional breech loading Springfield rifles, muskets and the accoutrements therefor as the State is entitled to, not to exceed four hundred, and to issue the same under the provisions of chapter ninety-six, acts of one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three and one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, entitled an act to provide for and furnish arms to military schools.
1866-67 N.C. Sess. Laws 103
(1867)
Pub. Laws, ch. 72, § 14: Property tax of one dollar on every dirk, Bowie knife, pistol, sword cane, dirk cane, and rifle cane. Violators guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by forfeiture of the weapon.
1868-69 N.C. Sess. Laws 407-08
(1868)
Pub. Laws, ch. 167, § 7: Every person who commits any assault upon the person of another, with any deadly or dangerous weapon, or who unlawfully shoots or attempts to shoot at another with any kind of fire-arms, with intent to injure any person, without intent to kill such person or to commit any felony, shall be punished upon conviction, by imprisonment in the State's prison not exceeding five years.
1871-72 N.C. Pub. Laws, 115
(1872)
Ch. 68, §§ 1-4: That if any person shall hunt for with gun, or chase with a dog, or shall kill or destroy any deer running wild in the woods, between the fifteenth day of January and the first day of September next thereafter ensuing, unless in an enclosure surrounded by a sufficient fence, at least five feet high, and where such person shall have a lawful right so to do, the person so offending shall pay a penalty of fifty dollars
1865-66 N.C. Sess. Laws 33-34
(1866)
Pub. Laws, ch. 21, § 11: Imposed a $1 tax on every dirk, Bowie knife, pistol, sword cane, dirk cane, and rifle cane used or worn during the year.
1874-75 N.C. Sess. Laws 18
(1874)
Ch. 21, §§ 1-2: That the auditor of the State is hereby authorized and directed to issue his warrant upon the public treasurer for the payment of such sums as may be certified by the adjutant general and governor, and as may be actually necessary to pay the freight and drayage upon the public arms received as the quota of North Carolina, from the United States government, under the acts making provision for the arming of the militia of the several States and territories, or returned to the arsenals of the United States for exchange under the act of Congress of one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
1871-72 N.C. Pub. Laws 241
(1872)
ch. 152, §§ 1-3: That it shall be unlawful for any person to catch or destroy with seins, nets, firearms, bows and arrows or by muddying or stirring the waters, or by striking any fish of any kind in the waters of Black or South rivers in the counties of Now Hanover, Sampson, Cumberland and Harnett and of the waters of Six Runs in the counties of New Hanover and Sampson, between the fifteenth day of May and the fifteenth day of August in each and every year.
1865-66 N.C. Sess. Laws 103-04
(1866)
Pub Laws, ch. 40, § 15: "an act to amend chapter one hundred and seven, section sixty-six, of the Revised Code, relating to free negroes having arms;
1860-1861 N.C. Sess. Laws 68
(1860)
Pub. Laws, ch. 34, § 1: Prohibited "any free negro" from wearing or carrying or keeping in his house any "any shot gun, musket, rifle, pistol, sword, sword cane, dagger, bowie knife, powder or shot."
1856-1857 N.C. Sess. Laws 34
(1856)
Pub. Laws, ch. 34, § 23, pt. 4: On every pistol, except such as are used exclusively for mustering, and on every bowie-knife, one dollar and twenty five cents; on dirks and swordcanes, sixty five cents: Provided, however, That of said arms, only such shall be taxable, as at some time within the year have been used, worn or carried about the person of the owner, or of some other, by his consent.
1850-51 N.C. Sess. Laws 243
(1850)
Ch. 121, § 5: Applied a property tax on all pistols, Bowie-knives for one dollar. A property tax of fifty cents applied to dirks, sword canes.

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