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.
How to Use
- 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.
Questions
For questions about coverage, rights, or submissions, contact the Firearms Research Center (firearmsresearchcenter.org).
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Item type:Item, 7 William Waller Hening, Stat. at Large: Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia 93-94 (1823)(1757)Restored the minimum militia age to 18 and set the maximum age at 60. Soldiers had to furnish themselves with "a firelock well fixed, a bayonet fitted to the same," and keep an extra pound of powder and "four pounds of ball" at home.Item type:Item, 5 Stat. at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682-1801, at 197-200 (1898)(1755)"No youth under the age of twenty-one years nor any bought servant or indented apprentice shall be admitted to enroll himself or be capable of being enrolled in the said companies or regiments without the consent of his or their parents or guardians, masters or mistresses, in writing under their hands first had and obtained."Item type:Item, 8 Stat. at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801, at 492 (1902)(1755)Provided "that it be recommended to all male white persons within this province, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years, who have not already associated, and are not conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms, to join the said [militia] association immediately."Item type:Item, 8 Stat. at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801, at 539 (1902)(1755)Imposed a special tax on "every male white person capable of bearing arms, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years" who had not joined a militia.Item type:Item, 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 307 (1980)(1755)Set the minimum age at twenty-one for enlistment for out-of-colony service without consent of a parent, guardian, or master.Item type:Item, 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 502 (1980)(1757)Kept the age for militia between the Age of Sixteen and Fifty Years.Item type:Item, 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 385, 425 (1980)(1756)Set the minimum age at twenty-one for enlistment for out-of-colony service without consent of a parent, guardian, or master.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 502-11 (1980)(1757)Required most men aged 16 to 50 to enroll in the colony's militia, maintain specified arms and ammunition, and attend three annual training musters. Absences, appearing unarmed, or failing to keep required equipment resulted in fines, enforceable through seizure and sale of property. Captains were required to inspect arms regularly. Selling alcohol to militia members during musters was prohibited and punishable by fine. During invasions, rebellions, or alarms, militia members were subject to court-martial discipline for disobedience or nonappearance, though punishments could not include death or mutilation.Item type:Item, 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 425-36 (1980)(1756)Established a colonel to command New Jersey's frontier forces and required him to oversee discipline, training, and military readiness. He was obligated to conduct regular inspections of forts and posts, maintain at least eighty men on patrol, keep detailed records of enlistments, discharges, deaths, and military activities, and submit periodic reports to the governor and legislature. The colonel was also required to take loyalty oaths and swear to maintain accurate muster rolls and payroll records to prevent fraud and ensure proper compensation of soldiers.Item type:Item, 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 385-90 (1980)(1756)Authorized New Jersey to raise 250 volunteer freemen to defend the Sussex County frontier against Native American attacks. The volunteers were organized into three companies, received pay and limited protection from civil debt collection, and could be supplied with colony-owned muskets if necessary. The law prohibited enlisting minors, slaves, servants, or apprentices without permission and imposed substantial penalties on officers who violated those restrictions. It also appropriated funds for soldiers' wages, provisions, ammunition, and other military supplies, and established procedures for managing and disposing of unused stores.Item type:Item, 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 307-19 (1980)(1755)Authorized New Jersey to raise 500 free men and allied Native Americans for a military expedition against French encroachments. Volunteers received enlistment bonuses, military pay, and temporary protection from most civil debt collection, while safeguards prevented them from using enlistment to defraud creditors. Further, prohibited enlisting men under 21, slaves, servants, or apprentices without written permission from their parents, guardians, or masters. Justices could order their release, and officers who unlawfully enlisted or detained them faced substantial fines: £500 for minors, £100 for slaves, and £20 for servants or apprentices.Item type:Item, 18 The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia 117-18 (1910)(1755)Requirement that "any Slave" have a ticket to use a firearm that must be renewed every month, subject to seizure.Item type:Item, 1756 R.I. Laws, Feb Sess. 73(1756)Made the parents of militiamen under 21 liable for unpaid fines for neglect of duty.Item type:Item, 8 The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801, at 539 (1902)(1755)Imposed a special tax on "every male white person capable of bearing arms, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years" who had not joined a militia.Item type:Item, 5 The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682-1801, at 197-200 (1898)(1755)"No youth under the age of twenty-one years nor any bought servant or indented apprentice shall be admitted to enroll himself or be capable of being enrolled in the said companies or regiments without the consent of his or their parents or guardians, masters or mistresses, in writing under their hands first had and obtained."Item type:Item, 8 The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801, at 492 (1902)(1755)Provided "that it be recommended to all male white persons within this province, between the ages of sixteen and fifty years, who have not already associated, and are not conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms, to join the said [militia] association immediately."Item type:Item, 3 Laws of New Hampshire: Province Period 83 (Henry Harrison Metcalf ed., 1915)(1754)Made the parents over persons under twenty-one liable for fines imposed for their sons' militia delinquency or neglect.Item type:Item, 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."Item type:Item, 6 William Waller Hening, Stat. at Large; Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia 531 (1819)(1755)§ 5: That every person so as aforesaid enlisted (except free mulattoes, negroes, and Indians) shall be armed in the manner following, that is to say: That every person so as aforesaid enlisted (except free mulattoes, negroes, and Indians) shall be armed in the manner following, that is to say: Every soldier shall be furnished with a firelock well fixed, a bayonet fitted to the same, a double cartouch-box.Item type:Item, 7 William Waller Hening, The Statutes at Large; Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia 35 (1820)(1756)Prohibited Catholics from being armed and requiring oaths of allegiance and supremacy in front of justices of the peace.Item type:Item, 4 Stat. at Large of S.C. 34 (1838)(1756)An Act for Disposing of the Acadians Now in Charleston, § 10: Prohibited "Acadians" from using a firearm or other offensive weapon and allowed people to seize such weapons.Item type:Item, The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801, at 108, ch. 388, § 1 (Vol. 5, 1898)(1751)"That if any persons or persons whatsoever, within any county town, or within any other town or borough, in this province, already built and settled, or hereafter to be built and settled . .. shall fire any gun or other fire-arm, or shall make or cause to be made, or sell or utter, or offer or expose for sale, any squibs, rockets or other fire-works, within any of the said towns or boroughs without the Governor's special license for the same, every such person or persons, so offending shall be subject to the like penalties and forfeitures, and to be recovered in like manner, as in and by an act, passed in the eighth year of the reign of King George the first, entitled, "An act for preventing accidents that may happen by fire, are directed to be levied and recovered."Item type:Item, 5 Stat. at Large of Pa. 613 (J. Mitchell & H. Flanders Comm'r. 1898)(1759)All persons enrolled to be armed with a musket, fuse, firelock, cutlass, bayonet or tomahawk, cartridge box, twelve shots of ball and powder. Allowed individuals to opt out. Used by the Court to show an idiomatic meaning for the term arms, ie to "carry."Item type:Item, An Act for Forming and Regulating the Militia of the Province of Pennsylvania, 627, PA. CONS. STAT. (WM Stanley Ray 1898) (Law Passed 1757).(1757)That all arms, military accoutrements, gunpowder and ammunition of what kind soever, any papist or reputed papist within this province hath or shall have in his house or houses or elsewhere one month after the publication of this act, shall be taken from such papist or reputed papist by warrant under the hands and seals of any two justices of the peace, who are hereby empowered and required to issue a warrant for search as often as they shall receive information or have good cause to suspect the concealment of arms and ammunition in the houses of any papist or reputed papist; and the said arms, military accoutrements, gunpowder and ammunition so taken shall be delivered to the colonel of the regiment within whose district the said arms are found, by him to be safely kept for the public use. And if any such papist or reputed papist, shall have any arms, military accoutrements, gunpowder or ammunition after the time so as aforesaid limited, the same being so seized shall be forfeited: And if any such papist or reputed papist shall attempt to conceal such arms, military accoutrements, gunpowder and ammunition as aforesaid, or refuse to declare and manifest the same to the said justices of the peace or to any other person authorized by warrant to search for, seize and take the same, every such person so offending shall be imprisoned by warrant from the said justices for the space of three months, without bail or mainprize."Item type:Item, The Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania from 1682 to 1801, at 108, ch. 388, § 1 (Vol. 5, 1898)(1750)That if any persons or persons whatsoever, within any county town, or within any other town or borough, in this province, already built and settled, or hereafter to be built and settled . .. shall fire any gun or other fire-arm, or shall make or cause to be made, or sell or utter, or offer or expose for sale, any squibs, rockets or other fire-works, within any of the said towns or boroughs without the Governor's special license for the same, every such person or persons, so offending shall be subject to the like penalties and forfeitures, and to be recovered in like manner, as in and by an act, passed in the eighth year of the reign of King George the first, entitled, "An act for preventing accidents that may happen by fire, are directed to be levied and recovered."Item type:Item, Ordinances of the Corporation of the District of Southwark and the Acts of Assembly Relating Thereto, at 49, Firing of Guns, § 1 (1829)(1750)§That if any person shall fire any gun or other fire-arm, or shall make, or cause to be made, or sell or utter, or offer to expose to sale, any squibs, rockets or other fire-works, or shall cast, throw or fire any squibs, rockets or other fire-works, within any of the said towns or boroughs, without the Governor's special license for the same, every such person or persons, so offending, shall be subject to the like penalties and forfeitures, and to be recovered in like manner, as in and by an act, passed in the eighth year of the reign of King George the first, entitled, " An Act for Preventing Accidents, EtcItem type:Item, Acts and Laws of His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire in New England 63 (1761)(1759)An Act About Powdr Money, § 1: That every foreign ship or vessel above thirty tons, coming into any port or part of this province from over the sea to trade or traffick [sic], all or the major part of the owners whereof are not actually inhabitants of this province, shall, every voyage they make, pay two shillings in money per ton, or one pound of good gunpowderItem type:Item, Acts and Laws of His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire in New England 1-2 (1761)(1759)And every justice of the peace within this province, may cause to be stayed and arrested, all affrayers, rioters, disturbers or breakers of the peace, or any other who shall go armed offensively, or put his Majesty's subjects in fear, by menaces or threatening speechesItem type:Item, Acts and Laws of His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire in New England 115-16 (1761)(1759)An Act in Addition to the Act for Regulating the Militia: No person or persons whatever in any town or garrison within this province, shall during the time of war, or of keeping a military watch in such town or garrison, presume to discharge or shoot off any gun or guns after sun-setting, or before the sun's-risingItem type:Item, 1750 Mass. Acts 544(1750)An Act for Preventing and Suppressing of Riots, Routs and Unlawful Assemblies, ch. 17, § 1: Prohibited the carrying of a club or other weapon while unlawfully, riotously, or tumultuously assembling. Punishable by seizing the weapon and a hearing before the court.Item type:Item, 1757 Mass. Acts 323(1757)An Act in Addition to the Several Acts of This Province for Regulating the Militia, ch. 12: That the Captain or Chief Officer of each military foot company, shall instruct and employ his Company in military exercises six days in a year . . . and on each of said days he shall make a strict enquiry into the state of the arms and ammunition of his Company . . . that every person from the age of sixteen to sixty, not exempted by law, shall appear with arms and ammunition according to law, and attend his duty each of the aforesaid days. . .Item type:Item, 1749-51 Mass. Acts 339(1751)An Act for Preventing and Suppressing of Riots, Routs and Unlawful Assemblies, ch. 12: If any Persons to the Number of Twelve or more, being Arm'd with Clubs or other Weapons, or if any Number of Persons consisting of Fifty or upwards, whether armed or not, shall be unlawfully riotously or tumultuously assembled; any Justice of the Peace, Field-Officer or Captain of the Militia, Sheriff of the County or Under-Sheriff, or any Constable of the Town, shall among the Rioters, or as near to them as he can safely come, command Silence while Proclamation is making, and shall openly make Proclamation in these or the like Words,Item type:Item, An Act to Prevent Popery within this Province, in Votes and Proceedings of the Lower House of Assembly of the Province of Maryland (22 May, 1756)(1756)"And be it further Enacted, That all such Armour, Gunpowder, and Ammunition, of whatsoever Kinds, as any Papist whatever, within this Province, hath or shall have in his House or Houses, or elsewhere, or in the Hands and Possession of any other Person at his or their Disposition, shall be taken from such Papist, or Others, which have or shall have the same to the Use of such Papist, by Warrant of any Four Justices of the Peace of the County where such Papist shall be Resident (other than such necessary Weapons as shall be thought fit by the same Justices to remain and be allowed for the Defence of the Person or Persons of such Papists, or for the Defence of his, her or their HousesItem type:Item, An Act for Regulating the Militia of the Province of Maryland, in Votes and Proceedings of the Lower House of Assembly of the Province of Maryland (22 May, 1756)(1756)Prohibited the sale of strong liquor within five miles of any place of militia training.Item type:Item, 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 307 (1980)(1755)Set the minimum age at twenty-one for enlistment for out-of-colony service without consent of a parent, guardian, or master.Item type:Item, 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 385, 425 (1980)(1756)Set the minimum age at twenty-one for enlistment for out-of-colony service without consent of a parent, guardian, or master.Item type:Item, 1752 N.J. Laws 444(1750)Ch. 112, 4: Prohibited "any Negro or Mulatto Slave" from being off their master's property with a gun on the Lord's Day after nine in the evening.Item type:Item, 3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 502 (1980)(1757)Kept the age for militia between the Age of Sixteen and Fifty Years.Item type:Item, 18 The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia 190 (1910)(1756)"And be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that it shall not be Lawful for any of the said Acadians to have or use any fire Arms or other Offensive Weapons otherwise than in his Masters Plantation or immediately under his Inspection on any Occasion, Account or pretence whatsoever."