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, 2 Albert G. Hodges, A Digest of the Statute Laws of Kentucky 1211 (1834)(1831)Required the quartermaster general to distribute public arms among the members of each company.Item type:Item, Leslie A. Thompson, A Manual or Digest of the Statute Law of the State of Florida 498 (1847)(1832)Act of Jan. 5, 1847, Ch. 75, § 3: Prohibited concealed carry of any dirk, pistol, or other arm or weapon. Violators fined not less than five dollars not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not less than ten days nor exceeding six months.Item type:Item, Ark. Const. art. II, § 21 (1836)(1836)Establishes the right to keep and bear arms for "the free white men of this State."Item type:Item, 1839 Wis. Terr. Stat. 381(1838)If any person shall go armed with a dirk, dagger, sword, pistol or pistols, or other offensive and dangerous weapon, without reasonable cause to fear an assault or other injury, or violence to his person, or to his family, or property, he may, on complaint of any other person having reasonable cause to fear an injury or breach of the peace, be required to find sureties for keeping the peace for a term not exceeding six months, with the right of appealing as before provided.Item type:Item, Statutes of the Territory of Wisconsin: Passed by the Legislative Assembly thereof, a Session commencing in November 1838, and at an adjourned Session commencing in January, 1839, at 381 § 16(1838)"If any person shall go armed with a dirk, dagger, sword, pistol or pistols, or other offensive and dangerous weapon, without reasonable cause to fear an assault or other injury, or violence to his person, or to his family, or property, he may, on complaint of any other person having reasonable cause to fear an injury or breach of the peace, be required to find sureties for keeping the peace for a term not exceeding six months, with the right of appealing as before provided."Item type:Item, Ordinances of the Corporation of the City of Richmond ch. 26, § 13 (1830)(1830)That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to fire or discharge any Gun, Pistol, Fowling-Piece or Fire-Arms, or to make any other unusual noise within the limits of this City, whereby the inhabitants thereof may be alarmed, except in cases of necessity or in the performance of some public and lawful act of duty, nor to discharge or set-off any Rocket, Cracker, Torpedo, Squib or Balloon, containing any substance in a state of combustion, or other Fire-works within the said City, without permission first had and obtained in writing, from the Mayor of the City, under the penalty of six dollars and sixty-six cents for each offence, if freeItem type:Item, 1838 Va. Acts 76(1838)Ch. 101, § 1: It is against the law to habitually or generally keep or carry about his person any pistol, dirk, bowie knife, or any other weapon of the like kind . . . hidden or concealed from common observation.Item type:Item, 1837 Vt. Acts & Resolves 38(1837)An Act for Regulating and Governing the Militia of This State, ch. 9, art. 20: Every non commissioned officer and private, who shall neglect to keep himself armed and equipped as provided by this act, or who shall, at any time of examination, or any company training, in the month of June, be destitute, or appear unprovided with the arms and equipments herein directed, excepting as before excepted, shall pay a fine not exceeding seventy-five cents for a gun, and twenty-five cents for each and every other article, in which he shall be delinquent; or if he shall appear with his arms in an unfit condition, he shall be fined not exceeding seventy-five cents, at the discretion of his commanding officer.Item type:Item, 1836 Tex. Gen. Laws 54-55, An Act to Provide for the National Defense by Organizing the Militia, § 1.(1836)That every citizen so enrolled and notified, shall within ten days thereafter provide himself with a good musket, a sufficient bayonet and belt, six flints, knapsack and cartridge box, with twenty-four suitable ball cartridgesItem type:Item, 1839 Tex. Gen. Laws, at 172(1839)An Act Concerning Slaves, § 6: Prohibited any "slave" from carrying firearms or weapons without the consent of his master.Item type:Item, 1839 Tex. Gen. Laws, at 214(1839)An Act To Incorporate The City Of Austin, § 7: That the Mayor and Counsel shall have full power and authority ... to prevent gunpowder being stored within the city and suburbs in such quantities as to endanger the public safety. . .Item type:Item, Tenn. Const. art. I, § 26(1831)Establishes the right to keep and bear arms for the "free white men of this State."Item type:Item, 1837-1838 Tenn. Pub. Acts 200, ch. 137, § 1.(1837)Prohibited any merchant from selling a Bowie knife or Arkansas tooth pick. Punishable by fine of $100-500 and imprisonment for $1-6 months.Item type:Item, 1837-38 Tenn. Pub. Acts 200, ch. 137, § 1(1837)An Act to Suppress the Sale and Use of Bowie Knives and Arkansas Tooth Picks in this State, ch. 137, § 1: That if any merchant, . . . shall sell, or offer to sell . . . any Bowie knife or knives, or Arkansas tooth picks . . . such merchant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof upon indictment or presentment, shall be fined in a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, and shall be imprisoned in the county jail for a period not less than one month nor more than six months.Item type:Item, 1831 Tenn. Pub. Acts 314(1831)Acts 1741, c. 24, § 40: Prohibited any "slave" from being armed with a gun, sword, club, or other weapon without a certificate from a court.Item type:Item, 1837-1838 Tenn. Pub. Acts 201, ch. 137, § 4(1837)Prohibited the stabbing or cutting of another person with any knife or weapon known as a "Bowie knife, Arkansas tooth pick, or any knife or weapon that shall in form, shape or size resemble a Bowie knife," regardless of whether the person dies. Punishable by imprisonment for 3-15 years.Item type:Item, 1836 Tenn. Comp. Stat. 325(1836)Felonies, 1829—Chapter 23, § 56: If any person within this state shall fight a duel, or shall deliberately and maliciously challenge, by word or writing, any other person, to fight with sword, pistol, or other deadly weapon, or shall deliberately and maliciously invite another verbally, or by writing, to meet him in this state, or elsewhere, with a view or intent to challenge or fight; or if any person so challenged, shall deliberately and maliciously accept the said challenge, in either case, such person so deliberately and maliciously giving or receiving, or sending any such challenge, and being convicted thereof, shall be sentenced to imprisonment, at hard labor in the penitentiary, for a term not less than three nor more than ten years: Provided always, that no person who shall be verbally challenged, shall be a competent witness to prove the fact of such verbal challenge, against any person who may be indicted for the same.Item type:Item, 1837-38 Tenn. Pub. Acts 200-01, ch. 137, § 2(1837)An Act to Suppress the Sale and Use of Bowie Knives and Arkansas Tooth Picks in this State: Prohibited the carrying of a concealed Bowie knife, Arkansas tooth pick, or other knife or weapon. Punishable by fine of $200-500 and imprisonment for 3-6 months.Item type:Item, 1836 Tenn. Comp. Stat. 496(1835)Misdemeanors, 1835—Chapter 58, § 2: Prohibited any "free person" from selling, loaning, or giving any gun, pistol, sword, or dirk to "any slave."Item type:Item, William Rice, A Digested Index of the Statute Law of South Carolina From the Earliest Period to the Year 1836, at 356 (1838)(1835)Prohibited any "free negro or other free person of color" from carry firearms without a ticket.Item type:Item, The Charter and Ordinances of the City of Providence, with the Acts of the General Assembly Relating to the City 60 (1835)(1835)An Act to Prevent the Firing of Guns within Certain Limits, § 1: That if any person shall fire or discharge any musket, rifle, fowling piece, blunderbuss or other small arms, not being at the time under military duty, within the following limits viz: the whole city of Providence, excepting the public waters and public rivers therein; also such parts of the town of Cranston and Johnston as are contained with the following limits to wit: beginning in Pawtuxet road at the Providence line, thence running Southerly on said Pawtuxet road, until it comes to a cross road heading to Cranston . . . , except upon land owned or occupied by him, or except on other days than the first day of the week, by permission of the owner or occupant of the land, on, and into which he may shoot, he shall pay as a fine the sum of five dollars for the first offence, and ten dollars for every subsequent offence; to be recovered by action of debt before any justice of the peace within the county in which said offence may be committed, by any person who may sue for the same with cost of suitItem type:Item, 1838 R.I. Pub. Laws 3-5(1838)An Act Concerning Crimes and Punishments: Every person who shall be convicted of voluntarily engaging in a duel, with any dangerous weapon, to the hazard of life, shall be imprisoned not exceeding seven years, nor less than one year. § 7. Every person who shall be convicted of challenging another to fight a duel with any with any dangerous weapon to the hazard of life, and every person who shall be convicted of accepting any challenge to fight such duel, though no duel be fought, shall be imprisoned not exceeding seven years nor less than one year.Item type:Item, An Act Incorporating the City of Cincinnati: And a Digest of the Ordinances of Said City, at 57-58, An Ordinance to Regulate the Keeping of Gunpowder, § 1 (1835)(1835)That no person or persons in the city of Cincinnati, shall keep, have, or possess, in any house, warehouse, shop, shed, or other building, nor in any street, side walk, lane, alley, passage, way, or yard, nor in any cellar, wagon, cary, or carriage, of any kind whatever; nor in any other place, within said city, Gun Powder, in any way or manner, other than as provided for by this ordinance; nor in any quantity exceeding twenty-five pounds, to be divided into six equal parts. § 2. Be it further ordained, That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to sell gun powder by retail within said city, without having first obtained a license from the city council for that purpose; and every person obtaining a grant for a license to sell gun powder, shall receive a certificate of such grant from the city clerk, and pay into the city treasury, a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, nor less than ten dollarsItem type:Item, 1837 Ohio Laws 30-31, General Acts vol. 35, An Act to Organize and Discipline the Militia, § 29.(1836)That in every regiment, squadron or battalion the field officers shall each arm himself with a good and sufficient sword and pair of pistols, and furnish himself with a good and sufficient horse, with saddle, bridle, martingale and holsters; and in each company of cavalry or troop of horse, the commissioned officers shall each be armed with a good and sufficient sword and pair of pistolsItem type:Item, Stat. of Ohio & N.W. Terr. 230, ch. 98, § 10 (Vol. 1. Cincinnati, 1833)§(1833)And if any person within this territory, shall challenge, by word or in writing, the person of another to fight at sword, rapier, pistol, or other deadly weapon, the person so challenging, shall forfeit and pay for every such offense, being thereof lawfully convicted, in any court of record within the county wherein the offense shall be committed, having competent jurisdiction by the testimony of one or more witnesses, or by the confession of the party offending, a sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, not less than fifty dollarsItem type:Item, Stat. of Ohio & N.W. Terr. 1740, ch. 834, § 6 (Vol. 3, 1835).(1831)That if any person or persons shall play bullets along or across any street in any town or village within this state; or if any person or persons shall run any horse or horses within the limits of any such town or village;§or if any person or persons shall shoot or fire a gun at a target within the limits of any recorded town plat in this state: every person or persons so offending shall be fined in a sum not exceeding five dollars, nor less than fifty cents."Item type:Item, Acts of the General Assembly and Ordinances of the Trustees for the Organization and Government of the University of North Carolina 16 (1838)(1838)Ch. 5, §§ 20-24: Every Student who shall send to any person a challenge or message, either in writing or otherwise, purporting to be a challenge to fight a duel, shall be expelled.Item type:Item, Acts of the General Assembly and Ordinances of the Trustees for the Organization and Government of the University of North Carolina 15 (1838)(1838)Ch. 5, § 13: Prohibited students from keeping any firearms or gunpowder at the college. Prohibited keeping, carrying, or owning any sword, dirk, sword-cane, or other deadly weapon. Prohibited use of firearms without the permission of the college president.Item type:Item, Acts Relating to the City of Brooklyn, and the Ordinances Thereof 25 (1836)(1836)Tit. 1, § 1: That it shall not be lawful for any person within the first six wards, and in so much of the seventh ward as lies westerly of Clinton avenue and the Jamaica turnpike, southerly of the place where the said turnpike is intersected by Clinton avenue, in said city, to fire or discharge any gun, pistol, fowling piece, or fire arms, or to explode or set off any squib, cracker, or other thing containing gunpowder, or any combustible material, under the penalty of five dollars for each and every offence.Item type:Item, Mo. Rev. Stat. 312, § 2 (1835)(1835)An Act to Restrain Intercourse with Indians, § 2: If any person shall induce any Indian to come within this state for the purpose of trade, or otherwise than is hereinafter permitted, or shall purchase or receive of any Indian the way of trade or otherwise, a horse or gun, he shall be fined in a sum not exceeding fifty dollars.Item type:Item, Mo. Rev. Stat. 414, §§ 2-3 (1835)(1835)An act concerning free negroes and mulattoes, §§ 2-3: Prohibited any "free negro or mulatto" from possessing or carrying any firelock, or weapon of any kind, or any ammunition without license from a Justice of the Peace.Item type:Item, 1834 Mo. Laws 536-37(1834)An Act to Organize Govern and Discipline the Militia, ch. 423,§art.§11, pt. 5.: Every non-commissioned officer and private, appearing without being armed and equipped as the law directs, at any parade or rendezvous, shall be sentenced to pay the following fines, namely: For want of a sufficient sword and belt, if belonging to the artillery or light artillery, and for want of a sufficient musket with a steel rod, or rifle, if belonging to a company of light infantry, grenadiers, riflemen or infantry, one dollarItem type:Item, 1839 Miss. Laws 385-86(1839)Ch. 168, § 5: Authorized the town of Emery to enact restrictions on the carrying of dirks, Bowie knives, or pistols.Item type:Item, 1837 Miss. Laws 736-37(1837)An Act To Prevent The Evil Practice Of Dueling In This State And For Other Purposes, § 5: Prohibited the use of any rifle, shotgun, sword cane, pistol, dirk, dirk knife, Bowie knife, or any other deadly weapon in a fight in which one of the combatants was killed, and the exhibition of any dirk, dirk knife, Bowie knife, sword, sword cane, or other deadly weapon in a rude or threatening manner that was not in necessary self-defense. Punishable by liability to decedent and a fine of up to $500 and imprisonment for up to 3 months.Item type:Item, 1836 Miss. Rev. Stat. 453(1836)Ch. 19, tit. 10, art. 2, § 3: No person shall fire or discharge any gun, pistol, rockets, squib, cracker, or other firework, within a quarter of a mile of any building, on the twenty-fifth day of December, on the last day of December, on the first day of January, or on the twenty-second day of February, in any year; nor on the fourth day of July or such other day as shall at any time be celebrated as the anniversary of American independenceItem type:Item, 1833 Miss. Laws 231(1833)An Act To Amend An Act Entitled An Act To Incorporate The Town Of Gallatin . . . , ch. 98, § 3; That every person who shall willfully run any horse or fire any gun or pistol within said corporation, shall for the first offence, pay the sum of five dollars, and for the second offence, shall pay ten dollars, and double that for any other offence, to be recovered before the President of the Selectmen of said town; Provided, That no person shall be liable to the penalties for shooting, when the same may be accidental or necessary.Item type:Item, 1836 Mass. Rev. Stat. 750, ch. 134, § 16(1835)Prohibited the carry of a dirk, dagger, sword, pistol, or other offensive and dangerous weapon without reasonable cause to fear assault, injury, or violence to oneself, their family, or property. Violators required to post a surety not exceeding six months.Item type:Item, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 240, § 1 (1837)(1837)Enrolled every able bodied white male citizen resident between eighteen to forty-five into the militia except idiots, lunatics, common drunkards, vagabonds, paupers, persons convicted of any infamous crime.Item type:Item, 1837 Md. Laws 1837(1837)Ch. 101, An Act for the Preservation of Wild Fowl in the Waters of Smith's Island and its Vicinity, in Somerset County, §§ 1-2: Prohibited shooting fowl from on board an open skiff, canoe, or open boat with any offensive weapon, gun, musket, fowling piece, or pistol in the region know as Hearn's Straits in Somerset County, within fifty yards of any blind for shooting fowl. Violators subject to ten dollar fine.Item type:Item, Ordinances of the City of Portland 23-24 (1833)(1832)§ 41: Be it further ordained, That if any person shall fire or discharge any gun or pistol from the top or window of any house or other building, or in or upon any of the streets, wharves, lanes, alleys, or public squares, or in any yard or garden within the city, the same being loaded with ball or shot or with powder only , every person so offending, shall, for each offence, forfeit and pay one dollar.