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.

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Now showing 1 - 40 of 69

1841 Ala. Laws 148-49
(1841)
§ 4: Prohibited the concealed carrying of "a bowie knife, or knife or instrument of the like kind or description, by whatever name called, dirk or any other deadly weapon, pistol or any species of firearms, or air gun," unless the person is threatened with an attack or is traveling or "setting out on a journey." Punished by a fine of $50-100.
Wis. Stat. Ann. 2379, § 4384 (1889)
(1848)
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.
Tex. Const., Art. I, § 13
(1845)
Declared every citizen "shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defence of himself and the State"
Mason Brayman, Revised Statutes of the State of Illinois 176 (1845)
(1845)
Criminal Jurisprudence, § 139: Prohibited the carrying of "any pistol, gun, knife, dirk, bludgeon or other offensive weapon, with intent to assault any person. Punishable by fine up to $100 or imprisonment up to 3 months.
1847-48 Va. Laws 129, ch. 14, § 16.
(1848)
If any person shall go armed with any offensive or 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 be required to find sureties for keeping the peace for a term not exceeding twelve months, with the right of appealing as before provided.
1847-48 Va. Acts 67
(1846)
Ch. 79, § 1: That if any person shall unlawfully shoot at another in any public square ... with intent in so doing to maim, disfigure, disable or kill such person, or to do him some other bodily harm, ... every such offender, his aiders and abettors, shall be guilty of a high misdemeanor. and shall on conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the common jail for a period not less than six months nor more than three years...
1847-48 Va. Acts 110
(1847)
Ch. 7, § 8: Created a fine for habitual conceal carrying of any pistol, dirk, Bowie knife, or weapon of the like kind. Fifty dollars
1849 Vt. Acts & Resolves 26
(1849)
Prohibited the manufacture, sale, giving, or disposing of any instrument or weapon usually known as a slungshot, and prohibited the carrying any slungshot or similar weapon. Violators guilty of misdemeanor, punishable by fine not exceeding five hundred but not less than two hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding two years.
1844 R.I. Pub. Laws 503
(1844)
Required all white males aged eighteen to forty-five years old to be enrolled in the militia except idiots, lunatics, common drunkards, paupers, vagabonds, and persons convicted of any infamous crime.
1840 R.I. Pub. Laws 3, 17
(1840)
An Act to Regulate the Militia, § 46: If any non-commissioned officer or private shall become a pauper, vagabond, or common drunkard, or be convicted of any infamous crime, he shall be forthwith disenrolled from the militia."
1843 R.I. Pub. Laws 13
(1843)
An Act to Regulate The Militia, § 38: No non-commissioned officer or private, shall unnecessarily, or without orders from his superior officer, come on to any place of parade, with his musket, rifle, or pistol loaded with balls, slugs, shot, or other dangerous substance, or shall so load the same while on parade.
1847 Pa. Laws 266
(1847)
No. 208, § 1: That if any person shall open any tomb or grave in the lands of the cemetery of Laurel Hill cemetery company of Philadelphia . . . or shall shoot or discharge any gun or other fire arms within said limits shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. . .
A Digest of Acts of Assembly, Relating to the Incorporated District of the Northern Liberties; and of the Ordinances for the Government of the District, at 101-02, Gun Cotton, § 1 (1847)
(1847)
§That no gun-cotton shall be introduced in Philadelphia, nor placed in storage therein, in greater bulk or quantity in any one place, than is permitted by existing laws, with regard to gunpowder; and that all the fines, penalties and forfeitures imposed by an act entitled "An act for securing the city of Philadelphia, and the neighborhood thereof, from damage by gunpowder,"
Purdon's Digest, A Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, from the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred to the Twenty-Eighth Day of May, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-Three, at 107, Burial Grounds § 2 (Vol. 8, 1853)
(1849)
Any person who shall willfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure or remove any tomb, monument, grave, stone or other structure, placed in any cemetery or grave yard appropriated to, and used for the internment of human beings, within this state, or shall willfully injure, destroy, or remove any fence, railing or other work for the protection or ornament of such places of internment, or shall willfully destroy, cut break or remove any tree, shrub or plant within the limits of said places of internment, or shall within the same, shoot or discharge any gun or other fire arms, or shall open any tomb or grave within the same, and clandestinely remove or attempt to remove any body or remains therefrom, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof, before any justice of the peace of the county where the said offence is committed, be punished by a fine, at the discretion of the justice, according to the aggravation of the offence, of not less than one nor more than fifty dollars, for the use of the said county. . .
1848 Pa. Laws 182, No. 147, § 13
(1848)
. and if any person shall be guilty of carrying any lighted cigar . . . or who shall discharge any pistol or gun, or any fire arms on or near said bridge, so that the said bridge, by possibility, be set on fire, or injured by said cause, he or she so offending shall forfeit and pay to the said corporation, the sum of five dollars for every such offence. . .
1842 Ohio Acts 73, An Act to Incorporate the Woodland Cemetery Association of Dayton, § 5 (vol. 40)
(1841)
That any person who shall willfully . . . shoot or discharge any gun within the limits aforesaid, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor
1841 Ohio Gen. Stat. 257, ch. 35, § 6
(1841)
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.
James Iredell, A Digested Manual of the Acts of the General Assembly of North Carolina 75 (1847)
(1846)
Prohibited selling or delivering firearms and weapons to "any slave, or slaves, any gun cotton, fire arms, swords, dirks or other side arms."
James Iredell, A Digested Manual of the Acts of the General Assembly of North Carolina 73 (1847)
(1840)
Prohibited "any free negro, mulatto, or free person of color" from carrying or possessing any shotgun, musket, rifle, pistol, sword, dagger, or bowie knife without a license from the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of his or her country.
1849 N.Y. Laws 403
(1849)
Ch. 278, § 1: Prohibited the manufacture, sale, giving, or disposing of any instrument or weapon usually known as a slungshot, and prohibited the carrying any slungshot or similar weapon. Violators guilty of misdemeanor, punishable by fine not less than two hundred and fifty, nor over five hundred dollars, or imprisonment not less than six months, nor over two years.
Adam B. Chambers, The Revised Ordinances of the City of Saint Louis 304 (1843)
(1843)
[Ordinances of Kansas City, Misdemeanors, § 10: Every person who shall discharge any cannon or other ordinance, or fire off any carbine, fusil, rifle, musket, gun, pistol, or other arms, or set off any squib or cracker, or fly any kite in the air, within the city, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. This section shall not apply to the firing of salutes by any military corps, or to the firing of salutes upon any occasion of general public interest.
1840 Mo. Laws 193-94
(1840)
An Act To Incorporate The Rural Cemetery Association, § 7.: Any person who shall willfully . . . shoot or discharge any gun or other fire arms within the said limits, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof before any justice of the peace, or any other court of competent jurisdiction within the county of St. Louis, be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars, nor more than fifty dollars, according to the nature and aggravation of the offence[.]
Mo. Rev Stat 306, § 4 (1845)
(1844)
An Act To Restrain Intercourse With Indians, § 4: No person shall sell, exchange or give, to any Indian, any horse, mule, gun, blanket, or any other article or commodity whatever, unless such Indian shall be traveling through the state, and leave a written permit from the proper agent, or under the direction of such agent in proper person.
1840 Miss. Laws 181
(1840)
Ch. 111, § 5: Authorized the town of Hernando to enact restrictions on the carrying of dirks, Bowie knives, or pistols.
Volney Erskine Howard, The Statutes of the State of Mississippi 676 (1840)
(1840)
§ 55 : If any person having or carrying any dirk, dirk knife, Bowie knife, sword, sword cane, or other deadly weapon, shall, in the presence of three or more persons, exhibit the same in a rude, angry and threatening manner, not in necessary self-defense, or shall in any manner unlawfully use the same in any fight or quarrel, the person or persons so offending, upon conviction thereof in the circuit or criminal court of the proper county, shall be fined in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding three months.
1841 Miss. Laws 52
(1841)
Ch. 1, § 1: Imposed an annual property tax of $1 on each Bowie knife.
Volney Erskine Howard, The Statutes of the State of Mississippi 675-76 (1840)
(1840)
§ 54: Prohibited dueling
A. Hutchinson, Code of Mississippi 182 (1848)
(1844)
Ch. 8, § 1: A tax of two dollars on each dueling or pocket pistol, except such as are kept for sale by merchants, artisans, or kept for use by military companies. . .
1841 Mich. Pub. Acts 29-30
(1841)
No. 18, §14: And the said common council shall have power . . . relative to the keeping and sale of gunpowder in said village[.]
The Revised Charter and Ordinances of the City of Detroit 150 (1848)
(1848)
§§ 9-10: No person shall fire or set off any squib, cracker, gunpowder or fire works, or fire any gun or pistol in any part of this city, unless by written permission of the Mayor or two Aldermen, which permission shall limit the time of such firing, and shall be subject to be revoked at any time by the Common Council; and any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this section, shall forfeit the penalty of five dollars for each and every offence. § 10. Every person firing a cannon within this city, unless by permission of the Mayor or two Aldermen, shall forfeit the penalty of twenty-five dollars: Provided, that nothing in this or the preceding section shall be construed to prohibit any military company from firing any gun or cannon when authorized by their commanding officer or officers.
1846 Mich. Rev. Stat. 200-01
(1846)
§ 3. The inhabitants of every township or incorporated village may, at any regular meeting, order that no gunpowder shall be kept in any place within the limits of such township or village, unless the same shall be kept in tight casks or canisters; and that no gunpowder above the quantity of fifty pounds, shall be kept or deposited in any shop, store or other building, or in any ship or vessel, which shall be within the distance of twenty-five rods from any other building, or from any wharf; that no gunpowder above the quantity of twenty-five pounds, shall be kept or deposited in any shop, store or other building, within ten rods of any other building; and that no gunpowder above the quantity of one pound, shall be kept or deposited in any shop, store or other building, within ten rods of any other building, unless the same shall be well secured in copper, tin or brass canisters, holding not exceeding five pounds each, and closely covered with copper, brass or tin covers. § 4. Upon complaint being made on oath to any justice of the peace, by any township or village officer, that he has probable cause to suspect that gunpowder is deposited or kept within the limits of the township or village, contrary to any such order, such justice may issue his warrant, directed to any constable of such township, or the marshal of such village, ordering him to enter any shop, store or other building, or vessel specified in said warrant, and there to make diligent search for the gunpowder suspected to have been deposited or kept as aforesaid, and to make return of his doings to such justice forthwith. § 5. If any person shall commit either of the offences mentioned in the two preceding sections, he shall forfeit a sum not exceeding twenty dollars; but the two preceding sections shall not extend to any manufactory of gunpowder, nor in any case prevent the transportation thereof through any township, or from one part of any township to another part thereof.
1846 Mich. Rev. Stat. 692, § 16
(1846)
Ch. 162, §16: : If any person shall go armed with a dirk, dagger, sword, pistol 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 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.
Joseph Barlow Felt Osgood, The Charter and Ordinances of the City of Salem, Together with the Acts of the Legislature Relating to the City: Collated and Revised Pursuant to an Order of the City Council 67 (1853)
(1847)
§ 18: No gun-cotton, or other substance prepared, like it, for explosion, shall be kept within the limits of such town or city, excepting under the regulations and penalties that were then applicable by law to gunpowder; and if it shall be considered necessary for public safety, they may restrict the quantity to be so kept to one-fifth of the weight of gunpowder allowed by law in each case provided for.
The Municipal Register, Containing the City Charter, with Rules and Orders of the City Council, Also the Ordinances, and a List of the Officers of the City of Roxbury, for 1848-49, at 58 (1848)
(1848)
An Ordinance To prevent unlawful and injurious practices in the streets and other public places in the city: Prohibited the discharge of any firearms within the city of Roxbury
1841 Md. Laws 114
(1841)
An Act To Incorporate The Mount Orange Cemetery, In The County of Baltimore, ch. 148, § 4: Any Person who shall willfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure or remove any tomb, monument, grave stone, or other structure, placed in the cemetery . . . or shall shoot or discharge any gun, or other fire arms, within the said limits, shall be considered guilty of a misdemeanor . . .
The Revised Ordinances of the City of Portland 22 (1848)
(1848)
§§ 1-2: No person not licensed to keep and sell gunpowder shall keep or have in his shop, store, dwelling house or other tenement, at any one time, a larger quantity of gunpowder than one pound. § 2. No person licensed to keep and sell gunpowder shall have or keep in his store, shop, dwelling house or in any other tenement or place whatever at any one time, a larger quantity of gunpowder then twenty-five pounds.
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 12, ch. 169, § 16 (1840)
(1840)
Required any person going armed with any dirk, dagger, sword, pistol, or other offensive and dangerous weapon to post a surety once a complaint was filed, having cause to fear an injury or breach of the peace. Surety not to exceed one year with appeals provided.
Jersey City, N.J., Ordinances ch. 1, tit. 4, § 7 (1844)
(1843)
An Ordinance to regulate the paving and repairing, and to prevent obstructions in the streets of Jersey City: No person shall, within this city, fire or discharge any gun, pistol, cannon or fowling-piece, or other fire-arms, unless in defence of his property or person, nor let off any squibs, crackers, or other fireworks, unless by permission of the city authorities, under the penalty of five dollars for each and every offence."
Hohn C. White, Digest of the Laws and Ordinances of the Parish of East Feliciana 80 (1847)
(1848)
Prohibited discharge of arms within the limits of the town Clinton, except in extreme circumstances. Punishable by fine.
Ordinances of the Common Council of the City of Trenton; with the Acts of the Legislature Relative to Said City 80 (1842)
(1842)
An Ordinance Concerning the Firing of Guns, & c.: If any person or persons shall fire, discharge, or let off any gun, pistol, squib, or other fire-work within this city, within two hundred yards of any dwelling-house, stable, or any other building, or any hay or grain stack, every such person or persons so offending, and being thereof convicted before any one of the magistrates of this city, either by his own view, by the confession of the offender, or by the oath or affirmation of one credible witness, shall forfeit and pay for every such offence the sum of one dollar,

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