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 301

Chas. Ben. Darwin, Ordinances of the City of Burlington 112 (1856)
(1855)
Prohibited the discharge of firearms within the city.
Laws, Statutes, Ordinances, and Constitutions 11 (John Holt ed., 1763)
(1763)
Prohibited the discharge of firearms within the city of New York.
The Charter and General Ordinances of the Town of Lexington 108 (1892)
(1873)
Prohibited the discharge of firearms and other weapons in public streets and alleys, punishable by a fine of one to five dollars.
Concerning Firearms, in Alameda Encinal, May 3, 1882, at 3
(1882)
Prohibited firing firearms, pistols, or cannons on streets, wharves, or private property without owner consent, punishable by up to a $50 fine, 25 days' imprisonment, or both.
1788-1801 Ohio Laws 42, An Act for Suppressing and Prohibiting Every Species of Gaming for Money or Other Property, and for Making Void All Contracts and Payments Made in Furtherance Thereof,§ ch. 13, § 4.
(1788)
[I]f any person shall presume to discharge or fire,§or cause to be discharged or fire, any gun or other fire arms at any mark or object, or upon any pretence whatever, unless he or she shall at the same time be with such gun or fire-arms a the distance of at least one quarter of a mile from the nearest building of any such city, town, village or station, such person shall for every such offense, forfeit and pay to the use of the county in which the same shall be committed, a sum not exceeding five dollars, nor less than one dollar.
Ordinances, ch. 1, tit. 1, § 3, THE BOTTINEAU PIONEER, Dec. 13, 1888, at 4 (Bottineau, North Dakota)
(1888)
Any person found armed within the corporate limits of the village of Bottineau with a dirk, dagger, sword, pistol or pistols, or other offensive or dangerous weapons, without reasonable cause to fear an assault or other injury or violence to his person or to his family or property, shall, upon conviction before said justice, be punished by a fine not exceeding ten dollars, or by imprisonment in the village jail not exceeding term of thirty days.
E.B. O'Callaghan, Laws and Ordinances of New Netherland, 1638-1674, at 205 (1868); N.Y. Col. MSS, VI 207, XVI 62
(1665)
Ordinance Of The Director General And Council Of New Netherland To Prevent Firing Of Guns, Planting May Poles And Other Irregularities Within This Province: The director General and Council expressly forbid from this time forth all firing of Guns . . .on a penalty of 12 guilders for the first offense; double for the second offense, and for the third an arbitrary correction . . .
An Ordinance to Prevent Shooting With Guns, or Other Fire-Arms, Georgetown Ordinances (1811)
(1801)
"[I]t shall not be lawful for any person to shoot with any gun, or other fire-arm, within any of the inhabited parts of Georgetown or its additions; and if any person shall, contrary to this ordinance, shoot any gun or other fire-arm, such person shall forfeit and pay five dollars for every offence, to be recovered as other fines are now by law recoverable, the one half to the use of the Corporation, and the other half to the use of the informer."
1879 Wyo. Terr. Sess. Laws 97
(1879)
It shall be unlawful for any person in this territory to fire any rifle, revolver, or other fire arm of any description whatever, from any window, door, or other part of any railroad car or train, engine or tender, or along the line of railroad during the passing of any train or engine, or when any person is passing in the vicinity of the person having such fire arm, and any person so offending, shall, on conviction, be fined in a sum not exceeding twenty ($20.00) dollars, and for a second offense, confined in the county jail for a term not exceeding sixty (60) days.
1883 Wis. Sess. Laws 841
(1883)
Any person who shall be found in or upon any street, alley or public ground within said city, or within any saloon, shop, store, grocery, hall, church, school house, barn, building or other place within said city . . . shall use toward or in the presence of another, violent or insulting language or be guilty of any breach of the peace, or firing of any gun or pistol, or fighting or threatening to fight, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding twenty-five ($25) dollars and costs of prosecution, or imprisonment in the county jail not more than ninety days, or both, in the discretion of the court.
Charter and Ordinances of the City of Milwaukee 126 (1852)
(1852)
No person shall fire or set off any squib, cracker, or gun-powder, or fire-work, or build any bonfire within one hundred feet of any building in this city, under the penalty of five dollars for each and every offence; and the Mayor, Marshal or any Aldermen or Fire Warden may restrain or prohibit any fire work or bonfire in any part of the city, whenever, in their opinion there shall be danger therefrom.
Charter and Ordinances of the City of La Crosse 177 (1888)
(1888)
It shall be unlawful for any person to use firearms or to shoot off a gun or pistol or to hunt game or birds within the limits of any cemetery in the city of La Crosse; or to rob or disturb birds' nests therein, or to enter any cemetery except by the gate, and then only at such times as the same may be open to the public; or to enter the same as a thoroughfare in going from one place to another. Any person violating any provisions of this section, shall upon conviction, be fined in a sum not more than ten dollars, and in case of a second conviction shall be imprisoned not more than sixty days nor less than ten days.
Charter and Ordinances of the City of La Crosse, with the Rules of the Common Council, at 202, Ordinance no. 27 (1888)
(1881)
No person shall fire or discharge any cannon, gun, fowling piece, pistol or firearms of any description, or fire, explode or set off any squib, cracker or other thing containing powder or other combustible or explosive material, or set off or exhibit any fireworks within the limits of the city of La Crosse
Ordinances of the City of Kenosha, Ordinance no. 8, §1 & §5 (1858)
(1858)
That no person shall fire or discharge any cannon, rifle, gun, pistol, or fire arms of any description, or fire, explode, or set off any squib, cracker, or other thing containing powder or other combustible or explosive material in any street, alley, or public ground within this city south of a line running through Lemon street from the lake to the west line of the corporation, and east of West Main Street. § 5 No person shall be allowed to keep any gunpowder in any occupied building within the limits of this city without permission of the council;— and no person shall keep in any such building a greater quantity than ten pounds; which shall be kept in a close tin canister or canisters.
Charter and Ordinances of the City of La Crosse 202 (1888)
(1881)
Prohibited discharge of any cannon, gun, fowling piece, pistol, firearms, squibs, cracker, any of other thing containing powder or explosive material, or set off any fireworks. Violators fined not less than one but no more than twenty-five dollars.
1883 Wis. Sess. Laws 370
(1883)
To prohibit, restrain or regulate the discharge of fire-arms and the explosion of gunpowder and guncotton, and the firing of firecrackers and fireworks of any kind within the city.
J. Nelson Wisner, Ordinances and By-Laws of the Corporation of Martinsburg 25 (1875)
(1857)
Prohibited firing or discharging firearms or fireworks within the town or within 200 yards of its limits, except in specified circumstances. Violators faced a $1–$5 fine.
Charter and Ordinances of the City of Olympia: Also General Laws of Washington Territory, Relative to the Government of Incorporated Cities and Towns 80 (1886)
(1886)
Section 2 prohibited drawing, exhibiting, or attempting to use a deadly weapon against another person within Olympia; violations carried a $25–$50 fine. Section 3 prohibited carrying a deadly weapon concealed on one’s person within Olympia; violations carried a $5–$10 fine. Section 4 prohibited discharging any gun, pistol, or firearm within a specified area of Olympia; violations were punishable by a $5–$20 fine, 5–10 days’ imprisonment, or both.
An Ordinance Relating to Offenses and Disorderly Conduct, Olympia City Council, Ordinance No. 152, § 5 (Washington, 1882).
(1882)
No. 152, § 5: That any person or persons who shall fire or explode any fire crackers boom5 torpedoes, or any other explosives within the City of Olympia without first obtaining Permission from the City Council shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than twenty-five dollars of or by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten days, or by both such fine and imprisonment Provided that this section shall not apply to using fire works on5 the public squares, The [???]6 and Marshville Bridges and all boats or crafts upon the waters of the sound within the corporate limits of the City..."
1883 Wash. Sess. Laws 139-40
(1883)
An Act to Incorporate the City of Whatcom, Ch. 2, § 8: The city of Whatcom shall have the power to prevent injury or annoyance from anything dangerous, offensive, or unhealthy . . . to regulate and prohibit the carrying of deadly weapons in a concealed manner; to regulate and prohibit the use of guns, pistols and firearms, fire-crackers, bombs and detonating works of all descriptions[.]
1888 Wash. Terr. Sess. Laws 100
(1888)
Act of Jan. 31, 1888, § 1: Every person who shall in a reckless, careless or negligent manner discharge, in the vicinity of an inhabitated dwelling house, or in the streets of an incorporated city, or unincorporated town, any firearm, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding thirty days, or both such fine and imprisonment.
An Ordinance Relating to Offenses and Disorderly Conduct, § 4, Olympia City Council (1882)
(1882)
Ordinance No. 152, § 4: Any person, who shall within the following... [seems to contain a detailed description of local landmarks outlining a specific area]4...fire off or discharge any gun pistol or fire arm of any kind, shall be liable to a fine of not less than five or more than twenty dollars or by imprisonment for not less than five nor more than ten days or by both-such fine or imprisonment.
1657, Va. Acts 434
(1657)
Act 3: That the Lord's day be kept holy, and that no journeys be made except in case of emergent necessity on that day, that no goods be laden in boats nor shooting in guns . . . the party delinquent to pay one hundred pounds of tobacco or laid in the stocks . . .
1657, Va. Acts 437
(1657)
Act 13: If any planter or person shall hunt or shoot upon or within the limits or precincts of his neighbor or others' dividends without leave first obtained for his so doing and having been warned by the owner of the land, to forbear hunting and shooting as aforesaid: He or they so offending shall forfeit for every such offense four hundred pounds of tobacco . . .
1655 Va. Acts 401
(1655)
Act 12: What persons or persons soever shall, after publication hereof, shoot any guns at drinking (marriages and funerals only excepted) that such person or persons so offending shall forfeit 100 lb. of tobacco to be levied by distress in case of refusal and to be disposed of by the militia in ammunition towards a magazine for the county where the offence shall be committed.
1642 Va. Acts 261
(1642)
Act 35: Be it further enacted and confirmed, for the better observation of the Sabbath and for the restraint of diverse abuses committed in the colony by unlawful shooting on the Sabbath day as aforesaid, unless it shall be for the safety of his or their plantations or corn fields or for defense against the Indians, he or they so offending shall forfeit for his or their first offense being thereof lawfully convicted . . . the quantity of twenty pounds...
1642 Va. Acts 248
(1642)
Act 11: Whereas the rights and interests of the inhabitants are very much infringed by hunting and shooting of diverse men upon their neighbors lands and dividends contrary to the privileges granted to them by their patents, whereby many injuries do daily happen to the great damage of the owners of the land whereon such hunting or shooting is used, It is therefore enacted and confirmed that if any planter or person shall hunt or shoot upon or within the precincts or limits of his neighbor or other divident without leave first obtained for his so doing, and having been warned by the owner of the land to forbear hunting and shooting as aforesaid, he or they so offending shall forfeit for every such offence four hundred pounds of tobacco . . .
Laws of the Town of Alexandria § 3 (1800)
(1800)
To prevent accidents... Sec. 3, No person to discharge any fire arms: "Sec. III. No person shall discharge any Musket, Fowling-piece, Pistol, or other Fire Arms, within the limits of the corporation, unless in defence of his or her person or proprety, under the penalty of One Dollar for each offence."
The Code of Lynchburg 116 (Thomas D. Davis ed., 1887)
(1887)
Prohibited discharge of any gun, pistol, other fire-arm, fireworks, or popcrackers without written consent of the mayor, or fire any cannon within one hundred yards of any dwelling-house. Violators fined not less than one dollar but no more than ten dollars.
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 free
The Charters and Ordinances of the City of Richmond 227 (1859)
(1859)
An Ordinance Concerning Nuisances Other Than in the Streets, § 11: If any person shall sell, or expose for sale in this city, any torpedos, popcrackers, squibs, or other fire-works, of any kind whatever, except in packages containing each at least one hundred, or shall without permission in writing from the mayor, discharge, or set off, in any street or alley of the city, any balloon, rocket, torpedo, popcracker, fireworks or any combination of gunpowder, or any other combustible or dangerous material; or if any person shall, except under the fortieth section of the ordinance concerning streets, without necessity fire or discharge in this city any cannon, gun, pistol, or other fire-arms of any kind, or shall make therein any unusual noise, whereby the inhabitants thereof may be alarmed, or raise or fly a kite in this city, or if any auctioneer shall use any bell or herald to notify the public of any sale, except of real property, every such person herein offending, shall pay a fine of not less than one nor more than twenty dollars.
Thomas D. Davis, The Code of the City of Lynchburg 116 (1887)
(1887)
Prohibited fireworks, firecrackers, and firearm discharge within city limits, restricted cannon firing, and imposed $1–$10 fines. It limited possession of gunpowder or explosives to 10 pounds, except for licensed retailers, who could store up to 50 pounds in secure metal containers.
1879-80 Va. Acts 104
(1879)
Ch. 5, § 4, pt. 19: To direct the location of all buildings for storing gun-powder or other combustible substances; to regulate the sale and use of gunpowder, fire-crackers, fire-works, kerosene oil, nitroglycerine . . . the discharge of firearms
1885-86 Va. Acts 275
(1885)
Ch. 258, § 10: Any person who shall willfully destroy, injure or remove any tombstone or monument placed in the said cemetery . . . or shall shoot of or discharge any gun, pistol or other firearm within the said enclosure, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than five dollars. . .
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...
The Charter and Ordinances of the City of Richmond 196–97 (1869)
(1869)
Ch. 34, § 42: If any person engaged in military exercise shall fire or discharge, in any street or public alley of this city, any cannon, gun, pistol, or any other firearms, except on the fourth of July, the twenty-second of February and the nineteenth day of October, or at military burial or some extraordinary occasion allowed by the Mayor (and by him notified through the newspaper, or by posting handbills or otherwise), or if any person shall, in any street or public alley in said city, play at bandy or throw snowballs, stones or other missiles, or discharge arrows form a bow or cross-bow, or blow a horn, he shall be fined not less than one nor more than ten dollars.]
Revised Ordinances of the Corporation of Winchester 78 (1856)
(1856)
Section 3 prohibited firing a gun or pistol within the corporation carries a $1 fine, unless done out of necessity during public duty or during a military parade ordered by a commanding officer. Section 4 prohibited discharging a cannon or field-piece within 100 yards of a dwelling without the owner or occupier's consent, subject to a $5 fine for anyone participating, aiding, or abetting. Section 5 prohibited selling fireworks, firecrackers, or squibs within the corporation, punishing with a $5 fine per offense. Section 6 prohibited setting off fireworks or flying kites within the corporation, resulting in a $1 fine per offense, with half of the collected fine awarded to the informer.
Charter and Revised Laws of Alexandria § 23 (1821)
(1821)
An Act Reducing into One and Amending the Several Acts Respecting the Removal of Nuisances, § 23: That no person shall discharge any musket, fowling piece, pistol, or other fire arms, or any composition of gun powder, or fulminating powder, within the limits of the town of Alexandria, unless in the execution of some law, or in the discharge of some duty imposed by law. Every person ofiending herein, shall forfeit and pay one dollar for each offence."
Laws of the University of Vermont State Agricultural College, ch. 6, §§ 4, 9 (1885)
(1885)
Sec. 4: Rooms shall be held by students subject to the condition that all rules, for securing quiet, order, and cleanliness in the rooms, halls, and premises, are strictly observed. Any violation of these rules, either by themselves or visitors, shall subject the occupants to forfeiture of their right to the room. Self-boarding in any of the rooms; the keeping of a dog or cat; cutting or splitting wood in the rooms or halls; shouting, or throwing anything, from the windows; pasting pictures on or otherwise injuring the walls; loud and boisterous noises in the rooms or halls; playing on musical instruments during recitation hours or after ten o'clock at night; gatherings of students in the rooms after the same hour; the keeping of fire-arms or gunpowder except under direction of the Military Instructor; bringing into the rooms any fermented or distilled liquors; are prohibited. Sec. 9. No student shall use gun powder or fire-arms in the buildings, or on the adjacent grounds of the University, except under direction of the Military Instructor. No smoking shall be allowed in any of the halls or public rooms of the University; nor shall any intoxicating drinks be brought upon the University premises."
1818 Vt. Acts & Resolves 64-65
(1818)
An Act Regulating and Governing the Militia of This State, § 42: No noncommissioned officer, private or citizen shall unnecessarily fire a gun, single musket or pistol, in any public road, or near any house or place of parade, on the evening preceding, on the day or evening of the same, on which any troop company, battalion or regiment shall be ordered to assemble for military duty

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