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.
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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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Item type:Item, Chas. Ben. Darwin, Ordinances of the City of Burlington 112 (1856)(1855)Prohibited the discharge of firearms within the city.Item type:Item, Revised Code of Ordinances of the City of McKinney 6 (1899)(1899)Prohibited the public discharge of firearms in McKinney.Item type:Item, Laws, Statutes, Ordinances, and Constitutions 11 (John Holt ed., 1763)(1763)Prohibited the discharge of firearms within the city of New York.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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 . . .Item type:Item, 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."Item type:Item, A. McMicken, The Revised Ordinances of the City of Rawlins 115-116 (1893)(1893)If any person shall within this city fire or discharge any cannon, gun, fowling piece, pistol or firearms of any description, or fire, explode, or set off any squib, cracker, or anything containing powder or other combustible or explosive material, without permission of the Board of Trustees, or the written permission of the mayor (which permission shall limit the time of the firing and shall be subject to be revoked by the mayor or Board of Trustees at any time after the same has been granted) every such person shall, on conviction, be fined in a sum of not less than five dollars and not exceeding one hundred dollars.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, Charter and Ordinances of the City of Superior 390 (1896)(1896)Section 18 prohibited carrying pistols, slingshots, knuckles, bowie knives, daggers, or other dangerous weapons within Superior, except by authorized officers, punishable by a $10–$100 fine. Section 19 prohibited discharging firearms or fireworks without mayoral permission, punishable by a $1–$50 fine, with exceptions for lawful defense, law enforcement, and gun-club shotgun practice.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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 CrosseItem type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, The Municipal Code of Berlin §§ 258–61 (1890)(1890)Any person who shall fire or discharge any gun, pistol, fowling piece, or other fire arm, within the limits of the City of Berlin except in the necessary defense of his person or property, shall pay a fine of not less than one dollar, nor more than ten dollars for each offense. Any person who shall sell, loan or furnish to any minor, any gun, pistol, fowling piece or other firearm within this City, shall pay a fine of not less than five dollars, nor more than twenty-five dol ars[sic] for each such offense.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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..."Item type:Item, 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[.]Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, Ordinance No. A-17, § 2, Wilbur Town Council (1894)(1894)If any person shall within the corporate limits of the Town of Wilbur, fire or discharge any gun, rifle, fowling piece, pistol or any other firearm, they shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding twenty five dollars ($25.00) together with the cost of prosecution.Item type:Item, Ordinances of the City of Tacoma, Washington 334 (Albert R. Heilig ed., 1892)(1892)Classified carrying, brandishing, or otherwise using or attempting to use certain deadly weapons, intentionally displaying or using a deadly weapon against another person, and discharging firearms or bombs within city limits as misdemeanors. Police could arrest violators without warrants, and convictions carried fines up to $100.Item type:Item, Ordinance No. 79, § 1, Adams County News, Jun. 14, 1899, at 2(1899)Declared that all persons who carry concealed weapons, Brandish such weapons, carry weapons with intent to do bodily injury, and those who discharge firearms within the city limits are disorderly personsItem type:Item, Ordinances No. 14, § 4, & No. 16, §§ 1-2, Prosser Town Council (1899)(1899)If any two or more persons, who shall, by mutual consent or agreement, fight together in any public place in said town, shall be deemed guilty of an affray, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not exceeding one hundred dollars. Also prohibited the discharge of firearms in the corporate limits of the town of ProsserItem type:Item, Ordinance No. 11-An Ordinance Concerning Offenses and Disorderly Conduct, § 27, Ilwaco Town Council (1891)(1891)Any person or persons who shall fire off or discharge any ordinance gun, pistol. rifle or other fire-arms within the Town of Ilwaco shall upon conviction thereof before the Police Court pay a fine of not less than One nor More than One Hundred Dollars. Provided that the Mayor with the consent of the majority of the Committee on Health and Police may permit upon National holidays and other days and other days of public celebration the same which permit shall designate the time and locality of firing.Item type:Item, Ordinance No. 11-An Ordinance Concerning Offenses and Disorderly Conduct, § 34, Ilwaco Town Council (1891)(1891)If any person or persons shall use or caused to be used or encouraged the use of any bean-shooter. air-gun, cross-bow or other contrivance or invention used in shooting or throwing beans, stones pebbles, bullets, shot or other substance or thing in or upon any street, park, lane, alley or other public place in the Town shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof before the Police Court shall be fined not less than Two nor more than Forty $Dollars...Item type:Item, Del Cary Smith, Ordinances of the City of Port Townsend 27 (1890)(1890)Div. 3, § 15: Whoever shall fire or discharge any cannon, gun, pistol revolver or any firearm of any description, or shall fire, or explode or set off any squib, firecracker, torpedo or other thing containing powder or other explosive material, without permission from the Mayor or common council so to do, within the city limits, shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than twenty dollarsItem type:Item, An Ordinance Relating to Offenses and Disorderly Conduct and Repealing Ordinances no. 152, 178, & 471, Olympia City Council, Ordinance no. 523, §§ 4-5 (Washington, 1891).(1891)That any person who shall within the following limits, to-wit: Beginning at the intersection of Fifteenth and Eastside streets; thence north on line of said Eastside street to a point known as the Priest Place; thence west to a point five hundred yards west of the west shore of Budd's Inlet; thence south to the line of said Fifteenth street, and thence east to place of beginning, fire off or discharge any gun, pistol or fire arm of any kind, shall upon conviction thereof before a police justice of said city be fined in any sum not less than five nor more than twenty five dollars, and in default of the payment thereof, shall be committed to the city jail until such fine and costs are paid, not to exceed ten days.Item type:Item, 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 . . .Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 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...Item type:Item, 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 . . .Item type:Item, 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 . . .Item type:Item, 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."