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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For questions about coverage, rights, or submissions, contact the Firearms Research Center (firearmsresearchcenter.org).
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Item type:Item, Item type:Item, The Charter and Ordinances of the City of Portland 364-69, 371-72 (1911)(1911)These Portland laws regulated firearms, gunpowder, explosives, and other dangerous substances. They required licenses for selling or possessing larger quantities of gunpowder, established safe storage and transportation requirements, and restricted fireworks, blasting, silencers, and toy pistols. Gunpowder generally had to be securely stored, covered during transportation, and kept within specified quantity limits. Firearms could not generally be discharged within city limits. Carrying concealed or threateningly displaying deadly weapons was prohibited without a license, with exceptions for certain law enforcement officers. Violations could result in fines, imprisonment, seizure or forfeiture of weapons or explosives, and other penalties.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, Del Cary Smith, Ordinances of the City of Port Townsend 25 (1890)(1890)Sections 3-5 prohibited carrying concealed weapons, brandishing firearms or other deadly weapons, and challenging another to fight (dueling).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, Ordinance no. 5, §§ 1 & 6, in The Nevada Democrat, Aug. 20, 1856, at 4(1856)Imposed a $10 quarterly license on pistol and shooting galleries.Item type:Item, An Ordinance for the Purpose of Creating a Revenue for the Town of Lake Charles, Levying a License on Trades, Professions, Occupations, etc., § 1, para. 3, in The Lake Charles Echo, Jan. 17, 1880, at 1(1880)Imposed a $25 license on shooting galleries with fewer than two tables, alleys, or targets, and a $40 license on galleries with two or more tables, alleys, or targets, with an additional $2 fee per table, alley, or target after the second.Item type:Item, Amendments to the Charter and Revised Ordinances of the City of Jackson 16-17 (1882)(1882)Required the city assessor to prepare separate real and personal property assessment rolls, including separate columns listing and valuing pistols, dirks, bowie-knives, sword-canes, and other guns.Item type:Item, Item type:Item, Compilation of the Ordinances of the City of St. Augustine 53 (1884)(1878-04-28)Imposed a $25 license tax on dealers of pistols, bowie-knives, and dirks.Item type:Item, The General Orders of the Board of Supervisors Providing Regulations for the Government of the City and County of San Francisco 95 (1881)(1880)Imposed license rates for sellers and keepers of gunpowder and shooting galleries.Item type:Item, An Ordinance to Levy and Enforce Payment of an Annual License Tax, in The Lafayette Advertiser, Feb. 2, 1889, at 8(1889)Imposed a $5 tax on all gun and pistol establishments and shooting galleries.Item type:Item, Item type:Item, A Compilation of the Acts of the Legislature Incorporating the City of Macon, Georgia 45-46 (S. Rose & Co. 1862)(1862)Required gunpowder to be stored in a public magazine, limited retail storage, authorized seizure of improperly stored powder, established a bonded magazine keeper, set storage fees, and required recordkeeping, inspections, and public auction of unclaimed powder to recover fees.Item type:Item, Ordinances of the Corporation of the City of Baltimore 277-83 (1801)(1801)Regulated gunpowder storage and transport to reduce fire and explosion risks. It limited private possession, required excess powder to be stored in a public magazine, imposed transport and shipping restrictions, authorized searches for violations, established a superintendent to manage the magazine, and imposed penalties for noncompliance.Item type:Item, 1827 N.H. Laws 231-32(1827)Required local tax collectors to collect assessed taxes, and provide advance notice before seizing property for nonpayment, and authorized distraint and public auction of a delinquent taxpayer’s goods after specified notice periods and procedures if taxes remain unpaid.Item type:Item, Ordinance 21, in Green Forest Tribune, May 11, 1899, at 1(1899)Prohibited the sale, barter, exchange, disposal or furnishing, or keeps any dirk, Bowie-knife, sword or spear in a cane, brass or metal knuckles, or any kind of pistol or cartridge. Violators guilty of a misdemeanor.Item type:Item, Ordinance No. 32, art. 3, § 1: Offenses Against Public Convenience, in The Daily Morning Alaskan, June 18, 1903, at 2(1903)Discharging firearms, fireworks, or explosives in Skagway required municipal permission; blasting also required a bond. Violators committed a misdemeanor punishable by up to $200, 90 days' jail, or both.Item type:Item, Ordinance No. 32, art. 3, § 10: Offenses Against Public Convenience, in The Daily Morning Alaskan, June 18, 1903, at 2(1903)Prohibited storing explosives within town limits or one mile thereof without written permission. Authorized storage was strictly limited, labeled, secured, and subject to inspection; violations carried fines, jail time, or both.Item type:Item, 1874-75 Va. Acts 282-83(1874)Ch. 239, § 6, sched. B(18): Included the value of all "rifles, muskets, and other fire-arms, bowie-knives, dirks, and all weapons of a similar kind" in list of taxable personal property, imposing a tax payable of 50 cents per 100 dollars of value.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, The Charter and General Ordinances of the Town of Lexington 87 (1892)(1869)Penalized carrying concealed weapons (including pistols and bowie knives) with fines and forfeiture, except for officers on duty. Further prohibited supplying cigarettes or specified weapons to minors under sixteen, punishable by fines.Item type:Item, 1890 Wyo. Terr. Sess. Laws, ch. 73, § 96 (codified at Wyo. Rev. Stat. § 5051 (1899))(1890)Every person, not being a traveler, who shall wear or carry any dirk, pistol, bowie knife, dagger, sword-in-cane, or any other dangerous or deadly weapon concealed, or who shall carry or wear any such weapon openly, with the intent, or avowed purpose, of injuring his fellow-man, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollarsItem type:Item, 1890 Wyo. Terr. Sess. Laws, ch. 73, § 95 (codified at Wyo. Rev. Stat. § 5050 (1899))(1890)Whoever draws or threatens to use any pistol, dirk, knife, slung-shot, or other deadly or dangerous weapon, already drawn, upon any person, shall be fined in any sum not more than one hundred dollars to which may be added imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six monthsItem type:Item, 1890 Wyo. Terr. Sess. Laws, ch. 73, § 97 (codified at Wyo. Rev. Stat. § 5052 (1899))(1890)It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, barter or give to any other person under the age of twenty-one years any pistol, dirk or bowie knife, slung-shot, knucks or other deadly weapon that can be worn or carried concealed upon or about the person, or to sell, barter or give to any person under the age of sixteen years any cartridges manufactured and designed for use in a pistol.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, Oliver H. Prince, Digest of the Laws of the State of Georgia 407, 409 (1822)(1806)Required "All male white inhabitants ... from the age of eighteen to forty-five years ... to appear and work upon the several roads, creeks, causeways, water- passages, and bridges" and to "carry with him one good and sufficient gun or pair of pistols, and at least nine cartridges to fit the same, or twelve loads of powder and ball, or buck shot."Item type:Item, Dick Act of 1903, ch. 196, § 1, 32 Stat. 775, 775(1903)This militia consisted of all able-bodied male citizens between 18 and 45 years of age, and also aliens who have declared intent to naturalize. The "organized militia" was the National Guard of the several States. Everyone else was part of the "reserve militia," which later statutes labeled the "unorganized militia."Item type:Item, Charter of the City of Covington 148-49 (1864)(1864)Banned powder magazines, limited household gunpowder storage, and required licenses and safety measures for gunpowder sales.Item type:Item, William Stanley, Charter and Ordinances of the City of Leavenworth 42 (1859)(1859)§§ 1-2: Prohibited the carry of concealed weapons. Prohibited any person guilty of carrying a pistol, dirk, bowie-knife, colt, slung-shot, metal knuckles, or any other deadly weapon. Violators fined not less than five, nor more than two hundred dollars.Item type:Item, Edward O. Wolcott, The Ordinances of Georgetown, Passed June 7th, A.D. 1877, at 100, § 9 (1877)(1877)Prohibited the concealed carrying of any pistol, Bowie knife, dagger, or other deadly weapon. Punishable by a fine of $5-50.Item type:Item, Geoffrey Andrew Holmes, Compiled Ordinances of the City of Council Bluffs 168-169 (1887)(1887)§§ 5-6: Prohibited operating a pistol gallery or shooting gallery without a license. Licenses shall cost ten dollars per month or fifty dollars per year. Minors are prohibited at the ranges.Item type:Item, John G. Aikin, A Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama 391–92 (1833)(1805)Prohibited any "slave" from keeping or carrying any gun or ammunition without permission from a justice of the peace.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 1867 Ala. Code 169(1867)§ 434, pt. 10: Tax of $2 on pistols or revolvers in the possession of private persons, excluding dealers, and a tax of $3 on "all bowie knives, or knives of the like description." Non-payment was punishable by seizure and, unless payment was made within 10 days with a penalty of an additional 50%, subject to sale by public auction.Item type:Item, Item type:Item, 1876 Ala. Code 929–30(1871)§ 4406: Prohibited hunting wild hogs with a dog and gun without giving notice to "at least three freeholders in the neighborhood." Violators fined not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars. § 4407: Prohibited hunting deer by fire and with a gun. Violators fined not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars.Item type:Item, 1 Albert G. Hodges, A Digest of the Statute Laws of Kentucky 540 (1834)(1809)Authorized the arrest of individuals who willfully and maliciously stabbed, shot, or injured another.Item type:Item, 2 Albert G. Hodges, A Digest of the Statute Laws of Kentucky 1289-90 (1834)(1813)Prohibited the concealed carry of any pocket pistol, dirk, knife, or sword cane, unless traveling.Item type:Item, 2 Albert G. Hodges, A Digest of the Statute Laws of Kentucky 1167 (1834)(1815)Required all free men to bear arms for the common defense, but conscientious objectors were ordered to pay a sum equal to the value of the foregone personal services.