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 56

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).
1820 Terr. of Mich. Laws 207, An Act For The Punishment Of Crimes, § 49.
(1820)
Prohibited Dueling
S. Garfielde, Compiled Laws of the State of California 643-44 (1853)
(1850)
Ch. 125, div. 4, §§ 40-41: Prohibited dueling. Should the opponent be killed, violators and their seconds shall be punished in state prison for a term not less than one year but no more than five years.
1899 Wyo. Rev. Stat. 1252, div. 5, tit. 1, ch. 3, § 5044
(1899)
Whoever fights a duel, if death do not ensue, shall be fined one hundred dollars, and be imprisoned in the county jail not more than one year.
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.
1869 Wash. Sess. Laws 202
(1869)
An Act Relative to Crimes and Punishments and Proceedings in Criminal Cases, Ch. 2, §§ 22-23: § 22. Every person who shall engage in a duel with any deadly weapon, although no homicide ensue, or shall challenge another to fight a duel, or shall send or deliver any written or verbal message, purporting or intending to be such challenge, although no duel ensue, shall be imprisoned, on conviction thereof, in the penitentiary, not more than ten years, nor less than one year.
1859 Wash. Sess. Laws 107-08
(1859)
An Act Relative to Crimes and Punishment, and Proceedings in Criminal Cases, Ch. 2, §§ 14-15, 23: § 14. If either party to a duel be killed, the survivor shall be deemed guilty of murder in the second degree. § 15. If any person shall, by previous appointment made within, fight a duel without this territory, and in so doing shall inflict a mortal wound upon any person, whereof the person so injured shall die, such person so offending shall be deemed guilty of murder in the second degree, within any county in this territory. § 23. Every person who shall accept such challenge, or who shall knowingly carry or deliver any such challenge or message, whether a duel ensue or not, and every person who shall be present at the fighting of a duel with deadly weapons, as an aid, or second, or who shall advise, encourage, or promote such duel, shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned in the penitentiary, not more than five years nor less than six months.
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 Prosser
1909 Wash. Sess. Laws 929, 931-33
(1909)
Ch. 249, Subchapter 5-Crimes against the Person, §§ 142 & 151: Every person who shall fight or participate in, as second or assistant, any duel within this state, in which any person is killed, or who, by previous appointment made within this state, shall fight or participate in, as second or assistant, any duel out of the state, in which any person is killed, shall be guilty of murder in the second degree; and, in the latter case, may be proceeded against in any county in this state...Every person who shall make or keep gun powder, or any other explosive substance, in a city or village, in any quantity or manner prohibited by law or by ordinance of such municipality, if an explosion thereof shall occur whereby the death of a human being is occasioned, shall be guilty of manslaughter."
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...
1866 Utah Terr. Acts 51, § 8
(1865)
Whoever fights a duel with deadly weapons, and inflicts a mortal wound on his antagonist, wherefrom death ensues, is guilty of murder of the first degree, and shall be punished accordingly."
Theodore Harris, Charter and Ordinances of the City of San Antonio 220 (1899)
(1899)
Ordinances of the City of San Antonio, Ordinances, ch. 22, § 4: Prohibited drawing in a threatening manner a pistol, gun, knife, sword cane, club or any other instrument or weapon that may cause death.
1881 Tex. Penal Code, at 205–08
(1881)
Tit. 15, Ch. 16, Art. 610: Any person who shall, within this State, fight a duel with deadly weapons, or send or accept a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, either within the State or out of it, or who shall act as a second, or knowingly aid or assist in any manner those thus offending, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and upon conviction shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than five years.
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.
1880 Dakota Terr. Rev. Codes 771
(1877)
Penal Code, ch. 23, §§ 295-295: A duel is any combat, with deadly weapons, fought between two persons by previous agreement or upon a previous quarrel. § 295. Punishment for Fighting. Every person guilty of fighting any duel, although no death or wound ensues, is punishable by imprisonment in the territorial prison not exceeding ten years.
1873 S.C. Rev. Stat. 710, ch. 138, § 7
(1873)
Whoever shall challenge another to fight at sword, pistol, rapier, or any other dangerous weapon, or who shall accept any such challenge, shall, for every offense, on conviction thereof, be deprived of the right of suffrage, and be disabled forever from holding any office of profit or honor under this State, and shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary for a term not exceeding two years, at the discretion of the Court.
By-Laws of the University of South Carolina, Regulations of the Faculty 35-37 (1867)
(1867)
§ 6: Students are strictly forbidden to visit bar-rooms, grog-shops, or disorderly houses; or to use, or bring within the precincts of the University, any intoxicating liquors; or to have about their persons, or keep in their rooms, any deadly weapon, which may be secretly carried: upon pain of admonition, suspension, or report for expulsion, at the discretion of the Faculty. Any student who shall be guilty of any atrocious or infamous offence, who shall fight a duel, or give or accept a challenge to fight a duel, or who shall carry any challenge to fight a duel, or act as a second to those who shall give or accept a challenge, shall be forthwith suspended from the University, and reported for expulsion."
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.
Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, from the Fourteenth Day of October, One Thousand Seven Hundred, to the Twentieth Day of March, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ten, at 182, ch. 1746, § 10 (Vol. 3, 1810)
(1810)
§That if any person within this commonwealth shall challenge, by word or writing, the person of another to fight at sword, rapier, pistol, or other deadly weapon, such person so challenging, shall forfeit and pay for every such offense
9 Stat. at Large of Pa. 336-37, ch. 833, § 9 (1903)
(1779)
That if any person within this commonwealth shall challenge the person of another to fight at sword, pistol, rapier or other dangerous weapon, such person so challenging shall forfeit and pay for every such offense (being lawfully convicted by the testimony of one or more credible witnesses, or by the confession of the party offending,) the sum of five hundred pounds, or suffer twelve months imprisonment without bail or mainprise
1845-64 Or. Gen. Laws 530-31, ch. 43, § 524-25
(1864)
If any person shall challenge another to fight a duel, or transmit the message for another shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
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 dollars
1877 Dakota Terr. Rev. Codes 771
(1877)
Penal Code, ch. 23, § 294: Duel Defined. A duel is any combat, with deadly weapons, fought between two persons by previous agreement or upon a previous quarrel. § 295. Punishment for Fighting. Every person guilty of fighting any duel, although no death or wound ensues, is punishable by imprisonment in the territorial prison not exceeding ten years.
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.
1861 Terr. of Nev. Stat. 61
(1861)
Ch. 28, §§ 35-36: Provided that the killing of another in a duel with a rifle, shotgun, pistol, Bowie knife, dirk, small-sword, back-sword, or other "dangerous weapon" in the killing of another in a duel is to be deemed murder.
1873 Nev. Comp. Laws 563
(1873)
Offenses Against The Persons of Individuals, §§ 35-36: Prohibited dueling and killing a person with a rifle, shotgun, pistol, Bowie knife, dirk, small sword, backsword, or other dangerous weapon.
1873 Nev. Stat. 118
(1873)
Ch. 62, § 1.: Any person in this State, having, carrying, or procuring from another person, any dirk, dirk knife, sword, sword cane, pistol, gun, or other deadly weapon, who shall in the presence of two or more persons, draw or exhibit any of said deadly weapons, in a rude, angry, or threatening manner, not in necessary self-defense, or who shall in any manner unlawfully use the same in any fight or quarrel, the person or persons so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or shall be imprisoned in the County Jail for a term not exceeding six months
1864 Terr. of Mont. Acts 182
(1864)
§ 35: Prohibited dueling and killing a person with a rifle, shotgun, pistol, Bowie knife, dirk, small sword, backsword, or other dangerous weapon. Violators guilty of murder in the first degree.
1879 Terr. of Mont. Laws 359
(1879)
Ch. 4, § 23: Prohibited dueling and killing a person involved with a rifle, shot-gun, pistol, Bowie knife, dirk, small-sword, back-sword, or other dangerous weapon. Punishable by death by hanging.
1885 Terr. of Mont. Laws 74-75
(1885)
Deadly Weapons, An Act to Amend § 62 of Chapter IV of the Fourth Division of the Revised Statutes, § 1: Prohibited possessing, carrying, or purchasing a dirk, dirk-knife, sword, sword cane, pistol, gun, or other deadly weapon, and from using the weapon in a threatening manner or in a fight. Punishable by fine of $10-100 and/or imprisonment for 1-3 months.
The Charter and Code of the Ordinances of Yazoo City 172-75 (1908)
(1906)
Section 291 penalized the use of live pigeons for target shooting. Sections 293-300 regulate concealed weapons and their sale or use. Carrying a concealed deadly weapon is a misdemeanor punishable by a $25–$100 fine, up to 90 days in jail, or both, and the weapon is forfeited and destroyed. Exceptions include self-defense, travelers, peace officers, mail carriers, and certain workers. Dealers must record weapon and ammunition sales. Selling or lending weapons to minors or intoxicated people is prohibited. Additional penalties apply to parents allowing young sons to carry weapons, weapons in public schools, and displaying or using deadly weapons in a threatening manner.
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.
1871 Miss. Rev. Code 559-60
(1871)
ch. 58, art. 13, §§ 2531-35: Every person, who shall challenge another to fight a duel, or who shall send, deliver, or cause to be delivered, any written or verbal messages, purporting or intended to be such challenge, or who shall accept any such challenge or message, or who shall knowingly carry or deliver any such message or challenge, or who shall be present at the time of fighting any duel with deadly weapons, either as second, aid or surgeon, or who shall advise or give assistance to such duel, shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not less than three hundred dollars, nor exceeding one thousand dollars, or be imprisoned, not less than six months, int eh county jail, or by both such fine and [i]imprisonment. . . . § 2534. If any person shall be guilty of fighting in any village, city, town or other public place, and shall in such fight use any rifle, shot-gun, sword, sword-cane, pistol, dirk, bowie-knife, dirk-knife, or any other deadly weapon, or if any person shall be second or aid in such fight, the person so offending shall be fined not less than three hundred dollars, or shall be imprisoned, not less than three months, or punished by both such fine and imprisonment; and if any person shall be killed in such fight, the person so killing the other, may be prosecuted and convicted as in other cases of murder.
Volney Erskine Howard, The Statutes of the State of Mississippi 675-76 (1840)
(1840)
§ 54: Prohibited dueling
1728 Mass. Acts 516
(1728)
An Act for Repealing an Act Entitled, "An Act For The Punishing And Preventing Of Dueling," and for Making Other Provisions Instead Thereof, ch. 5: That whoever from and after the publication of this Act shall be so hardy and wicked as to fight a duel, or for private malice, displeasure, fury or revenge, voluntarily engage in a rencounter, with rapier or small-sword, backsword, pistol or any other dangerous weapon, to the hazard of life, mayhem, or wounding of the parties, or the affray of his Majesty's good subjects, although death doth not thereby ensue; or shall by word, message, or any other way, challenge another to fight a duel, or shall accept a challenge, although no duel be fought, or shall any ways abet, prompt, encourage or seduce any person to fight a duel, or to challenge another to fight
The Charter Granted by Their Majesties King William and Queen Mary to the Inhabitants of the Providence of the Massachussets Bay in New England 271-72 (1726)
(1719)
An Act For the Punishing and Preventing of Duelling: That whoever ... fight a duel, combat, or engage in a rencounter with rapier, or small-sword, back-sword, pistol, or any other dangerous weapon, to the danger of life, mayhem, or wounding of the parties, or the affray of his Majesty's good subjects, (although death doth not thereby ensue) and be thereof convicted, by due course of law, before the Court of Assize, or Court of General Sessions of the Peace, in the respective Counties of this Province, shall be punished by fine, not exceeding a hundred pounds, imprisonment, not exceeding six months, or corporally punished...
1821 Me. Laws 55
(1821)
§ 7: Be it further enacted, That if any person shall voluntarily engage in a duel, with rapier, a small sword, back sword, pistol, or other dangerous weapon, to the hazard of life, when no homicide shall ensue thereon; and if any person shall, by word, message, or in any other manner, challenge another to fight in a duel, as aforesaid, when no duel shall be fought thereon, every such offender, and every person who shall be knowingly a second, agent or abettor in such duel or challenge, upon due conviction of either of said offences in the Supreme Judicial Court, shall be punished as a felonious assaulter;
1 John Ray, Digest of the Statutes of the State of Louisiana 387 (1870)
(1870)
If any person shall voluntarily engage in a duel with rapier or small sword, back sword, pistol or other dangerous weapon to the hazard of life, and death shall ensue, the survivor shall, upon conviction, suffer death; and all and every person aiding and abetting as second, agent or abettor, shall, on conviction, be punished as accessories before the fact in murder
1828 La. Acts 367-68
(1828)
25: If any person shall challenge another, or shall accept a challenge to fight with sword, pistol, rapier or other dangerous weapon, every person so challenging or accepting such challenge, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not exceeding five hundred dollars, and may be imprisoned not exceeding two years
Revision of the Statutes of New Jersey 232-33 (1877)
(1877)
An act for the punishment of crimes against the public peace, 31: If any person shall by word, message, letter, or any other way, challenge another to fight a duel, with a rapier, or small-sword, back-sword, pistol, or other dangerous weapon, or shall accept a challenge, although not duel be fought, or knowingly be the bearer of such challenge, or shall any way abet, prompt, encourage, persuade, seduce, or cause any person to fight a duel, or to challenge another to fight a duel, every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor

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