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.
Questions
For questions about coverage, rights, or submissions, contact the Firearms Research Center (firearmsresearchcenter.org).
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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, 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, Gun Control Act of 1968, Pub. L. No. 99-308, 100 Stat. 449, 450(1968)Required all persons "engaged in the business" of selling firearms to obtain a Federal Firearms License. An FFL may not deliver a handgun to a person under 21, or a rifle or shotgun to a person under 18.Item type:Item, Ordinance No. 1052, §§ 1-2, 5, & 8-9, Vancouver City Council (1920)(1920)It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, give away, purchase or receive any pistol, revolver, derringer, bowie knife, dirk, or other weapon of like character which can be concealed on the person without securing and requiring the proper license to do as hereinafter set forth. No person shall sell, give away or deal in the weapons herein specified without first obtaining from the Chief of Police of Vancouver, Washington, a license so to doItem type:Item, Ordinance No. 1492, §§ 1-5, Olympia City Council (1917)(1917)It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation, to purchase any gun, pistol, firearm or other deadly weapon, or any ammunition or explosive of any kind or character, without first obtaining a written permit therefor from the Chief of Police of the City of Olympia.Item type:Item, 1894 S.C. Rev. Stat. 431, ch. 28, § 490 (Vol. 2)(1890)No person or corporation within the limits of this State shall sell or offer for sale any pistol, rifle, cartridge or pistol cartridge less than .45 caliber, or metal knuckles, without first obtaining a license from the county in which such person or corporation is doing business so to do.Item type:Item, 1893 S.C. Acts 426(1893)No. 309, § 2: That the County Commissioners of the Several Counties of the State be, and they are herby, authorized to issue licenses in their respective Counties for the sale of pistols and pistol cartridges upon the payment to County Treasurer by the person or corporation so applying for said licenses of the sum of twenty-five dollars annually.Item type:Item, 1884 Supplement to the Revised Statutes of the State of Ohio, at 633, Licenses, § 24(1884)All vendors of gunpowder shall pay a license fee of fifteen (15) dollars per annum. All keepers or owners of gunpowder magazines shall pay a license fee of one hundred (100) dollars per annum.Item type:Item, 1923 N.D. Laws 380-83(1923)Ch. 266, § 2: Commiting Crime When Armed. If any person shall commit or attempt to commit a crime when armed with a pistol or revolver, and having no permit to carry the same, he shall be in addition to the punishment provided for the crime, be punished by imprisonment for not less than ten years.Item type:Item, 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.Item type:Item, 1902 La. Acts 150, in 2 Solomon Wolff, Constitution and Revised Laws of Louisiana 1718 (1904)(1903)Imposed a license tax of ten dollars on all wholesale dealers of pistols and rifles, and a five dollar license tax on wholesale dealers of pistol and rifle cartridges. Imposed a one hundred dollar license tax on retail dealers of pistols and rifles and a fifty dollar tax on retail dealers of pistol and rifle cartridges. Also provided that any person who shall sell pistols, rifles, pistol cartridges, or rifle cartridges without paying the license tax is guilty of a misdemeanorItem type:Item, The Revised Laws of Hawaii 790-94 (1925)(1925)Chapter 128 imposed a comprehensive firearm and ammunition registration and permitting system in the Territory of Hawaii. Residents, businesses, and other possessors were required to report firearms and ammunition to the county sheriff, including the type, manufacturer, and factory number when available. Sheriffs maintained records and periodically forwarded copies to the governor. Firearms and ammunition dealers faced additional reporting requirements concerning their inventory, imports, and every sale or transfer. Retail purchasers generally had to obtain a written permit from the sheriff before acquiring a firearm or pistol/revolver ammunition. Dealers had to record the transaction, obtain the purchaser’s signature, report it to the sheriff, and could not deliver the item on the same day as the transaction. Violations were misdemeanors punishable by fines up to $500, imprisonment up to one year, or both; informants could receive half of an imposed fine. Aliens faced additional restrictions: obtaining a permit required written recommendations from two responsible citizens, and generally required an annual $5 license, although business-related firearm use could qualify for a fee exemption. Aliens possessing firearms or ammunition without complying with these requirements faced misdemeanor penalties. Registration records were generally confidential, accessible only at the governor’s request or by court order. Violations of the chapter could result in fines up to $500, while sheriffs improperly disclosing records faced fines up to $25. Federal, territorial, militia, county, and municipal authorities carrying arms in their official capacities were exempt from the reporting requirements.Item type:Item, 1902 Ga. Laws 434-35(1902)§ 16: Granted the mayor and alderman the authority to license, regulate, and control by ordinance all gun shops, dealers in guns, or pistols.Item type:Item, 1893 Fla. Laws 13(1893)§ 14: Prohibited the keeping or selling of pistols, Springfield rifles, repeating rifles, Bowie-knives, or dirk knives by merchants, store-keepers, or dealers without paying a license tax of ten dollars. Violators punished by fined of fifty dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail of not more than six months. Also prohibited the sale of these weapons to minors.Item type:Item, 1 Digest of the Laws of the State of Florida, From the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-Two, to the Eleventh Day of March, One Thousand Eight Hundred Eighty-One Inclusive 873 (James F. McClellan ed., 1881)(1881)Fla. ch. 174, § 24, item 14: Replaced the two hundred dollar annual tax for vendors and ten dollar tax for open carry with a fifty dollar occupational license for vendors of pistols, Bowie-knives, or dirk-knives.Item type:Item, 27 Stat. 116-17, ch. 159 (July 13, 1892)(1892)Prohibited concealed carry of deadly or dangerous weapons in the District of Columbia such as daggers, air-guns, pistols, Bowie-knives, dirk-knives, dirks, blackjacks, razors, razor blades, sword-canes, slung-shots, brass knuckles, other metal knuckles. Also banned the sale of deadly weapons to minors. Vendors were required to be licensed.Item type:Item, 26 Del. Laws 28-29 (1911)(1911)§ 2: Prohibited the sale of any pistol, revolver, pistol cartridges, revolver cartridges, stiletto, steel or brass knuckles, or other deadly weapons made especially for the defense of one's person, without having a license labeled "Special License to Sell Deadly Weapons." § 3: Prohibited the sale of firearms, ammunition, and other deadly weapons to minors and incompetent persons.Item type:Item, 1868 Ala. Laws 333(1868)§ 112, pt. 28: Required licenses for dealers in firearms. Licenses were priced at twenty dollars.Item type:Item, 1892 Ala. Laws 292(1892)Approved the town of Demopolis to require licensing but also placed a maximum license fee of one hundred dollars on dealers of pistols, pistol cartridges, bowie knives, dirk knives. Gun shops, or gun repair shops capped at five dollars.Item type:Item, 1890 Ala. Laws 1317(1890)Approved the town of Decatur to require licensing but also placed a maximum license fee of one hundred dollars on dealers of pistols, pistol cartridges, bowie knives, dirk knives.Gun shops, or gun repair shops capped at ten dollars.Item type:Item, 1878-79 Ala. Laws 437(1878)Ch. 314, § 14: Authorized Uniontown to license dealers of pistols, Bowie knives, and dirk knives.Item type:Item, 1894 Ala. Laws 616(1894)Approved the town of Columbia to require licensing but also placed a maximum license fee of one hundred dollars on dealers of pistols, pistol cartridges, bowie knives, dirk knives. Gun shops, or gun repair shops capped at five dollars.