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.
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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 - 38 of 38

The Code: Containing All the Statutes of the State of Iowa 76-77 (1873)
(1873)
§ 453: Cities and towns shall have the authority to prevent injury and annoyances from transportation and keeping of gunpowder and other combustibles, and licensing of powder magazines.
The Charters and Ordinances of the City of Richmond ch. 62, §§ 1–7 (1869)
(1869)
Ch. 62, Concerning Powder, §§1-7: Not more than fifty pounds of powder shall be transported in the city at one time, except by a military company, or in a vehicle constructed as the Engineer of the city shall prescribe.
Thomas D. Davis, The Code of the City of Lynchburg 117 (1887)
(1887)
Section 19: Vehicles carrying explosives (gunpowder, blasting powder, dynamite) must secure them in kegs, boxes, or canisters to prevent spilling or escaping. Section 20: Limits vehicles carrying over 25 lbs (or one keg/case) of explosives to maximum stays of 2 hours within city limits and 30 minutes on public streets or sidewalks. Daytime transport from storage facilities to supply merchants or wholesalers is permitted as needed.
1919 Vt. Acts and Resolves 136
(1919)
No. 128, § 1: It shall be unlawful to transport, carry or convey from one place in this state to another place in this state, any dynamite, gunpowder, or other explosive on any vessel or vehicle of any description operated by a common carrier, which vessel or vehicle is carrying passengers for hire[.]
Compiled Laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom 86-87 (1884)
(1884)
Of the Safekeeping of Gunpowder § 354: Granted the Minister of the Interior the authority to make regulations on the storing, keeping, and transportation of gunpowder in the Kingdom. Prohibited the violation of these regulations.
The Charter of the City of Newport, Rhode Island and the Special State Laws Relating Thereto, Together with the Ordinances for the Government of the City 39, § 12 (1858)
(1858)
An Act providing in case of fire breaking out in the town of Newport an for the purposes therein mentioned: Prohibited ships with more than 5 barrels of gunpowder on board from entering the harbor
1885 R.I. Pub. Laws 271
(1885)
Ch. 524, § 1: Regulated deliveries of gunpowder or other explosive material not marked with a description of contents. Punishable by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars or not more than five years imprisonment.
An Act for Erecting the Town of Reading, in the County of Berks, into a Borough, ch. LXXVI, § XLII, 1783 Pa. Laws 211
(1783)
Restricted the transport of gunpowder to a maximum of thirty pounds in weight and secured in a "good bag or bags." Violators fined twenty pounds.
1903 Or. Special Laws 106, An Act to Incorporate the City of North Bend, and to Provide a Charter Therefor . . . , § 27, pt. 23.
(1903)
To regulate the transfer of gunpowder, dynamite, nitro-glycerine, and other combustibles and explosives through the streets§ or alleys of the city[.]
William G. Bishop, Charter of the City of Brooklyn 192, § 15-16 (1877)
(1877)
Ordinances of the City of Brooklyn § 16: No person shall carry, or cause to be carried, any gunpowder through any street, lane or alley in the city, unless the same be secured in tight casks, kegs or cases, well headed and hooped; and said casks, kegs or cases shall be put into and entirely covered with a bag or case sufficiently to prevent any said gunpowder from being spilled or scattered, under the penalty of forfeiture of the gunpowder and a fine of fifty dollars for every violation of the provisions of this act.
1913 N.H. Laws 639
(1913)
An Act to Regulate the Transportation of Dynamite, Gunpowder and Explosives, ch. 128, § 1: It shall be unlawful to transport, carry, or convey from one place in this state to another place in this state, any dynamite, gunpowder, or other explosive on any vessel or vehicle of any description operated by a common carrier, which vessel or vehicle is carrying passengers for hire
Acts and Laws of His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire in New England 63 (1761)
(1759)
An Act About Powdr Money, § 1: That every foreign ship or vessel above thirty tons, coming into any port or part of this province from over the sea to trade or traffick [sic], all or the major part of the owners whereof are not actually inhabitants of this province, shall, every voyage they make, pay two shillings in money per ton, or one pound of good gunpowder
1897 Neb. Laws 162
(1897)
Ch. 14, § 24, pt. 38: To . . . regulate and prevent the transportation of gun powder or other explosives or combustible articles, tar, pitch, rosin, coal, oil, benzine [sic], turpentine, hemp, cotton, nitroglycerine, dynamite, petroleum, or any other productions thereof and other materials of like nature[.]
1901 Neb. Laws 154
(1901)
Ch. 17, § 33: To regulate or prohibit the transportation and keeping of gun powder, oils or other combustible and explosive articles.
1901 Neb. Laws 141
(1901)
Ch. 16, § 129, pt. 55: to prevent use of fire arms, rockets, powder, fire works, or other dangerous and combustible material; carrying of concealed weapons; to arrest, punish, fine or set at work on streets or elsewhere vagrants and persons found without visible means of support, or legitimate business; to regulate and prevent the transportation of gun powder
1903 Mont. Laws 135-36
(1903)
An Act to Amend Section 908 of Chapter I Title VIII Part IV Division I of the Civil Code of Montana, and to Repeal Section 689 of the Penal Code, ch. 66, § 1: If any railroad corporation within this State shall . . . transport within this State on any of its passenger cars, any oil of vitrol, gun powder, Lucifer matches, nitro glycerine, glynon oil, nytroleum or blasting oil, or nitrates oil, or powder mixed with any such oil, or fiber saturated therewith, or duolin or giant powder, or blasting powder, or any other goods in a dangerous nature . . . shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor,
1824 Miss. Rev. Code 608
(1824)
Said president and selectmen may pass ordinances to regulate the keeping, carting and transporting gunpowder, or other combustible or dangerous materials, and, the use of lights in stables, to remove or prevent the construction of any fireplace, hearth or chimney, stoves, ovens, boilers, kettles or apparatus used in any house, building, manufactory or business which may be dangerous in causing or promoting fires; to appoint one or more officers, at reasonable times, to enter into and examine all dwelling houses, lots, yards and buildings, in order to discover whether any of them are in a dangerous state
1818 Miss. Laws 220
(1818)
Supplemental to an Act to erect the town of Netchez into a city, and to incorporate the same, § 2: That said president and select men, shall and may, from time to time, pass ordinances to regulate the keeping, carting and transporting gun powder or other combustible or dangerous materials[.]
The Charter Granted by Their Majesties King William and Queen Mary to the Inhabitants of the Providence of the Massachussets Bay in New England 272-73 (1726)
(1719)
An Act in Further Addition to an Act for Erecting a Powder House in Boston: That, from and after the publication of this Act, no gunpowder shall be kept on board any ship, or other vessel, lying to or grounded at any wharf within the port of Boston. And if any gunpowder shall be found on board such ship or vessel lying aground, as aforesaid, such powder shall be liable to confiscation, and under the same penalty, as if it were found lying in any house or warehouse. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that no powder be carried through any town upon trucks, under the penalty of ten shillings per barrel for every barrel of powder so conveyed, and so proportionally for smaller cask.
The Colonial Laws of Massachusetts 186 (Rockwell & Churchill 1889) (Passed 1645).
(1645)
Powder, § 2, MASS ACTS: That no Person (except for the defence of themselves and their vessels at Sea) shall transport any§Gunpowder§out of this jurisdiction, without License first obteined, from some two of the Magistrates, upon penalty of forfeiting all such powder as shall be transporting or transported, or the value thereof;"
Lewis Mayer, The Baltimore City Code: Comprising the Statutes and Ordinances Relating to the City of Baltimore 300-04 (1879)
(1879)
Established strict rules for the storage, transportation, and possession of gunpowder. A city-appointed superintendent managed a public gunpowder magazine, maintained records, collected storage fees, and ensured safe storage. Larger quantities brought into Baltimore generally had to be placed in the public magazine, while ships carrying gunpowder faced restrictions on where they could dock or unload. Gunpowder transported through the city had to be securely covered, and individuals generally could not possess more than 50 pounds. Stores had specific storage and signage requirements. Violations resulted in fines, and authorities could obtain warrants to search for illegally stored gunpowder.
Revision of the Statutes of New Jersey 263 (1877)
(1874)
An act relating to the transportation of explosive and dangerous material, 1: An act relating to the transportation of explosive and dangerous material, 1: That if any person shall deliver, or cause to be delivered, to any canal, railroad, steamboat, or other transportation company, or to any persons, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of transportation, any nitroglycerine, dualin, dynamite, gunpowder, mining or blasting powder, gun-cotton, phosphorous, friction matches, or other explosive or dangerous material of any nature whatsoever, under any false or deceptive invoice or description, or without previously informing such person, firm or corporation, in writing, of the true nature of such article, and without having the box, keg, barrel, can or package containing the same plainly marked with the name of the explosive or dangerous material therein contained, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be sentenced to imprisonment for thirty days, and to pay a fine of one hundred dollars, and shall be responsible for all damages to persons or property directly or indirectly resulting from the explosion of any such article. 2. That it shall and may be lawful for any officer or agent of any person, firm, or corporation, engaged in the business of transportation to require any package tendered for transportation, believed to contain explosive material, to be opened by the person delivering the same, and to refuse to receive any such package unless such requirements be complied with; and if such package be opened and found to contain such explosive or dangerous material, the said package and its contents shall be forthwith removed to any lawful place for the storing of gun-powder, and after conviction of the offender, or after three months from such removal, the said package, with its contents, shall be sold at public sale, after the expiration of ten days from notice of the time and place of such sale, published in one newspaper in the county where such seizure shall have been made; and the proceeds of such sale, after deducting therefrom the expenses of removal, storage, advertisement, and sale, shall be paid into the treasury of the said county; provided, however, that nothing in this act contained shall be construed to require common carriers to transport any such explosive or dangerous articles against their consent, nor to transport them otherwise than at such times, and under such regulations for safety to persons and property, as they may from time to time prescribe in relation thereto
Levi Peirce, The Consolidation and Revision of the Statutes of the State, of a General Nature 185 (1852)
(1852)
When gunpowder is shipped on board of a steamboat, which shall at all times be stowed away at as great a distance as possible from the furnace, a written notification of the fact shall be placed in three conspicuous parts of the boat; and in the event of such notification not being so exhibited , then for any loss of property, or life, for which the powder shall be deemed the cause, the owner shall be liable to the shipper for the full amount of said loss or damage; and the captain, in the event of loss of life being the result of such accident, shall be adjudged guilty of manslaughter.§ 6. Any person or persons who shall ship or put on board, or cause to be shipped or put on board of any steamboat, within this State, any gunpowder, without giving notice thereof a the time of making the shipment to the master clerk of said boat, shall be liable to a penalty of two hundred dollars, which may be sued for and recovered before any court of competent jurisdiction by the owner, captain or clerk of said boat, for his or her own use and benefit
1909 N.M. Laws 333-34
(1909)
Ch. 117, § 8: That villages incorporated under this act shall have the power by ordinance, to prevent the presence within their limits of anything dangerous, offensive, unhealthy or indecent and to cause any nuisance to be abated; to regulate the transportation, storage and keeping of gun-powder and other combustibles and explosives, oils, gasoline and other articles which may endanger the property of such village[.]
1903 N.J. Laws 671
(1903)
Ch. 257, 49: No person shall be entitled to carry or require any company to carry on any railroad any aqua fortis, oil or vitriol, gunpowder, nitro-glycerine, matches, or other goods of a dangerous nature and if any person sends by the railway any such goods without distinctly marking their nature on the outside of the package containing the same, or otherwise giving notice in writing to the agent of the company with whom the same are left at the time of so sending, he shall forfeit to the company twenty dollars for every such offense, and be besides liable to all damage that may occur therefrom, and the company may refuse to take any parcel that they may suspect to contain goods of a dangerous nature or may require the same to be opened to ascertain the fact.
1923 N.M. Laws 179, § 1
(1923)
Ch. 115, § 1: Any person who knowingly transports or takes into or upon any public service passenger car or passenger coach in the State of New Mexico, any bomb, dynamite, nitro-glycerine, vigorite, Giant or Hercules powder, gunpowder or other chemical compound or explosive shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than three years nor more than five years.
Albert Voorhies, Revised Laws of Louisiana 161 (1884)
(1884)
949: When gunpowder is shipped on board of a steamboat it shall be stored away at as great a distance as possible from the furnace, and a written notification of the fact shall be placed in three conspicuous parts of the boat; and in the event of such notification not being so exhibited, then for any loss of property or life for which the powder may be deemed the cause, the owner and captain shall be liable to the penalty provided in the proceeding section.§ 950. Any person who shall ship or put on board, or cause to be shipped or put on board of any steamboat within this State, any gunpowder, without giving notice thereof, at the time of making the shipment, to the master or clerk of said boat, shall be liable to a penalty of two hundred dollars
1838 Iowa Acts 449
(1838)
An Act to Prevent Disasters on Steam Boats, Navigating the Waters Within the Jurisdiction of the Territory of Iowa, §§ 11-12: Required the master and officers of a steam boat carrying gun powder to store the same in the safest part of the vessel, separate from articles likely to create combustion and would not require carry of any lighted lamp, torch, or candle. Also required persons bringing gun powder onto the boat to inform the master and officers. Violators fined not more than one hundred dollars.
Chas. Ben. Darwin, Ordinances of the City of Burlington 159 (1856)
(1856)
§ 9: Empowered the mayor, wharf master, and the fire wardens to give direction to boats containing gun powder, gun cotton, hay, or other combustible materials.
Chas. Ben. Darwin, Ordinances of the City of Burlington 72-73 (1856)
(1847)
§§ 1-4: Prohibited any merchant, trader, or other person to retail or deliver gun powder during the night. Violators fined five dollars. Gun powder limited to twenty-five pounds and only in a "safe canister." Gun powder shall only be kept in dwellings approved by the Council. Violators fined one hundred dollars, with the powder confiscated with cost.
1836 Ind. Acts 77
(1836)
An Act to Prevent Disasters on Steam Boats, § 7: Required gun powder to be transported upon steam boats stowed away as great a distance as possible from the furnace. Written notification shall be posted in three places. In the event of loss of property or life from the powder, the owner shall be liable.
1837 Ga. Laws 619
(1831)
Required gun powder over five pounds to be transported with marks indicating the containers hold gunpowder. Violators shall have gunpowder seized and forfeited.
W.B. Hvland, Wilmington City Code: The Ordinances of the City of Wilmington, Delaware 688-89 (1885)
(1885)
Required supplying retailers to be in kegs, not more than twenty-five pounds, carefully enclosed in good bags, or by putting a sheet of canvas under and around the kegs. When transporting gunpowder the carriage shall contain no more than ten kegs as described above.
1861 Del. Laws 630
(1865)
An Act to Prevent the Loading of Gunpowder Within Certain Distances of Railroads, chap. 554, § 1: Prohibited loading gun powder into any rail cars within one hundred yards of the track used for carrying passengers.Violators fined one thousand dollars and imprisoned six months.
15 The Public Records Of The Colony Of Connecticut 191 (Charles J. Hoadly ed., 1890) (enacted 1775)
(1775)
Prohibited the exportation of salt petre, nitre, or gun powder out of the colony by land or water. Violators fined twenty pounds for every hundred weight of salt petre, nitre, or gun powder.
Isham White, The Laws and Ordinances of the City of Denver, Colorado 355 (1886)
(1886)
Prohibited any wagon, dray, cart, or other vehicle loaded in whole or in part with gun powder or gun-cotton in any street, alleyway, highway, or place in the city. All vehicles transporting powder shall have the word "Powder" painted upon the sides in large letters.
1913 Colo. Sess. Laws 156
(1913)
Ch. 53, §1: Granted the city council or the board of trustees in towns the power to regulate or prevent the storage or transportation of gunpowder, tar, pitch, or any other combustible or explosive materials within the corporate limits.
E.W. Rector, Digest of the Laws and Ordinances of the City of Hot Springs 61 (1887)
(1887)
Prohibited the carry of gun powder, giant powder, dynamite, nitro-glycerine or blasting powder on any vehicle in any part of the city unless secured in kegs, boxes, or canisters capable of preventing leakage of the materials and covered in sheets of canvas or other clothes

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