“ORDINANCE NO. 103.

Slidell, La., September 7, 1909.

An ordinance prohibiting the discharge of fireworks, firearms, etc., within Slidell and providing penalty for same.

    Be it ordained by the Mayor and Board of Alderman of the Town of Slidell. La., as follows:

    That it shall be unlawful for any person at any time to explode, shoot any firecracker, firearms, Roman candle, or any other fireworks that may be used for the purpose of celebrating, within the corporate limits of the Town of Slidell.

    Sec. 2. That any person found guilty of violating this ordigance shall upon convictions be fined for eace offence not less than five nor more than ten dollars, and on default of payment of said fine, said person shall be confined in the town jail not less than five nor more than ten days.

    Sec 3. That this ordinance shall become effective immediately upon and after its adoption.

A. BOURGEOIS, Mayor. JOHN FREDERICK. Secretary.
Motion by O. R. Brugier and seconded by J. M. Currie to adopted Ordinance No. 103.
Carried.
A vote of the Countil was taken.
Years—T. J. Hand, J. A. Salmen, O. R. Brugier, J. M. Currie and E. J. Perilloux.
Nays—None.
Ordinance No. 103 was adopted by a majority of the Council.
Carried.”

Full Text: 1909, LA, Slidell, St. Tammany Farmer, Ordinance No. 103, §§ 1-3

“Ordinance No. 103.” St. Tammany Farmer, September 11, 1909, p. 7. Ordinance No. 103—An Ordinance Prohibiting the Discharge of Fireworks, Firearms, Etc., within Slidell and Providing Penalty for Same, §§ 1-3. Carried  September 7, 1909. Volume 35, Number 42.

“EVENING GUN.

    No. 251.   That the captains of police of the first, second, third and fourth districts be, and are hereby, instructed to purchase the powder necessary for firing the evening guns in said districts, and present the vouchers for the same, after they have been approved by the chief of police, and it shall be the duty of the said captains to detail a member of the police force of each of said districts to fire the said evening guns, without extra compensation.”

Full Text: 1857, LA, New Orleans, Laws & Ordinances, no. 251

Henry Jefferson Leovy, ed., The Laws and General Ordinances of the City of New Orleans: Together With the Acts of the Legislature, Decisions of the Supreme Court and Constitutional Provisions Relating to the City Government (New Orleans, LA: E. C. Wharton, 1857), 89. (Undated.)

* The text includes a reference at the bottom: “City Ordinance, No. 292.”

        “Article 1. That hereafter it shall not be lawful for any person to carry a dangerous weapon, concealed or otherwise, into a theatre, public hall, tavern, pic-nic ground, place for shows or exhibitions, house or other place of public entertainment or amusement.
        Art. 2. That any person violating the provisions of the first section of this ordinance, by carrying a dangerous weapon, not concealed, into any of the places designated in said section, shall be subject to the payment of a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars, or to imprisonment in the parish prison not to exceed twenty days, to be imposed by the Recorder within whose jurisdiction the offense is committed.
        Art. 3. That any person violating the provisions of the first section of this ordinance by carrying a dangerous weapon concealed about his person, in any of the places designated in said section, shall be arrested and prosecuted for violation of the law relative to the carrying of dangerous weapons concealed about the person.
        Art. 4. That the Chief of Police and the members of the police force of the city of New Orleans be charged with the enforcement of this ordinance, and to that end they are authorized and required to examine all persons entering any of the places specified in section one of this ordinance, and to arrest and prefer the proper charge against all persons violating this ordinance.
        Art. 5. That the provisions of this ordinance shall not apply to the officers and members of military organizations, when acting as such, nor to the carrying of arms or weapons intended to be used in any show, exhibition or other entertainment.
        Art. 6. That a printed copy of the ordinances concerning public balls, theatres and public exhibitions, be placed in a conspicuous position within the enclosure of said balls, theatres and public exhibitions, for the purpose of reference; and, that in case of neglect or refusal of the managers or owners of such places to comply with the provisions of this section, they shall be liable to a fine of fifty dollars for said offence, recoverable before any court of competent jurisdiction; and the police officers on duty shall compel the owners of the balls, theatres, etc., to close for that night.”

1879, LA, The Laws and Ordinances of the City of New Orleans, Title 1—Amusements, Chapter 1—General Ordinances, Articles 1-6

The Laws and Ordinances of the City of New Orleans From the Consolidation of the Municipalities in 1852 to the 1st of January, 1882, in Edwin L. Jewell, Jewell’s Digest of the City Ordinances: Together With the Constitutional Provisions, Acts of the General Assembly And Decisions of the Courts Relative to the Government of the City of New Orleans (New Orleans, LA: L. Graham & Son, 1882), 1-2. Title 1—Amusements, Chapter 1—General Ordinances, Articles 1-6.  Article 1 “enacted” in May of 1879; article 6 “posted” December 1856.

“ART. 16. Whoever shall fire a gun or other kind of fire-arms near any other inhabited place ; whoever shall fire at pigeons, or shall kill or wound any domestic animal, while hunting or fowling on another person’s land, shall, in every such case, be fined from twenty-five to fifty dollars, besides his being liable for damages to the party concerned, and even to prosecution, if cause be found.”

1828, LA, An ordinance concerning cattle, fences of plantations and other objects of the rural police, within the city of New-Orleans, Art. 16

D. Augustin, General Digest of the Ordinances and Resolutions of the Corporation of New-Orleans (Corner of Chartres and St. Louis Streets, New Orleans, LA: Jerime Bayon, 1831), 315.

“ARTICLE 27. It shall not be lawful to fire off any cannon or other piece of artillery, or fire arms of any kind, on board of any ship, steam-boat, or other craft within the port of Orleans, except from day-break to the hour of retreat ; that is to say, until nine o’clock from the 15th of March to the 15th of September, and until eight o’clock during the remainder of the year ; and, provided, that the pieces of artillery used on the occasion, shall, in no case, be pointed against the city or suburbs, or against any ship, steam-boat, or other vessel or craft whatsoever ; and every person offending against the dispositions of the present article shall pay a fine of one hundred dollars ; for the payment of which, every owner, captain, commander or master of any ship, steam-boat or other craft, on board of which any cannon or other piece of artillery, or other fire arms are fired off, in contravention of the present article, shall be held responsible.”

1827, LA, An Ordinance concerning the Port and Levee of New-Orleans, Art. 27

John Calhoun, Digest of the Ordinances and Resolutions of the Second Municipality of New Orleans in Force May 1, 1840 (New Orleans, LA: F. Cook & A. Levy, 1840), 95.

“Art. 1. It shall not be lawful for any person to enter into a public ball-room with any cane, stick, sword or any other weapon, and every person having either a cane, stick, sword or any other weapon, shall, before he enter the ball-room, deposite the same at the office which shall be at the door of the entrance of said ball-room, where there will be a person appointed to receive and take care of such articles which he shall carefully keep, affixing to each article a number, a check of which he shall give to the owner ; and said articles shall not be returned to the persons respectively depositing them, until said persons are quitting the balls and produce their checks.”

“Art. 1. Nul ne pourra entrer dans la salle d’un bal public avec aucune canne, bâton, épée, sabre ou autre arme : et toutes personnes ayant des cannes, bâtons ou armes quelconques seront tenues, avant d’entrer au bal, de les déposer au bureau établi à la porte d’entrée du dit bal, et dans lequel se trouvera un préposé qui, après les avoir reçues, les gardera avec soin et donnera au propriétaire un numéro pareil à celui qu’il aura attaché à chaque canne, bâton ou arme quelconque, et ces objets ne seront rendus à ceux qui les auront déposés que lorsqu’ils quitteront le bal et sur le vu du numéro qu’ils auront reçu.”

1817, LA, An Ordinance respecting public Balls

Donatien Augustin, A general digest of the ordinances and resolutions of the corporation of New-Orleans, (New Orleans, LA: J. Bayon, 1831), 370-373.

“ARTICLE 10. It shall not be lawful for any person to have or keep within the city and suburbs, or within two miles of the same, (except the public magazine, or place of depot appointed for that purpose) any quantity of gunpowder, at any one time exceeding one hundred pound weight, in any one place, house, store or out-house, which said quantity of one hundred pounds shall be separated in several stone jugs or tin canisters, each of which shall not contain more than ten pounds of powder, and shall be provided with a safe and sufficient stopper; and if any person or persons shall keep any greater quantity of gunpowder, at one time, than one hundred pounds, in any one place, house, store or out-house, or if the same gunpowder, so kept as aforesaid, shall not be separated in the manner herein above directed, he, she or they shall forfeit all such gunpowder so kept contrary to the true intent and meaning of this ordinance, or so permitted to be kept, and which shall not be separated as aforesaid, and shall also forfeit and pay a fine of not less than twenty-five, nor more than one hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs of suit, by the Mayor or any other competent magistrate; one half to the informer, and the other half for the use of the city.

ARTICLE 11. The Mayor, or any justice of the peace within the limits of the city, is hereby authorised, as often as he shall be informed upon oath, or affirmation, of probable cause to suspect any person or persons whomsoever, of concealing or keeping within the city or precincts, to the distance of two miles from the said city, any quantity of gunpowder, over and above one hundred pounds weight, as aforesaid, or of concealing or keeping in any boat, ship or other vessel within the port of New-Orleans, any quantity of gunpowder, over and above ten pounds weight, (ships of war only excepted) to issue a search warrant to be executed in the house, store, shop, or other place, or any boat, ship or other vessel designated to him, to examine into the truth of such allegation, in order that every such offender be proceeded against in the manner above specified ; or in conformity with the ordinance respecting the said port, as the case may be.

ARTICLE 12. No person shall hereafter be permitted to fire or discharge any gun, pistol, fowling piece or fire arm, nor to discharge or let off any rocket, cracker, squib or other fire-works, in any street, court-yard, lot, walk or public way, within the city or suburbs, or from the door or window of any house or other building, or near any house or other inhabited part of the said city or suburbs, on any account whatever, particularly on the occasion of festivals or public rejoicings, under the penalty of from five to ten dollars upon each offender, if the person so offending be free, and of thirty lashes, if the offender be a slave; provided always, that nothing contained in this ordinance shall be construed to extend to the reviews or exercises of any military company; and if any person or persons shall let off any fire-works, or shall make any bonfire, without having first obtained the permission of the Mayor of this city, who will appoint a place for so doing, every such person or persons shall pay the fine aforesaid.”

1840, LA, An Ordinance for preventing and extinguishing Fires

John Calhoun, Digest of the Ordinances and Resolutions of the Second Municipality of New Orleans in Force May 1, 1840, (New Orleans, LA: F. Cook & A. Levy, 1840), 46-47.

“Art. 2. The law grants no action for the payment of what has been won at gaming or by a bet, except for games tending to promote skill in the use of arms, such as the exercise of the gun, foot, horse and chariot racing.”

SECTION 20. The inhabitants who keep slaves for the purpose of hunting, shall never deliver to the said slaves any fire arms for the purpose of hunting, without a permis- sion by writing, which shall not serve beyond the limits of the plantation of the owners.

“SECTION 19. No slave shall, by day or by night, carry any visible or hidden arms, not even with a permission for so doing, and in case any person or persons shall find any slave or slaves, using or carrying such fire arms, or any offensive weapons of any other kind, contrary to the true meaning of this act, he, she or they, lawfully, may seize and carry away such fire arms, or other offensive weapons; but before the person or persons, who shall so seize such fire arms can possess the same of right, he, she or they shall go, within forty-eight hours after the said seizure, before the next justice of the peace, and shall declare, upon oath, the manner in which he, she or they have seized the said arms; and if the justice of the peace, upon the oath of such person or persons, or upon any other examination or proof, be satisfied that the said fire arms or other offiensive weapons have been seized, pursuant to the true intent and meaning of this act, the said justice of the peace shall de- clare, by a certificate under his hand and seal, that the said arms are forfeited, and that they have lawfully become the property of the person or persons who has or have seized the same: Provided,that no certificate of the above de- scription shall be delivered by any justice of the peace, until the owner or owners of the said fire arms or other offensive weapons, which shall have been seized as aforesaid, or the overseer or overseers who shall have the said slave or slaves in charge, upon whom the said fire arms or other offensive weapons shall have been seized, as aforesaid, be duly sum- moned to show cause, (if he, she or they have any,) why the said arms should not be forfeited, or until forty-eight hours shall have elapsed after the citation and oath made before the said justice of the peace: Provided, that the said slave or slaves do not actually carry the arms of his master to………….or from his plantation to………..with a special permission for that purpose.”

§ 1. . . . for the purpose of this Act the term “machine gun” applies to and include all firearms commonly known as machine rifles, machine guns and sub-machine guns of any caliber whatsoever, capable of automatically discharging more than eight cartridges successively without reloading, in which the ammunition is fed to such gun from or by means of clips, disks, belts, or other separable mechanical device. § 2. It is unlawful for any person to sell, keep or offer for sale, loan or give away, purchase, possess, carry or transport any machine gun within this State, except that (exceptions for law enforcement, military, war relics, museums, guards, messengers) . . . .

§ 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Louisiana, That any persons who, with intent to commit crime, breaks and enters, either by day or night, any building whether inhabited or not, and opens or attempts to open any vault, safe or other secure place by use of nitro-glycerine, dynamite, gunpowder or any other explosive, shall be deemed guilty of burglary with explosives. § 2. Be it further enacted, etc., That any person duly convicted of burglary with explosives shall be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for a term of not less than five nor more than twenty-five years.

§ 3. Be it further enacted . . . That it shall be unlawful for any person to hunt, or kill wild deer with any gun, or other firearm with any devise for deadening the sound of the explosion attached or fitted thereto, which device is commonly called a silencer.

To regulate the buying, caring, storing, selling and using of gun powder and fire crackers, and fireworks manufactured or prepared therefrom, and all other combustible or explosive substances, the exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of firearms and the lights, in barns, stables and other buildings, and restrain the making of bonfires at any place within the limits of the city.

§ 7. Be it further enacted, etc., That it shall be unlawful to kill any of the birds named in this Act in the open season, noted herein by any means other than by ordinary gun capable of being held to and shot from the shoulder.

That all forfeitures and fines be imposed by the Board of Fire Commissioners, from time to time, upon any member or members of the fire department force by way of discipline, shall be paid into said pension and relief fund. That all fines imposed by the courts for infractions of City ordinances relative to fire escape, fire wells and hydrants, open hatches, oils, gunpowder, right of way of the fire apparatus through the streets, and all other laws relative to the fire department, be paid over by the City Treasurer to said pension and relief fund.

Ordinances of the City of New Orleans. Offences, Misdemeanors and Nuisances. § 1342. It shall be unlawful for any one to sell, or lease, or give through himself or any other person, any pistol, dirk, bowieknife, toy pistol for which cartridges are used, or any other dangerous weapon which may be carried concealed, to any person under the age of eighteen years. § 1343. That any person violating the provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars or imprisonment for a period not exceeding thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the Recorder having jurisdiction.

. . . [I]t shall be unlawful, for any person to sell, or lease or give through himself or any other person, any pistol, dirk, bowie-knife or any other dangerous weapon which may be carried concealed to any person under the age of twenty-one years.

Full Text (Subscription Required) : Hein

Crimes and Offences, § 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 , which may be sued for and recovered by the owner, captain or clerk of said boat, for his own use and benefit; and in case of any loss of property in consequence of gunpowder being on board of said boat, the shipper that shall have failed to give due notice as herein required, shall be liable therefor, or for any injury done to any person or to his family; and in the case of loss of life the person who shall have shipped the same without giving due notice thereof, shall, on conviction be adjudged guilty of manslaughter.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged. This shall not prevent the passage of laws to punish those who carry weapons concealed.

And any person who shall willfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure or remove any tomb, monument, gravestone, or other structure placed therein, or shall willfully destroy, cut, break or remove any tree, shrub or plant within the limits of said cemetery, or shoot or discharge any gun or firearms within said limits, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall upon conviction thereof, before any court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction, be punished by a fine at the discretion of the judge, according to the aggravation of the offense, of not less than five dollars, nor more than fifty dollars for each and every offense.

. . . [I]t shall be unlawful for any person to carry any gun, pistol, bowie knife or other dangerous weapon, concealed or unconcealed, on any day of election during the hours the polls are open, or on any day of registration or revision of registration, within a distance of one-half mile of any place of registration or revision of registration; any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, and imprisonment in the parish jail not less than one month . . . .

Ordinances of the City of New Orleans. Offences and Nuisances. § 636. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to erect, or in any manner establish or continue any pistol or shooting gallery within the limits of the city of New Orleans, without having first obtained the consent of two-thirds of the persons residing within one square of the place where any pistol of shooting gallery is intended to be established, and permission of the common council; and it shall be the duty of any person or persons so establishing such shooting gallery, to have the same so enclosed as to prevent the report of fire-arms being heard in the street or streets on which the same may be located.

From each proprietor or keeper of every billiard saloon, bowling alley or pistol gallery, in which there is but one table, alley or target, twenty-five dollars; where there are two tables, alleys or targets, forty dollars; where there are more than two tables, alleys or targets, ten dollars additional on each table, alley or target.

Militia. § 37. A soldier, who unnecessarily or without order from a superior officer, comes to any parade with his musket, rifle or pistol loaded with ball, slug or shot, or so loads the same while on parade, or unnecessarily or without order from a superior officer, discharges the same when going to, returning from, or upon parade, shall forfeit not less than five nor more than twenty dollars, to be recovered before any court of competent jurisdiction upon complaint of the clerk, one-half to his use and one-half to the use of the Commanding officer.