“15. Armed Civilian Groups. No organization, society, club, post, order, league or other combination of persons, or civil group, or any members thereof, are authorized to assume any semblance of military organization or character by bearing or possessing rifles, pistols, sabres, clubs, or military weapons of any kind, or wearing a military uniform of any kind. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section or taking part in such military organization shall be fined not less than three hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than six months, or both, and any rifles, pistols, sabres, clubs or other military weapons used in violation hereof shall be forfeited. This section shall not apply to regularly constituted military units under state or federal laws, and nothing in this section shall be construed as forbidding the possession and use of rifles for color guards or firing squad purposes, or the wearing of uniforms of a military character, by an organization composed wholly of veteran soldiers who participated in any war of the United States, or by any other recognized fraternal group of long-standing in the community which uses rifles or sabres merely as a part of its ritualistic exercises and which is not specifically disapproved by the President of the United States, the war department, or the governor.”

Full Text (Subscription Required): Hein

Laws of the State of New Hampshire Passed January Session, 1941 Legislature Convened January 1, Adjourned June 13 (Manchester, Nh: Granite State Press, 1941), 48-49. Chapter 46—An Act Establishing a State Guard, § 15. Approved April 4, 1941.

SECTION 1. Pistol or revolver, as used in this act shall be construed as meaning any firearm with a barrel less than twelve inches in length.

SECT. 2. 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 in addition to the punishment provided for the crime, be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years.

SECT. 3. No unnaturalized foreign-born person and no person who has been convicted of a felony against the person or property of another shall own or have in his possession or under his control a pistol or revolver, except as hereinafter provided. Violations of this section shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years and upon conviction the pistol or revolver shall be confiscated and destroyed.

SECT. 4. No person shall carry a pistol or revolver concealed in any vehicle or upon his person, except in his dwelling house or place of business, without a license therefor as hereinafter provided. Violations of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding one year or by both fine and imprisonment.

SECT. 5. The provisions of the preceding sections shall not apply to marshals, sheriffs, policemen, or other duly appointed peace and other law enforcement officers, nor to the regular and ordinary transportation of pistols or revolvers as merchandise, nor to members of the army, navy, or marine corps of the United States, nor to the national guard when on duty, nor to organizations by law authorized to purchase or receive such weapons, nor to duly authorized military or civil organizations when parading, or the members thereof when at or going to or from their customary places of assembly.

SECT. 6. The selectmen of towns or the mayor or chief of police of cities may, upon application of any person issue a license to such person to carry a loaded pistol or revolver in this state, for not more than one year from date of issue, if it appears that the applicant has good reason to fear an injury’ to his person or property or for any other proper purpose, and that he is a suitable person to be licensed. The license shall be in duplicate and shall bear the name, address, description, and signature of the licensee. The original thereof shall be delivered to the licensee, the duplicate shall be preserved by the selectmen of towns and the chief of police of the cities wherein issued for a period of one year.

SECT. 7. Any person or persons who shall sell, barter, hire, lend or give to any minor under the age of twenty-one years any pistol or revolver shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction thereof be fined not more than one hundred dollars or be imprisoned not more than three months, or both. This section shall not apply to fathers, mothers, guardians, administrators, or executors who give to their children, wards, or heirs to an estate, a revolver.

SECT. 8. No person shall sell, deliver, or otherwise transfer a pistol or revolver to a person who is an unnaturalized foreign-born person or has been convicted of a felony against the person  property of another, except upon delivery of a written permit to purchase, signed by the selectmen of the town or the mayor or chief of police of the city. Before a delivery be made the purchaser shall sign in duplicate and deliver to the seller a statement containing his full name, address, and nationality, the date of sale, the caliber, make, model, and manufacturer’s number of the weapon. The seller shall, within seven days, sign and forward to the chief of police of the city or selectmen of the town one copy thereof and shall retain the other copy for one year. This section shall not apply to sales at wholesale. Where neither party to the transaction holds a dealer’s license, no person shall sell or otherwise transfer a pistol or revolver to any person not personally known to him. Violations of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SECT. 9. Whoever, without being licensed as hereinafter provided, sells, advertises, or exposes for sale, or has in his possession with intent to sell, pistols or revolvers, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years.

SECT. 10. The selectmen of towns and the chief of police of cities may grant licenses, the form of which shall be prescribed by the secretary of state, effective for not more than one year from date of issue, permitting the licensee to sell at retail pistols and revolvers subject to the following conditions, for breach of any of which the license shall be subject to forfeiture:
1. The business shall be carried on only in the building designated in the license.
2. The license or a copy thereof, certified by the issuing authority, shall be displayed on the premises where it can easily be read.
3. No pistol or revolver shall be delivered (a) to a purchaser not personally known to the seller or who does not present clear evidence of his identity; nor (b) to an unnaturalized foreign-born person or a person who has been convicted of a felony and has no permit as required by section 8 of this act.
A true record, in duplicate, shall be made of every pistol or revolver sold, said record to be made in a book kept for the purpose, the form of which shall be prescribed by the secretary of state and shall be signed by the purchaser and by the person effecting the sale, and shall include the date of sale, the caliber, make, model, and manufacturer’s number of the weapon, the name, address, and nationality of the purchaser. One copy of said record shall, within seven days, be forwarded to the selectmen of the town or the chief of police of the city and the other copy retained for one year.

SECT. 11. If any person in purchasing or. otherwise securing delivery of a pistol or revolver shall give false information or offer false evidence of his identity he shall be punished by imprisonment punished, for not more than two years.

SECT. 12. No person shall change, alter, remove, or obliterate the name of the maker, model, manufacturer’s number, or other mark of identification on any pistol or revolver. Possession of any such firearms upon which the same shall have been changed, altered, removed, or obliterated, shall be presumptive evidence that such possessor has changed, altered, removed or obliterated the same. Violations of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more
than one year, or both.

SECT. 13. All licenses heretofore issued within the state permitting the carrying of pistols or revolvers upon the person shall expire at midnight of July 31, 1923.

SECT. 14. This act shall not apply to antique pistols or revolvers incapable of use as such.

SECT. 15. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed, and this act shall take effect upon its passage.

Full Text: HeinOnline (subscription required)

And every justice of the peace within this province, may cause to be stayed and arrested, all affrayers, rioters, disturbers or breakers of the peace, or any other who shall go armed offensively, or put his Majesty’s subjects in fear, by menaces or threatening speeches : And upon view of such justice, confession of the offender, or legal proof of any such offence, the justice may commit the offender to prison, until he or she find such sureties for the peace and good behaviour, as is required, according to the aggravations of the offence ; and cause the arms or weapons so used by the offender, to be taken away, which shall be forfeited and sold for his Majesty’s use. And may also punish the breach of the peace in any person, who shall smite, or strike another, by fine to the King, not exceeding twenty shillings ; and require bond with sureties for the peace, till the next court of general sessions of the peace, or may bind the offender over to answer for said offence at said court, as the nature and circumstances of the offence may require.

Full Text: HeinOnline (subscription required)

§ 1. No person shall manufacture, sell, or deal in firearms or in gunpowder, dynamite, nitro-glycerine, or other form of high explosive, unless he shall first obtain, from the selectmen of the town or the chief of police of the city where such business is to be conducted, a written license therefor, and no person shall conduct such business within the state but outside the limits of any organized town or city, unless he shall first obtain such license from the county commissioners of the county in which such business is to be conducted; which license shall specify the building where such business is to be carried on or material deposited or used. § 2. No such licensed person shall sell or deliver firearms to any person not a citizen of the United States, unless he shall have legally declared his intention of becoming a citizen, or any such explosive material or compound to any person, except upon presentation of a permit such as is hereinafter provided for, nor unless satisfied that the same is to be used for a lawful purpose. § 3. Every person so licensed shall keep, on blanks to be furnished by the secretary of state, a record of the names and residences of all persons to whom he shall sell or deliver firearms or any such explosive material or compound, the purpose of which the same is to be used¸ the date of sale, the amount paid, the date of the purchaser’s permit, the name and title of the person by whom the permit was issued, and, within five days after such sale or delivery, shall file such record thereof with the clerk of the city or town wherein he sale or delivery was made, or with the county commissioners in case of sales or deliveries within the state, but outside the limits of any organized city or town. The records thus filed shall at all times be open to the inspection of the police departments, or other public authorities. He shall also affix to the receptacle containing such explosive material or compound a label with the name of the compound, his own name, and the date of sale.

No person not a citizen of the United States or one who has legally declared his intention of becoming such a citizen shall have in his possession any firearm or firearms of whatsoever kind or description unless he has a written permit to have such possession issued and signed as hereinafter provided. Any such person desiring to possess a firearm or firearms for any lawful purpose shall first make written application to the chief of police or selectmen of the town wherein he resides . . . stating the purposes for which the possession of the firearm or firearms is desired and a description of the firearm or firearms. The applicant shall also state his full name, occupation, place of residence and if in a city the street and number. If such chief of police or selectmen or county commissioners are satisfied that the applicant intends to use the firearm or firearms in a lawful manner and as set forth in his application, a permit shall be issued, signed by the chief of police of the city, a selectmen of the town, or county commissioners, as the case may be, giving to the applicant the right to have in his possession such firearm or firearms. The holder of any such permit shall keep the permit on his person at all times when he is in possession of the firearm or firearms as authority for such possession and shall exhibit the same when so requested by any person.

No person not a citizen of the United States or one who has legally declared his intention of becoming such a citizen shall have in his possession any firearm or firearms of whatsoever kind or description unless he has a written permit to have such possession issued and signed as hereinafter provided. Any such person desiring to possess a firearm or firearms for any lawful purpose shall first make written application to the chief of police or selectmen of the town wherein he resides . . . stating the purposes for which the possession of the firearm or firearms is desired and a description of the firearm or firearms. The applicant shall also state his full name, occupation, place of residence and if in a city the street and number. If such chief of police or selectmen or county commissioners are satisfied that the applicant intends to use the firearm or firearms in a lawful manner and as set forth in his application, a permit shall be issued, signed by the chief of police of the city, a selectmen of the town, or county commissioners, as the case may be, giving to the applicant the right to have in his possession such firearm or firearms. The holder of any such permit shall keep the permit on his person at all times when he is in possession of the firearm or firearms as authority for such possession and shall exhibit the same when so requested by any person.

A person who violates a provision of this part is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined as follows . . . [p]rovided, however, that a person violating the prohibition against setting a spring gun the object of which is to discharge a firearm, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars nor less than fifty dollars, and shall be liable for twice the amount of the damage caused by his act, to be recovered by the person sustaining the injury or loss.

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: Provided, that it shall be lawful to transport on any such vessel or vehicle small arms ammunition in any quantity, and such fuses, torpedoes, rockets, or other signal devices, as may be essential to promote safety in operation; and properly packed and marked samples of explosives for laboratory examination, not exceeding a net weight of one-half pound each, and not exceeding twenty samples at one time in a single vessel or vehicle; but such samples shall not be carried in that part of a vessel or vehicle which is intended for transportation of passengers for hire: Provided further, that nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the transportation of military or naval forces with their accompanying munitions of war on passenger equipment vessels or vehicles.

§ 1. That any person who, with intent to commit burglary, breaks and enters in the night-time any building in which there is a human being, and commits a burglary by the use of nitro-glycerine, dynamite, gunpowder or any other explosive, shall be deemed guilty of burglary with explosives, and any person convicted of such offense shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison at hard labor for a period of not less than twenty years and not more than thirty years. § 2. That any person who, with intent to commit burglary, breaks and enters in the daytime any building in which there is a human being, and commits a burglary by the use of nitro-glycerine, dynamite, gunpowder or any other explosive, shall be deemed guilty of burglary with explosives, and any person convicted of such offense shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison at hard labor for a period of not less than fifteen years and not more than thirty years. § 3. That any person who, with intent to commit burglary, breaks and enters in the night-time any building in which there is no human being, and commits a burglary by the use of nitro-glycerine, dynamite, gunpowder or any other explosive, shall be deemed guilty of burglary with explosives, and any person convicted of such offense shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison at hard labor for a period of not less than ten years and not more than thirty years. § 4. That any person who, with intent to commit burglary, breaks and enters in the daytime any building in which there is no human being, by the use of nitro-glycerine, dynamite, gunpowder or any other explosive shall be deemed guilty of burglary with explosives, and any person convicted of such offense shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison at hard labor for a period of not less than five years and not more than thirty years.

IF any person shall, at any time, within this state, hunt, pursue, shoot at, or kill any game bird, as defined by section 34 of chapter 79 of the laws of 1901, with any punt gun swivel gun, or other gun not fired from the shoulder, or of larger bore than ten gauge, he shall be fined not more than ten dollars for each offense and shall forfeit all guns and implements with which the offense was committed. And all guns and implements so used shall be seized by any detective, constable or police officer and shall be destroyed by the person seizing them.

If any person shall carry from town to town, or from place to place, any gunpowder for the purpose of peddling or selling it by retail in quantities less than twenty-five pounds, or shall sell, or offer to sell, by retail, any gunpowder in any highway or street, or on any wharf, parade, or common, or if any person shall sell or deal out any gunpowder in the night time, between sunset and sunrise, he shall forfeit for each offense a sum not more than five dollars.

Offenses Against Minors. § 4. If any person shall have in his possession a toy pistol, toy revolver, or other toy firearms, for the explosion of percussion caps or blank cartridges, with intent to sell the same, or shall sell, or offer to sell or to give away the same, he shall be fined not more than fifty dollars; and he shall be liable for all damages resulting from the use of the toy pistol, revolver, or other firearms by him sold or given away, to be recovered in an action on the case.

General Statutes [Ordinances of the City of Dover, Offences Against the Police of Towns,] § 5. No person shall, within the compact part of any town, fire or discharge any cannon, gun, pistol, or other fire-arms, or beat any drum, except by command of a military officer having authority therefor, or fire or discharge any rockets, squibs, crackers, or any preparation of gunpowder, except by permission of a majority of the police officers or selectmen in writing, or make any bonfire, or improperly use or expose any friction matches, or knowingly raise or repeat any false cry of fire.

[Ordinances of the City of Concord,] An Ordinance to Guard Against Damage to the Property of the City, Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Concord, as follows: §1. No person shall discharge any gun or fire-arms within, on, or at, any bridge or building belonging to the city, or in any way damage the same, or any fence or other property belonging to the city, or write upon, cut out, or make any obscene image or representation. § 2. Any person violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be subject to a fine of not less than one nor more than ten dollars.

Safe-Keeping of Gunpowder, § 1. The board of firewards, if any, or the selectmen of any town, may establish rules and regulations from time to time relative to the times and places at which gunpowder may be brought to or carried from such town, by land or water, and the time when and the manner in which the same may be transported through the same. § 2. Any two firewards, police officers, or selectmen may search any building in the compact part of any town, and any vessel lying in any port, in which they have cause to suspect that gunpowder in a greater quantity than twenty-five pounds is kept or stored; and in case a greater quantity shall be found, shall seize the same as forfeited. § 3. Any person who shall keep or knowingly suffer any quantity of gunpowder greater than twenty-five pounds to be kept or stored in any such building or vessel, or aid or assist in keeping or storing the same, or shall know that the same is so stored or kept, and shall not forthwith inform one of the firewards, police officers, or selectmen thereof, shall forfeit a sum not more than five dollars nor less than one dollar, for every day the same shall be so stored or kept.

An Ordinance for the Prevention of Certain Practices on the Sabbath, § 2. It shall be unlawful for any person to enter upon, or travel over or through any garden, orchard, or field other than his own, or over or through any grounds of any other person; or discharge any gun or pistol upon his own or the premises of any other person or on any street or public highway within said city on the aforesaid first day of the week. § 3. Any person offending against any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be liable to a fine of not less than one dollar, nor more than twenty dollars for each and every offence.

[I]f any person or persons shall sell or offer for sale by retail any gunpowder in any highway, or in any street, lane, or alley, or on any wharf, or on parade or common, such person so offending shall forfeit and pay for each and every offence a sum not more than five dollars nor less than one dollar, to be recovered and applied as aforesaid.

That if any person or persons shall within the compact part of the town of Portsmouth, that is to say, within one mile of the courthouse, fire or discharge any cannon, gun, pistol or other fire arms, or beat any drum, (except by command of a military officer, having authority therefor) or fire or discharge any rockets, squibs, crackers, or any preparation of gunpowder, (except by the permission of the police officers, or of a major part of them first had in writing) . . . every such person, for every such act shall be taken and deemed to be an offender against the police of Portsmouth, and shall be liable to the penalties hereinafter expressed.

§ 1. [T]he Governor . . . is hereby authorized to appoint an inspector of gunpowder for every public powder magazine, and at every manufactory of gunpowder in this state, and such other places as may by him thought to be necessary[.] § 2. [F]rom and after the first day of July next, all gunpowder which shall be manufactured within this state shall be composed of the following proportions and quality of materials . . . § 3. It shall be the duty of each of said inspectors to inspect, examine and prove all gunpowder which after the first day of July shall not be deposited at any publick [sic] powder magazine, or manufactory of this state . . . § 4. [N]o gunpowder within this state shall be considered to be of proof unless one ounce thereof, placed in a chamber of a four and an half inch howitzer, with the howitzer elevated so as to form an angle of forty-five degrees with the horizon, will, upon being fired throw a twelve pound shot seventy-five yards at the least. § 5. [W]henever any of said inspectors shall discover any gunpowder, deposited at any public powder magazine, or any other place within this state, which is not well manufactured or which is composed of impure materials . . . the inspector in such case, shall mark each cask containing such impure, ill manufactured, or deficient gunpowder, with the word “Condemned” on both heads of the cask . . . § 6. [I]f any person shall knowingly sell any condemned gunpowder . . . every such person, so offending, shall forfeit and pay not less than two hundred nor more than five hundred dollars . . . § 7. [E]ach inspector . . . be sworn to the faithful and impartial discharge of the duties of his office, and each inspector shall be allowed one cent for each pound of gunpowder, by him examined, inspected and proved . . . to be paid by the owner or owners of the gunpowder. § 8. [I]f any manufacturer of gunpowder shall sell or dispose of, or shall cause or permit to be sold or disposed of, or shall export or cause to be exported withou the limits of this state, any powder of his manufacture, before the same has been inspected and marked agreeably to the provisions of this act, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of fifty cents for every pound of powder so sold, disposed of, or exported, to be recovered in the manner provided in the sixth section of this act. § 9. [I]f any person with within this state . . shall knowingly sell, expose, or offer for sale, within this state, any gunpowder which is not well manufactured, or which is composed of impure materials, and which shall not be composed of the proof herein before required, shall forfeit and pay not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars for each and every offence, to be recovered in the manner provided in the sixth section of this act.

If any non-commissioned officer or private shall come on to any parade with his musket, rifle, or pistol loaded with powder and ball, slugs or shot, he shall for such offence forfeit not less than two nor more than ten dollars[.]

[N]o non-commissioned officer or private soldier, shall upon any muster day, or the evening of the same day, discharge and fire off a musket or gun in any public road, or near thereto, or in, or near to any house, or on, or near to the place of parade, unless leave therefore be first had from a commissioned officer, on penalty of forfeiting for each offence so committed, the sum of one dollar, to be recovered by action before any Justice of the Peace within the county where such offense shall be committed, by any person who will sue therefor, with costs of prosecution.

[E]very free, able bodied, white male citizen of this state, resident therein, who is, or shall be of the age of sixteen years and under forty years of age, under such exceptions as are made in said act, shall be enrolled in the militia, and shall in all other respects be considered as liable to do the duties of the militia in the same way and manner, as those of the age of eighteen years and upwards . . .

That if any person or persons, shall keep in any dwelling-house, store or other building on land, within the limits of said Portsmouth, except the magazine aforesaid, more than ten pounds of gun-powder at any one time, which ten pounds shall be kept in a tin canister, properly secured for the purpose, such person or persons shall forfeit the powder so kept to the firewards of said Portsmouth to be laid out by them in purchasing such utensils as they may judge proper for the extinguishing of the fire; and the said firewards are hereby directed and empowered to seize, and cause the same to be condemned in any court of record proper to hear and try the same, to be disposed of for the purchase aforesaid. And the offender shall also forfeit and pay a fine for the use of the poor of said Portsmouth, equal to the value of the powder so kept in any store, dwelling-house, or building; which fine, shall be sued for and recovered by the overseers of the poor of said Portsmouth, for the use of said poor, in any ourt of law proper to try the same.

[E]very non-commissioned officer and soldier, both in the alarm list and training band, shall be provided, and have constantly in readiness, a good musket, and a bayonet fitted thereto, with a good scabbard and belt, a worm, priming-wire and brush, a cartridge-box that will hold at least twenty-four rounds, six flints, and a pound of powder, forty leaden balls fitted to his gun, a knap sack, a blanket, and a canteen that will hold one quart.

That if any person or persons, shall keep in any dwelling-house, store or other buildings, on land, within the limits of said Portsmouth, except the magazine aforesaid, more than ten pounds of gun-powder at any one time, which ten pounds shall be kept in a tin canister properly secured for that purpose, such person or persons shall forfeit the powder so kept, to the firewards of said Portsmouth to be laid out by them in purchasing such utensils as they may judge proper for the extinguishing of the fire; and the said firewards are hereby directed and empowered to seize, and cause the same to be condemned in any Court of Law or Record proper to hear and try the same, to be disposed of for the purchase aforesaid. And the offender shall also forfeit and pay a fine for the use of the poor of said Portsmouth, equal to the value of the powder so kept in any store, dwelling-house, or building; which fine, shall be sued for and recovered by the overseers of the poor of said Portsmouth, for the use of said poor, in any Court of Law proper to try the same.