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Duke Center for Firearms Law
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Repository of Historical Gun Laws

Subject: Manufacturing, Inspection and Sale of Gunpowder and Firearms

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1845 Iowa Laws 119, An Act to Incorporate and Establish the City of Dubuque, chap 123, § 12

| | 1845

That the said city council shall have power, and it is hereby made their duty to make and publish from time to time, all such ordinances as shall be necessary to secure said city and the inhabitants thereof . . . to impose fines, forfeitures and penalt...

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The Revised Statutes of the State of Maine Passed October 22, 1840 to Which are Prefixed the Constitutions of the United States and of the State of Maine, and to Which are Subjoined the Other Public Laws of 1840 and 1841, with an Appendix Page 697, Image 713 (1841) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

| | 1834

Section 4. If any person shall carry on the business of manufacturing gun powder, or of mixing or grinding the composition therefor, in any building within eighty rods from any valuable building, erected at the time when such business may be commenced ...

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1825 N.H. Laws 74, An Act to Regulate the Keeping and Selling and Transporting of Gunpowder, ch. 61, § 5.

| | 1825

[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 n...

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The Charter and Ordinances of the City of Providence, Together with the Acts of the General Assembly Relating to the City Page 89-96, Image 89-96 (1854) Available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

| | 1821

An Act Regulating the Storage, Safe Keeping and Transportation of Gunpowder in the Town of Providence, (1821) § 2. And be it further enacted, That is shall not be lawful for any person or persons to sell any gunpowder which may at the time be with...

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Laws of the State of Maine; to Which are Prefixed the Constitution of the U. States and of Said State, in Two Volumes, with an Appendix Page 685-686; Image 272-273 (Vol. 2, 1821) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

| | 1821

An Act to Provide for the Proof of Firearms, § 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in Legislature assembled, That the Governor, by and with the consent of the Council, be, and he hereby is empowered to appoint suitable per...

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1820 N.H. Laws 274-76, An Act to Provide for the Appointment of Inspectors and Regulating the Manufacture of Gunpowder, ch. 25, §§ 1-9.

| | 1820

§ 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]...

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1814 Mass. Acts 464, An Act In Addition To An Act, Entitled “An Act To Provide For The Proof Of Fire Arms, Manufactured Within This Commonwealth,” ch. 192, § 1

| | 1814

...from and after the passing of this act, all musket barrels and pistol barrels, manufactured within this Commonwealth, shall, before the same shall be sold, and before the same shall be stocked, be proved by the person appointed according to the prov...

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1811 N.J. Laws 300, An Act to Regulate Gun Powder Manufactories and Magazines within this State, § 1.

| | 1811

. . . [N]o person or persons whatsoever, shall be permitted within this state to erect or establish, or cause to be erected or established, any manufactory which shall be actually employed in manufacturing gun-powder, either by himself or any other per...

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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 Page 240-244, Image 284-288 (1810) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

| | 1795

An Act providing for the inspection of Gun-powder. Whereas gun-powder imported from abroad and manufactured within this state, hath frequently been found to vary much in its strength, and sometimes of inferior qualities, and its defects not discovered ...

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1794 Pa. Laws 764, An Act Providing For The Inspection Of Gunpowder chap. 337

| | 1794

Whereas gun-powder imported from abroad, and manufactured within this state, have frequently been found to vary much in its strength, and sometimes of inferior qualities, and its defects not discovered until brought into...

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1776-1777 N.J. Laws 6, An Act for the Inspection of Gunpowder, ch. 6, § 1.

| | 1776

That any Person who, from and after the Publication of this Act, shall offer any Gun-Powder for Sale, without being previously inspected and marked as is herein after directed, shall forfeit, for every such Offence, the Sum of Five Shillings a Pound fo...

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Records Of The State Of Rhode Island And Providence Plantations In New England.Providence Page 18-19, Image 20-21 (1863) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

| | 1776

An Act for the Inspection of Gunpowder, Manufactured within this State (1776). Be it enacted by this General Assembly, and by the authority thereof, it is enacted, that if any person or persons, within this state, shall vend or expose to sale any gunpo...

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The Public Records Of The Colony Of Connecticut. Hartford, 1890 Page 190-192, Image 194-196, available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

| | 1775

An Act for Encouraging the Manufacture of Salt Petre and Gun Powder. . .Be it enacted, That no salt petre, nitre or gun-powder made and manufactured, or that shall be made and manufactured in this Colony, shall be exported out of the same by land or wa...

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Documents Relative To The Colonial History Of The State Of New-York Page 254-255, Image 274-275 (1855) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

| | 1744

A letter from Governor Clinton to the Lords of Trade. . . . I have taken every other precaution in my power to guard against my surprise by sending circular orders to the respective Colonels of Militia and to the Captains of his Majesty’s Compani...

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Ordinances Ordained and Established by the Mayor & City Council of the City of New Orleans.New Orleans, 1817.The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources. Web. 24 October 2019.

| | 1817

Art. 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...

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