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.”

Sec. 55. Be it further enacted, that if any slave shall wilfully and maliciously shoot at any free white person with a gun or other instrument, with intent to kill such person, or if any slave shall wilfully and maliciously wound any free white person in attempting or endevouring to kill another peroson, the slave so offending, his or her aider and abetter being a slave, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall therefore suffer death.

Sec. 15. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any patrol of this Territory, to take from any slave or slaves any fire-arms, or other dangerous weapons, to be delivered by said patrol to the justice of the peace of said district . . . . Sec. 17. Be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for any slave, free negro, or mulatto, to keep or retain in his or their house or houses, any fire-arms whatsoever, and it is hereby made the duty of the patrol to search negro houses or other suspected places for fire-arms, and if any they find, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, may take the same to the nearest justice of the peace, who may proceed therewith as directed in a preceding section of this act; and the negro or negroes, in whose possession the same may be found, on failing to give a plain and satisfactory account of the manner he or they came possessed of the same, may be severally punished by moderate whipping on the bare back, not exceeding thirty-nine lashes.

Sec. 3. No slave or mulatto whatsoever, shall keep or carry a gun, poweder, shot, club or other weapon whatsoever, offensive or defensive; but all and every gun weapon and ammunition found in the possesision or custody of any negro or mulatto, may be seized by any person and upon due proof made before any justice of the peace of the district [county] where such seizure shall be, shall by his order be forfeited to the seizor, for his own use, and moreover, every such offender shall have and receive by order of such justice any num=ber of lashes not exceeding thirty nine on his or her bare back well laid on for every such offense.

. . . That free negroes and free mulattoes are prohibited from owning or having in their possession, a gun, pistol, sword or any other warlike instrument, and any free negro or free mulatto offending against the provisions of this Section shall be fined ten dollars by any Justice of the Peace before whom complaint shall be made, and upon failure to pay the fine and cost he or she shall be committed to prison, and after the expiration of twenty days, if the fine and cost shall not be paid, he or she shall be sold to pay the fine and cost, for any period not exceeding seven years.

. . . any person other than the owner, who shall sell or furnish to any slave or free person of color, any gun, pistol, bowie knife, slung shot, sword cane, or other weapon used for the purpose of offence or defence, shall, on indictment and conviction, be fined by the Court in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisoned in the common Jail of the county not exceeding six months . . . .

That chapter 107, section 66, of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows: If any free negro shall wear or carry about his person or keep in his house any shot gun, musket, rifle, pistol, sword, sword cane, dagger, bowie knife, powder or shot, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction fined not less than fifty dollars.

Any person who shall sell, lend, hire, give, or in any manner furnish to any slave any sword, dirk, bowie-knife, gun, pistol or other fire arms, or any other kind of deadly weapon of offence, or any ammunition of any kind suitable for fire arms, shall, upon conviction, suffer the penalties prescribed in section six of this act; Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prohibit the owner or master of any slave from temporarily arming such slave with such weapon and ammunition for the purpose of the lawful defence of himself, his family or property.

§ 2. No free negro or mulatto shall be suffered to keep or carry any firelock, or weapon of any kind, or any ammunition, without license first had and obtained for the purpose, from a justice of the peace of the county in which such free negro or mulatto resides, and such license may be revoked at any time by the justice granting the same or by any justice of the county. § 3. Any gun, firelock, or weapon of any kind, or any ammunition, found in the possession of any free negro or mulatto not having a license, as required by the last preceding section, may be seized by any person, and upon due proof thereof, before any justice of the peace of the county in which such seizure shall have been made, shall be forfeited by order of such justice, to the person making the seizure, for his own use.

If any negro shall keep or carry a gun, or other deadly weapon, powder, or shot, the same may be seized by any free white person; and upon due proof thereof, before a justice of the peace, it shall be forfeited, and vested in the person seizing; and if the negro offending be a slave, he shall by a judgment of a justice of the peace, be punished by stripes not exceeding thirty-nine; if a free negro, fined five dollars.

[Ordinances of the Parish of East Feliciana,] Of Slaves, § 5. No slave shall carry a gun to hunt, except on the plantation of his master or mistress; nor then unless accompanied by the overseer or some other free white member of the family, or has a written permit from his owner or overseer, which permit shall state for what said slave is hunting: Any person having the charge of slaves, who shall permit this section to be violated, shall pay a fine of twenty dollars, for the use of the parish, upon information to any Justice, whose duty it is to take cognizance of the case.

Crimes and Punishments, 1846 – 7- Ch. 42. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to sell or barter and deliver, to any slave, or slaves, any gun cotton, fire arms, swords, dirks or other side arms, unless those articles be for the owner or employer, and by the written order of the owner or employer of such slave or slaves, under the penalty of one hundred dollars for each offence, to be recovered, by warrant, before any Justice of the Peace, and applied, one half to the use of the party suing for the same, and the other half to the wardens of the poor of the county; and, moreover, may be indicted in the County or Superior Courts of Law; and the defendant, on conviction, shall be fined or imprisoned at the discretion of the Court; the fine, however, not to exceed fifty dollars, or the imprisonment three months.

That the proviso in the first section of the act to which this is a further supplement, and all and every the provisions of the said act, or any other supplemental act thereto, which authorizes the issuing, by a justice of the peace, of a license or permit to a free negro or free mulatto to have, use and keep in his possession, a gun or fowling piece, be and the same are hereby repealed, made null and void.

Justices of the Peace shall receive . . . For licenses to negroes to keep a gun, twenty five cents.

Crimes and Punishments, 1840 – 1. – Ch. 30, If any free negro, mulatto, or free person of color shall wear, or carry about his or her person, or keep in his or her house, any shot gun, musket, rifle, pistol, sword, dagger, or bowie knife, unless he or she shall have obtained a license therefor from the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of his or her county, within one year preceding the wearing, keeping or carrying thereof, he or she shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be indicted therefor.

Laws of the Republic of Texas, [An Act Concerning Slaves (1840),] § 6. Be it further enacted, That no slave in this Republic shall carry a gun or other deadly weapon without the written consent of his master, mistress or overseer; such arms or other weapons shall be liable to be taken by any person from any such negro, and all such property forfeited, if it does not exceed ten dollars in value; but any such property may be reclaimed by the owner on paying ten dollars to the person who may have so taken the same.

That no slave in this republic shall carry a gun or other deadly weapon without the written consent of his master, mistress or overseer; such arms or other weapons shall be liable to be taken by any person from any such negro, and all such property forfeited, if it does not exceed ten dollars in value; but any such property may be reclaimed by the owner on paying ten dollars to the person who may have so taken the same.

Negroes and Mulattoes, § 17. No free negro shall be suffered to keep or carry any gun or rifle, or weapon of any kind, or any ammunition without a license first had and obtained, for that purpose, from some justice of the peace of the county in which such free negro or mulatto resides, and such license may be granted and revoked by any justice of the peace of the county. §18. Every gun, rifle, or weapon of any kind, or ammunition, found in the possession or custody of any free negro or mulatto, not having a license as required by the preceding section, may be seized by any person, and upon due proof thereof made before some justice of the peace of the county in which such seizure was made, shall by order of such justice be forfeited to the use of the person making the seizure, and such justice shall also impose a fine on such negro or mulatto, for the use of the county, not exceeding twenty dollars.

Slaves, § 23. Any gun or other offensive or defensive weapon found in the possession of a slave, without having the written permission of his master the carry the same, may be seized by any person, and upon proof of such seizure before a justice of the peace of the county where the same shall have been made, such gun or weapon shall be by the order of such justice, adjudged and forfeited to the seizor for his own use, and such slave shall receive by the order of such justice, any number of stripes not exceeding thirty.

Any free person who, without the consent of the owner, shall sell, loan or give to any slave, any gun, pistol, sword, or dirk, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction by presentment or indictment, be fined not less than fifty dollars, and imprisoned not less than ten days.

. . . it shall not be lawful for free negroes and free mulattoes to have, own, keep or possess any gun, pistol, sword or any warlike instruments whatsoever: Provided however, that if upon application of any such free negro or free mulatto to one of the justices of the peace of the county in which such free negro or free mulatto resides, it shall satisfactorily appear upon the written certificate of five or more respectable and judicious citizens of the neighborhood, that such free negro or free mulatto is a person of fair character, and that the circumstances of his case justify his keep and using a gun, then and in every such case it shall and may be lawful for such justice to issue a license or permit under his hand and authorizing such free negro or free mulatto to have use and keep in his posession a gun or fowling piece.

That is any negro or mulatto slave shall join, or be willingly present at any riot, rout or unlawful assembly, or shall commit an assault and battery upon any white person, or shall without special permission of his or her master or mistress, presume to carry any gun, pistol, sword, dirk, or other unusual or dangerous weapon or arms; every negro or mulatto slave so offending, and being thereof convicted before any Justice of the Peace for the county, in which the offence shall be committed, shall be whipped with not less than ten nor more than forty lashes, publically upon the bare back.

[An Ordinance to Prevent Nuisances, Etc.] § 7. Be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid, That any negro or mulatto, shall be punished with thirty-nine stripes on the bare back, if found with deadly weapons, other than the legal implements of his, or her business, when engaged therein; and it is hereby made the duty of the town constable, and permitted to any other citizen, to disarm and imprison such negro or mulatto, as may be found with a belt or butcher-knife, dirk, sword, or pistol, and make complaint to any magistrate within this Borough, to award the aforesaid punishment.

Slaves, § 3. No slave or mulatto whatsoever, shall keep or carry a gun, powder, shot, club or other weapon whatsoever, offensive or defensive; but all and every gun weapon and ammunition found in the possession or custody of any negro or mulatto, may be seized by any person and upon due proof made before any justice of the peace of the district [county] where such seizure shall be, shall by his order be forfeited to the seizor, for his own use, and moreover, every such offender shall have and receive by order of such justice any number of lashes not exceeding thirty nine on his or her bare back well laid on for every such offence. § 4. Every free negro or mulatto, being a housekeeper may be permitted to keep one gun, powder and shot; and all negroes or mulattoes bond or free, living at any frontier plantation, may be permitted to keep and use guns, powder shot and weapons, offensive and defensive, by license from a justice of the peace of the district [county] wherein such plantation lies, to be obtained upon the application of free negroes or mulattoes or of the owners of such as are slaves.