This repository contains historical firearm, weapon, and militia laws in the United States and its predecessors, including the United Kingdom, from pre-colonial times through the nineteenth century, potentially including statutes, session laws, local laws, and administrative regulations.

The information presented on this website is for informational purposes only and nothing on this website should be construed or relied upon as legal advice.

How to Use

Browse: explore systematically through pre-organized groupings:
- Collections is the broadest grouping, allowing you to view items for a state/territory, the District of Columbia, the Federal jurisdiction, or the United Kingdom. For example, all Alaska-related items are found in the collection “Alaska”.
- Citation allows you to locate items by Bluebook citation.
- Jurisdiction is similar to Collections but goes one level deeper. For example, you can navigate directly to items specific to Alaska [Territory], Alaska [Territory – Skagway], or Alaska (the state, not tied to a city).
- Keywords are subject classifications such as MILITIAS and REQUIRED POSSESSION. The keyword hierarchy also allows browsing combinations (e.g., MILITIAS; REQUIRED POSSESSION) where multiple topics apply.
Search: guide discovery by filtering results using Jurisdiction, Keywords, and Date Issued. You can also specify sort order, such as most relevant or by citation. In addition, you can input the item’s identifier or source link (source URL surrounded by double quotes) when known.

Metadata & Standards

Items are described using Dublin Core with standardized fields for Jurisdiction, Date Issued, Category, and Exceptions to support precise discovery and comparison. In addition to the simple search, researchers can input highly specific Solr queries.

Questions

For questions about coverage, rights, or submissions, contact the Firearms Research Center (firearmsresearchcenter.org).

3 Bernard Bush, Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey 502 (1980)

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