1785

Richard Varick, Laws and Ordinances Ordained and Established by the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New-York, in Common Council Convened; for the Good Rule and Government of the Inhabitants and Residents of the Said City Page 1, Image 57 (1793) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

New York

An Act to prevent the Firing of Guns and other Fire-Arms within this State, on certain Days therein mentioned. Whereas great dangers have arisen, and mischief been done by the pernicious practice of firing guns, pistols, rockets, squibs and other fire-works, on the Eve of the last day of December, and first and second days of January, for prevention whereof for the future, Be it enacted by the People of the State of New York, represented in the Senate and Assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That if any person or persons whomsoever, shall …
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1853

A Municipal Register of the City of Concord, Containing the City Charter and Ordinances, the Rules of the City Council, and a List of the City Officers Page 39, Image 40 (1857) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

New Hampshire

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 …
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1877

1877 Va. Acts 305, Offenses Against The Peace, § 21

Virginia

If any person carrying any gun, pistol, bowie-knife, dagger, or other dangerous weapon, to any place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is being held at such place, or without good and sufficient cause therefor, shall carry any such weapon on Sunday at any place other than his own premises, shall be fined not less than twenty dollars. If any offense under this section be committed at a place of religious worship, the offender may be arrested on the order of a conservator of the peace, without warrant, and held until warrant can be obtained, but not exceeding …
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1877

J. M. Meech, Charter and Revised Ordinances of the City of Norwich With the Amendments Thereto, and Statutes of the State Relating to Municipal Corporations, in Force January 1st, 1877 Page 178, Page 185 (1876) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

Connecticut

Ordinances of Norwich. § 15. No person or persons shall fire any swivel, musket, fowling-piece, pistol, or other gun of any description within said city at a less distance than fifty rods from any dwelling house, or public highway, or street without written permission from the Mayor or one of the aldermen of said city; and every person so offending shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay for the use of said city the sum of three dollars: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to extend to the members of any military company when under the …
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1403

4 Hen 4, c. 29

English Law

It is ordained and established, that from henceforth no Man be armed nor bear defensible armor to Merchant Towns Churches nor Congregations in the same, nor in the Highways, in affray of the Peace or the King’s Liege people, upon pain of imprisonment, and to make Fine and Ransom at the King’s Will; except those which be lawful Liege People to our Sovereign Lord the King.
Felons, Foreigners and Others Deemed Dangerous By the State Sensitive Places and Times

1859

D. T. Valentine, Ordinances of the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York: Revised A. D. 1859 Adopted by the Common Council Page 235, Image 243 (1859) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

New York

Ordinances of the City of New York. Firing of Fire-Arms, Cannons and Fireworks. § 6. No tavern-keeper, keeper of a public house, garden or place of resort, nor any other person, shall suffer or permit any person to practice with or fire off any pistol, gun, fowling-piece or other fire-arms, in or upon his or her premises, nor shall suffer or permit any pistol gallery, erected in his or her house, or upon his or her premises, to be used for the purpose of practicing with any pistol gun, fowling-piece or other fire-arms, upon the first day of the week, …
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1820

1820 N.H. Laws 322, An Act for Forming, Arranging and Regulating the Militia, § 49.

New Hampshire

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[.]
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1841

1841 Md. Laws 114, An Act To Incorporate The Mount Orange Cemetery, In The County of Baltimore, ch. 148, § 4

Maryland

Any Person who shall willfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure or remove any tomb, monument, grave stone, or other structure, placed in the cemetery . . . or shall shoot or discharge any gun, or other fire arms, within the said limits, shall be considered guilty of a misdemeanor . . .
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1636

1636-1748 R.I. Pub. Laws 31, At A General Assembly Held For Rhode Island Colony At Newport 6th of May, 1679

Rhode Island

That if any person or persons shall presume to sport game or play at any manner of game or games or shooting out any gun or shall set tipling & drinking in any tavern alhouse ordinary or vitling house on the first day of the week more than neccesity requireth and upon examination of the fact it shall be judged by any Justice of the Peace and the Person or Persons so offending as aforesaid. Upon conviction before one Justice of Peace Shall by the said Justice of the Peace be sentenced for every the aforesaid offences to set in …
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1818

1818 Vt. Acts & Resolves 64-65, An Act Regulating and Governing the Militia of This State, § 42.

Vermont

No noncommissioned officer, private or citizen shall unnecessarily fire a gun, single musket or pistol, in any public road, or near any house or place of parade, on the evening preceding, on the day or evening of the same, on which any troop company, battalion or regiment shall be ordered to assemble for military duty, unless embodied under the command of some commissioned officer; and if any non-commissioned officer, private or citizen, shall fire a musket, single gun or pistol, except as aforesaid, on the day or evening as aforesaid, without being embodied as aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay …
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1866

1866 An Act To Prevent Shooting On The Sabbath In This Commonwealth, ch. 656, § 1.

Kentucky

That No person shall, within this Commonwealth, on the Sabbath day, enter or go upon the land of another person to catch, shoot, or kill any birds, fowl, or animal of any kind; and any such person having in his possession a gun at the time, or after he enters upon the premises of another as aforesaid, shall, upon proof, be guilty of a violation of this act, and, upon conviction thereof, by proceedings before any justice of the peace, in any county of the State . . . .
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1849

John Purdon, A Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, from the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred to the Twenty-Second Day of April, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-Six. Seventh Edition Page 1228, Image 1228 (1852) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

Pennsylvania

Act of April 5, 1849, An Act to Prevent the Opening of Streets of Public Roads Through Burial Grounds, and For the Protection of Cemeteries and Grave Yards, § 2. Any person who shall willfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure or remove any tomb, monument, grave, stone or other structure, placed in any cemetery or grave yard appropriated to, and used for the internment of human beings, within this state, or shall willfully injure, destroy, or remove any fence, railing or other work for the protection or ornament of such places of internment, or shall willfully destroy, cut break or remove …
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1889

1889 N.C. Sess. Laws 820, An Act to Incorporate Mount Pleasant Baptist Chapel Church — In Ashe County, ch. 178, § 3.

North Carolina

That it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to . . . fire off a gun or pistol in hearing distance of those assembled for or occupied in divine worship at said church.
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1833

Salmon Portland Chase, The Statutes of Ohio and of the Northwestern Territory, Adopted or Enacted from 1788 to 1833 inclusive: Together with the Ordinance of 1787; the Constitutions of Ohio and of the United States, and Various Public Instruments and Acts of Congress; Illustrated by a Preliminary Sketch of the History of Ohio; Numerous References and Notes and Copious Indexes Page 106, Image 107 (Vol. 1, 1833) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

Ohio

An Act for Suppressing and Prohibiting Every Species of Gaming for Money or Other Property and for making Void all contracts and payments made in consequence thereof, and so for restraining the disorderly practice of discharging fire arms at certain hours and places, § 4. Be it enacted, That if any person shall presume to discharge or fire, or cause to be discharged or fired, any gun or other fire-arms at any mark or object, or upon any pretense whatever, unless he or she at the same time be with such gun or fire-arms at the distance of at least …
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1857

Samuel Ames, The Revised Statutes of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: To Which are Prefixed, The Constitutions of the United States and of the State Page 614, Image 629 (1857) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

Rhode Island

Discipline, Inspection, Etc. § 9. No non-commissioned officer or private shall unnecessarily, or without orders from his superior officer, come on to any place of parade with his musket, rifle or pistol loaded with balls, slugs, shot or other dangerous substance, or shall so load with same while on parade.
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1847

1847 Ga. Laws 138, An Act To Incorporate The Evergreen Cemetery Company Of Bonaventure, § 5.

Georgia

That any person who shall willfully or wantonly destroy, mutilate, deface, injure or remove any tomb, monument, gravestone, or other structure placed in the Cemetery aforesaid, or any fence, railing, or other work for the protection or ornament of the same, or of any burial-lot within the limits aforesaid, or shall willfully or wantonly destroy, remove, cut, break or injure any tree, shrub or plant within the limits aforesaid, or shall shoot or discharge any gun or other firearms within the limits aforesaid, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor . . . .
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1864

John Purdon, Esq A Digest of the Laws of Pennsylvania, from the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred to the Tenth Day of July, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy-Two. Tenth Edition Vol. 2 Page 1051, Image 186 (Philadelphia, 1873) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

Pennsylvania

Militia. § 102. 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 more than twenty dollars, to the use of the brigade fund.
Sensitive Places and Times

1876

Ordinances of the Town of Jacksonville, to Which Are Prefixed the Town Charter and Other Acts of the Legislature of Oregon Relating to Towns, Together with Amendments to the Charter and Ordinances Page 44-45, Image 45-46 (Jacksonville, 1876) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

Oregon

Ordinances of the Town of Jacksonville, For the Better Protection of the Cemetery, § 9. All persons are forbidden to shoot or fire off any gun within said cemetery enclosures, or put or turn loose any animal therein.
Sensitive Places and Times

1888

Charter and Ordinances of the City of La Crosse, with the Rules of the Common Council Page 202, Image 205 (1888) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

Wisconsin

An Ordinance in Relation to the Discharge of Firearms and firecrackers and to the use and exhibition of fireworks, § 1. No person shall fire or discharge any cannon, gun, fowling piece, pistol or firearms of any description, or fire, explode or set off any squib, cracker or other thing containing powder or other combustible or explosive material, or set off or exhibit any fireworks within the limits of the city of La Crosse, without having first obtained written permission from the mayor, which permission shall limit the time and fix the place of such firing, and shall be subject …
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1859

1859 Conn. Acts 62, An Act in Addition to and in Alteration of “An Act For Forming And Conducting The Military Force,” chap. 82, § 5.

Connecticut

If any booth shed, tent, or other temporary erection, within one mile of any military parade-ground, muster-field or encampment, shall be used and occupied for the sale of spirituous or intoxicating liquor, or for the purpose of gambling, the officer commanding said parade-ground, muster-field or encampment, the sheriff or deputy-sheriff of the county, or any justice of the peace, selectman, or constable of the town in which such booth, shed, tent, or other temporary erection is situated, upon having notice or knowledge that the same is not used or occupied, shall notify the owner or occupant thereof to vacate and …
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1788

1788-1801 Ohio Laws 42, An Act for Suppressing and Prohibiting Every Species of Gaming for Money or Other Property, and for Making Void All Contracts and Payments Made in Furtherance Thereof,  ch. 13, § 4.

Ohio

[I]f any person shall presume to discharge or fire, or cause to be discharged or fire, any gun or other fire arms at any mark or object, or upon any pretence whatever, unless he or she shall at the same time be with such gun or fire-arms a the distance of at least one quarter of a mile from the nearest building of any such city, town, village or station, such person shall for every such offense, forfeit and pay to the use of the county in which the same shall be committed, a sum not exceeding five dollars, nor …
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1822

The Charter of the City of Newport, R. I., and the Special State Laws Relating Thereto, Together with the Ordinances for the Government of the City.Page 39, Image 40 (1858) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

Rhode Island

Ordinances of the City of Newport. Gunpowder–Firemen. § 11. And be it further enacted, That no person whosoever shall fire a gun or other fire-works within one hundred yards of the said powder-house, upon the penalty of two dollars for every such offence, to be recovered by the town treasurer for the use of said town.
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1881

1881 Nev. Stat. 19-20, An Act to Prohibit the Use of Firearms in Public Places, ch. 7, § 1.

Nevada

Any person in this State, whether under the influence of liquor or otherwise, who shall, except in necessary self-defense, maliciously, wantonly or negligently discharge or cause to be discharged any pistol, gun or any other kind of firearm, in or upon any public street or thoroughfare, or in any theater, hall, store, hotel, saloon or any other place of public resort, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the County Jail for a term not less than two nor more than six months, or by a fine not less than …
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1877

Mercer Beasley, Revision of the Statutes of New Jersey: Published under the Authority of the Legislature; by Virtue of an Act Approved April 4, 1871 Page 91, Image 137 (1877) available at The Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources.

New Jersey

An Act for the Protection of Bridges over the River Delaware, § 3. That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons passing riding or driving over any toll bridge, as aforesaid, to carry any lighted cigar or pipe, or to carry fire in any form, or to light any match, or cigar, or pipe, or to fire off any gun, or other fire arms, or to explode any fireworks of any description, on said bridge, or within its enclosures; or to engage in any game with cards or other device for money, or the value of money, …
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1848

1848 Pa. Laws 137, An Act To Incorporate A Company To Erect A Bridge Over The River Schuylkill, At Or Near Laurensville, In The county Of Chester, § 13

Pennsylvania

. . . and if any person shall be guilty of carrying any lighted cigar . . . or who shall discharge any pistol or gun, or any fire arms on or near said bridge, so that the said bridge, by possibility, be set on fire, or injured by said cause, he or she so offending shall forfeit and pay to the said corporation, the sum of five dollars for every such offence. . .
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