- Carl Sandburg

Introduction

The goal of my project is to understand the gun culture of 17th- and 18th-century America.

I will start by looking at the basic ways in which guns were regulated: Who could own a gun in the early American colonies? Where could guns be carried? Were there restrictions on the types of guns allowed or the purposes for which guns could be used?

Gun Regulations

The Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts

• Context
• No mention of arms in the first code (The Body of Liberties, 1641).
• Arms regulation first appears in the 1672 version.
• Later revisions to the code reflect the conditions of an ongoing war with the Native Americans.
• A 1678 council resolution marks the first attempt to regulate civilian use of arms.
• Indians and Strangers
  • "Nor shall any person, sell, give or Barter, directly or indirectly, any Gun or Guns, Powder, Bullets, Shot, Lead, to any Indian whatsoever, or to any person Inhabiting out of this Jurisdiction."
  • French and Dutch and other foreign Nations are prohibited from trading with “our Indians”
  • Approved traders may "sell unto any Indian or Indians, not in Hostility with us, or any of the English in New England, Powder, Shot, Lead, Guns, (i.e. Hand Guns, Rapier or Sword blades)" provided that he account honestly for the items sold and pay a tax to the Treasury.
• Militias
• "Forasmuch as the well ordering of the Militia is a matter of great concernment to the safety and welfare of this Common-wealth"
• Who is armed?
  • Every person above the age of sixteen years must attend military exercise and service as training, watching and warding. Exemptions for certain officials, etc., "and such other as for bodily infirmity or other just cause, shall by any County Court . . . be discharged."
  • "And all other Inhabitants of this Jurisdiction, except Magistrates and Elders of Churches, the President, Fellows and Students of Harvard Colledge, shall always be provided of Arms."
  • Penalties for not having arms. Provisions for furnishing arms to the poor.
• What kind of arms are required?
  • Officers shall take care that their Soldiers are well and completely armed, at least two thirds with "a good fixed Musquet, not under Bastard Musquet Bore, nor under three foot nine inches in length, not about four foot three inches long, with a Priming wire, Worm, Scouter and Mould, fitted to the Bore of his Musquet, also with a good Sword . . .one pound of Powder, twenty Bullets . . ." Troopers and Pikeman, armed only with swords and pike, may comprise the remaining third of the Company.
  • In a supplementary statute passed in Fall 1675, the General Court acknowledged that "it is found by Experience that Troopers and Pikemen are of little use in the present warr with the Indians." Accordingly, the Court revised the laws to required Troopers and Pikemen to furnish themselves with firearms. (The same session of the General Court also yielded a provision that one thousand Fire Arms, Muskets and Carbines should be "sent for," to be paid for out of the public treasury and proportionally distributed to the several towns of the Colony.)
• Other Requirements
  • No shots are to be fired after the evening Drum beat has sounded, except in case of alarm.
  • Smiths are required to repair all arms brought to them “for which they shall not refuse such pay as the Country affords."
  • "The Clerk shall twice ever year view all Arms and Amunition of the Company, and take notice that every Souldier be furnished according to this Law . . . And further the said Clerk shall once in the year at least, Survey the Arms of all other Inhabitants, and see that all be provided in their Houses with Arms and Amunition."
  • "The Surveyor General shall yearly give an account of the common stock of Powder and Amunition to the Council, that the General Court being by them informed, may out of he piblick Treasury make a constant supply according to the need of the Country."
  • In a supplementary statute passed at a later date, the Commonwealth emphasized the "weight and necessity" of its duty to "see that all Souldiers should be fitted with Armes, and well skilled to use them." Accordingly, it enacted more stringent penalties for any soldier found deficient in arms or training.
  • Anyone importing powder, lead, bullets, shots or any ammunition whatsoever shall give notice to the Public Notary, who shall record the quantity of such items and the names of the persons to whom they are sold. Exports of powder are similarly regulated.
• Laws & Ordinances of War
• Council Resolution of March 28, 1678
• Citing complaints from citizens that "several persons had been killed" and that "youths and grown persons too frequently shoot within the limits of towns" on the pretense of shooting at fowl, "whereby persons are endangered to be killed in their gardens, orchards or adjacent Commons." Accordingly, "to prevent such inconveniences and mischiefs for the future," the Council enacted a resolution imposing liability for any damage inflicted by errant gunfire. [More on this]

Long Guns

The Militia

Documents

• The Colonial Laws of Massachusetts
This document contains selections from the Colonial Laws of Massachusetts, 1641 - 1686. Blank pages indicate where parts have been omitted from the original text. The full text can be found at Archive.org.

-- JuliaS - 25 Oct 2009

• MassLawExcerpts(lowres).pdf: Excerpts from the Colonial Laws of Massachusetts