Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Stinky The Clown

(67,670 posts)
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 10:57 AM Oct 2017

America's colonial gun laws. Interesting read.

Sorry, it is a PDF, but was a quick download/read.

http://www.tulprpc.org/attachments/File/Colonial_Firearms_regulation.pdf

It seems back in the day you would have been compelled to own a gun or face some legal sanction, which varied by colony.

Here is a sample:

A. Connecticut
Among the Colonial militia statutes, Connecticut's 1650 code contains one of the clearest expressions of the duty to own a gun: “That all persons that are above the age of sixteene yeares, except magistrates and church officers, shall beare arms...; and every male person with this jurisdiction, above the said age, shall have in continuall readines, a good muskitt or other gunn, fitt for service, and allowed by the clark of the band....” iv A less elaborate form of the law appeared in 1636, with reiterations in 1637, 1665, 1673, 1696, and 1741.v Fines varied between two and ten shillings for lacking firearms or for failure to appear with firearms “compleat and well fixt upon the days of training....”vi

B. Virgina
Virginia provides another example of a militia statute obligating all free men to own a gun. A 1684 statute required free Virginians to “provide and furnish themselves with a sword, musquet and other furniture fitt for a soldier... two pounds of powder, and eight pounds of shott....”vii A similar 1705 statute required every foot soldier to arm himself “with a firelock, muskett, or fusee well fixed” and gave him eighteen months to comply with the law before he would subject to fine.viii There are minor modifications to the statute in 1738 that still required all members of the militia to appear at musters with the same list of gun choices, but reduced the ammunition requirement to one pound of powder and four pounds of lead balls.ix A 1748 revision is also clear that militiamen were obligated to provide themselves with “arms and ammunition.”x The 1748 statute, however, did acknowledge that all freemen might not be wealthy enough to arm themselves, and provided for issuance of arms “out of his majesty‟s magazine.”xi By 1755, all cavalry officers were obligated to provide themselves with “holsters and pistols well fixed....”xii

C. New York
Another typical colonial militia statute is the Duke of York‟s law for New York (adopted shortly after the colony‟s transfer from the Dutch), that provided, “Besides the Generall stock of each Town[,] Every Male within this government from Sixteen to Sixty years of age, or not freed by public Allowance, shall[,] if freeholders[,] at their own, if sons or Servants[,] at their Parents and Masters Charge and Cost, be furnished from time to time and so Continue well furnished with Arms and other Suitable Provition hereafter mentioned: under the penalty of five Shillings for the least default therein[:] Namely a good Serviceable Gun, allowed Sufficient by his Military Officer to be kept in Constant fitness for present Service” along with all the other equipment required in the field.xiii

D. Maryland
Similar to statutes appearing in other colonies, Maryland‟s “An Act for Military Discipline” enacted in February or March of 1638/9 (O.S.) required “that every house keeper or housekeepers within this Province shall have ready continually upon all occasions within his her or their house for him or themselves and for every person within his her or their house able to bear armes[,] one Serviceable fixed gunne of bastard muskett boare...” along with a pound of gunpowder, four pounds of pistol or musket shot, “match for matchlocks and of flints for firelocks....”xiv A different form of this law, ordering every member of the militia to “appear and bring with him one good serviceable Gun, fixed, with Six Charges of Powder,” appears in a 1715 Maryland statute book as well.xv Cavalrymen were obligated to “find themselves with Swords, Carbines, Pistols, Holsters and Ammunition” with a fine for failure to appear armed at militia muster.xvi
Of course, laws were sometimes passed but not enforced in colonial times, just as happens now. But the provisions for enforcement in Maryland would seem likely to encourage enforcement for purely selfish reasons. The officers of the militia were required to verify compliance with the law by “a Sight or view of the said armes and ammunition” every month. People who failed to possess arms and ammunition were to be fined thirty pounds of tobacco, payable to the militia officer responsible for the inspection. Anyone who lacked arms and ammunition was to be armed by their militia commander, who could force payment at “any price... not extending to above double the value of the said armes and ammunition according to the rate then usual in the Country.”xvii

To make sure that householders moving to the new land were adequately armed, it appears that one of the conditions of receiving title to land in Maryland beginning in 1641 was bringing “Armes and Ammunition as are intended & required by the Conditions abovesaid to be provided & carried into the said Province of Maryland for every man betweene the ages of sixteene & fifty years w[hi]ch shalbe transported thether.” The arms required included “one musket or bastard musket with a snaphance lock,” ten pounds of gunpowder, forty pounds of bullets, pistol, and goose shot.xviii

The Maryland militia law of 1638/9 was revised in 1642 requiring, “That all housekeepers provide fixed gunn and Sufficient powder and Shott for each person able to bear arms.”xix A 1658 revision of the law required “every househoulder provide himselfe speedily with Armes & Ammunition according to a former Act of Assembly viz 2 [pounds] of powder and 5 [pounds] of shott & one good Gun well fixed for every man able to bear Armes in his house.” A householder was subject to fines of 100, 200, or 300 pounds of tobacco, for the first, second, and third failures to keep every man in the house armed.xx

In 1756, Maryland again made it explicit that “ all and every Person and Persons of the Militia of this Province are as aforesaid, not only liable to the Duties and Services required by this Act, but also if able to find, at their own proper Cost and Charge, Suitable Arms....” At the same time, concerned that those exempted from militia duty who were wealthy were getting an unfair advantage, it ordered that exempts were obligated to “each of them find one good and Sufficient Firelock, with a Bayonet, and deliver the Same to the Colonel or Commanding Officer of the County wherein he shall reside, or pay to the Said Colonel or Commanding Officer the Sum of Three Pounds Current Money in lieu thereof....”xxi

At the start of the Revolution, Maryland still assumed that the freemen of the colony were armed as required by law. The Maryland Convention in 1775 threatened that: “if any Minute or Militia-man shall not appear at the time and place of Muster with his Firelock and other accoutrements in good order, ... he shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding five shillings Common money....”xxii
12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies

NutmegYankee

(16,177 posts)
1. Some of the original drafts of the Second Amendment had a provision for conscientious objectors
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 11:01 AM
Oct 2017

Somewhere in the middle people decided that was already covered by the Freedom of faith.

jmg257

(11,996 posts)
12. Amazing that one of the complaints against it
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 10:23 PM
Oct 2017

Was that the govt could declare those who were 'religiously scrupulous' and keep them from bearing arms.


Maybe not so amazing, considering the purpose of the 2nd was to restrict the govt from disarming the people in the 1st place.

sarisataka

(18,210 posts)
7. The wording of these statutes
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 11:33 AM
Oct 2017

meshes quite well with the wording of the Second Amendment.
-ownership is due to, but not dependent on militia membership
-the arms are the property of the individual, not kept in any armory

They also fit well with the restrictions on the right to bear arms
-'arms' is defined as the personal, hand carried weapon of a militia member. i.e. does not include cannon or other large weaponry

 

greeny2323

(590 posts)
3. Existential threat
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 11:03 AM
Oct 2017

That's because the nation could be wiped out at any time by one of the dominant European countries. We had no standing army. The militia was the mandatory military force.

All irrelevant now. Except that the 2nd amendment should be properly interpreted as the right of the police/military force to be armed, not citizens.

sarisataka

(18,210 posts)
4. Out of curiosity
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 11:12 AM
Oct 2017

why would the government need an amendment allowing the arming of forces they have the power to call to duty? It seems such is already implied.

Pope George Ringo II

(1,896 posts)
5. It's also worth noting that the Second Amendment is part of the "Bill of Rights."
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 11:23 AM
Oct 2017

Repealing it is one thing. Arguing that the "Bill of Rights" gives things to the government but not the people is somewhere I don't want to go.

jmg257

(11,996 posts)
10. And just who were these "police/military" forces?
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 10:00 PM
Oct 2017

The state militias, composed of the people, the citizens, compelled to enjoy the right and duty of serving to protect their own freedoms. With arms they would provide themselves, per federal regulation.

Pope George Ringo II

(1,896 posts)
6. My understanding is that quite a few of the usual suspects had some of the usual provisions
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 11:26 AM
Oct 2017

Guns are for white people.

Historic NY

(37,449 posts)
8. These being pre-Revolution acts.........
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 01:22 PM
Oct 2017

the majority of weapons held by citizens at the time of the American Revolution were not military grade muskets, indeed far from that.
The stores of the Colonies would have included enough for defense many be old stocks of semi-servicable military weapons. The whole point of Lexington & Concord was to prevent the "military stores" from being captured by the British. A reliable supply for the troops came from captured British supplies here and on the high seas, haphazard productions in the colonies by private arms makers. The purchases of stands from various countries. The final major flux of French arms improve Americans performance on the field.

The scene of rag tag militia musters in the pre-colonial days all mustering around the village green (nearby pub) had to be some sight as many of those bastard muskets were barely fit together to avoid fines. Most household weapons were designed to hunt game, they afforded protection but were never designed for battle.

As with every law or rule people got around them.

And again to note the notion of the above acts were demanded by the "Crown" legislatures on "His Majesties subjects" . There was no standing army, hence the Quartering Acts and the expense to the King.

Pope George Ringo II

(1,896 posts)
9. Consider that qualitative differences in this period often favored the civilians, though
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 09:55 PM
Oct 2017

It's been a while since I read Sinews of War, but I distinctly recall being struck by the part for IIRC the War of 1812 where it was said very publicly that smooth-bore muskets might be good enough for the regular army, "but not, by God, for the citizen volunteers of the State of Tennessee!"

jmg257

(11,996 posts)
11. Federal law after the Constutution, as congress
Sat Oct 7, 2017, 10:08 PM
Oct 2017

Fulfilled its responsibilities in organizing the militias and providing guidelines on how they should arm themselves.


That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia,

...

That every citizen, so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch, with a box therein, to contain not less than twenty four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball; or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch, and powder-horn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder;

Militia Act 1792
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»America's colonial gun la...