1631 — Massachusetts — Militia Arms Requirement

2 Arthur Vollmer, Military Obligation: The American Tradition: A Compilation of the Enactments of Compulsion from the Earliest Settlements of the Original Thirteen Colonies in 1607 Through the Articles of Confederation 1789, Part 6 2 (1947)

Summary

Law outlined what arms militiamen were expected to furnish themselves with and also limited the discharge of weapons.

Statutory Text

Further, it is ordered, that if any person shall shoot off any piece after the watch is set, he shall forfeit 40s, or if the Court shall judge him unable, then to be whipped; the second fault to be punished by the Court as an offence of a higher nature.

It is likewise ordered, that every man that finds a musket shall, before the 18th day of this month, (& so always after,) have ready 1lbs of powder, 20 bullets, & 2 fathome of match, under penalty of Xs for every fault.

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Details

Title 1631 — Massachusetts — Militia Arms Requirement
Instrument Firearms
Jurisdiction MA
Date 1631