Be it enacted by General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to sell or barter and deliver, to any slave, or slaves, any gun cotton, fire arms, swords, dirks or other side arms, unless those articles be for the owner or employer, and by the written order of the owner or employer of such slave or slaves, under the penalty of one hundred dollars for each offence, to be recovered, by warrant, before any justice of the peace, and applied, one half to the use of the party suing for the same, and the other half to the wardens of the poor of the county; and, moreover, may be indicted in the county or superior courts of law; and the defendant, on conviction, shall be fined or imprisoned at the discretion of the court; the fine, however, not to exceed fifty dollars, or the imprisonment three months.