Added Dabbs v. State (Ark. 1882)

I put a bunch of images of 19th and 20th century state supreme court right to keep and bear arms decisions up on my web page a year or two ago--but I lost steam part way through the process. Okay, I just put the aforementioned decision up. This was an Arkansas Supreme Court decision that upheld a ban on sale of handguns other than "such as are used in the army and navy of the United States...." The argument was that military pistols were protected because they could be used in the common defense, while pocket pistols were not.

The law was enacted as a measure of precaution for the prevention of crimes and calamities. It is leveled at the pernicious habit of wearing such dangerous or deadly weapons as are easily concealed about the person. It does not abridge the constitutional right of citizens to keep and bear arms for the common defense; for it in no wise restrains the use or sale of such arms as are useful in warfare.

It appears that no one challenged the statute on Second Amendment grounds--or at least, the Supreme Court did not allude to it, only a Fourteenth Amendment challenge.

Once upon a time, gun control groups liked to cite this case as a justification for bans on Saturday Night Specials. Since they are now at least as interested in banning "such arms as are useful in warfare" (you know, evil black rifles), you aren't likely going to see them cite this case today.

It is amusing to see this as an example of how the Arkansas legislature felt that it had a valid basis for banning guns that were not "useful in warfare" but recognized that even with the claim of "for the common defense," they knew that they could not ban private ownership or sale of military-style handguns.

The In re Brickey (Ida. 1902) decision struck down a territorial-era law against carrying deadly weapons in towns for violating both the Second Amendment and the Idaho Constitution's RKBA provisions.

UPDATE: And State v. Boone (N.C. 1903), and State v. Burgoyne (Tenn. 1879).