SECOND RECORDED COPY OF A GUN CONTROL INITIATIVE IN BARCELONA. Folio [32.5 x 22 cm.]. (12) pp. Unbound; a worn copy, with some dampstaining and heavy creasing. Extremely rare printed edict confiscating and prohibiting “todo genero de Armas, asi de fuego, como de corte, y punta” [all manner of weapons, firearms as well as blades] in the Principality of Catalonia. The reasons given in the opening paragraph include the “to establish quietude [in the Principality], to prevent the propensity of many of its inhabitants to commit acts pernicious to the state, and to the public good, and to avoid the ease of committing homicides”. The text goes on to highlight exceptions to the new laws: persons still able to bear arms are law enforcement officers, members of the nobility, and employees of the Royal Palaces. All servants are expressly prohibited from using swords without express permission, and are absolutely forbidden from carrying daggers. The present edict seems to have been occasioned by the ongoing efforts of the Catalan authorities to stem local violence produced by the large number of weapons in circulation following the War of the Spanish Succession; the first such edict dates from 1714. OCLC shows just one copy worldwide, at the University of Barcelona. * Palau 170152.