It was part of a series of efforts to assimilate the Scottish Highlands, ending their ability to revolt, and the first of the "King's laws" that sought to crush the clan system in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745.

[citation needed] It was mainly a restatement of the earlier Disarming Act, but with more severe punishments which this time were rigorously enforced.

Repeat offenders were "liable to be transported to any of his Majesty's plantations beyond the seas, there to remain for the space of seven years", effectively indentured servitude.

[3] The elements of the act relating to the proscription of arms applied to the Highlands of Scotland, i.e. the counties of Dunbarton, on the north side of the water of Leven, Stirling on the north side of the river of Forth, Perth, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Inverness, Nairn, Cromarty, Argyll, Forfar, Banff, Sutherland, Caithness, Elgin and Ross.

Measures to prevent children from being "educated in disaffected or rebellious principles" included a requirement for school prayers for the King and royal family.