Mastodawn

Just wanted to note, for the non-americans and non-gun owners reading the above, #US #ConcealedCarry programs involve getting a license by passing a written and practical test showing you understand the law and can actually use a #handgun effectively. The one issue is that different states have different rules, meaning some states have very easy tests.

However, it works: criminals and Hot Heads do not bother to get these licenses, so they have a very rate of committing crimes.

(Cntd)

(continued)

One of the most reasonable #GunControl laws on the table in the US right now is to create minimum Federal standards for Concealed Carry licenses and restrict the sale of handguns, which is basically the weapon you would conceal (and the one used for the vast majority of mass shootings and other criminal activities), so that only people who have a license can legally acquire them.

I'm not here to talk politics, I'm here to talk #writing weapons in #fantasy / #Scifi settings...

I kind of like to see more #fantasy settings play around with historically accurate portrayals of weaponry in cities: if the characters are going into the city, they are likely going to have to check their weapon with the guards, who will either lock it to the sheath so it can't be pulled, or take it from them and give them a locker number and key.

Not only would a fancy system of security around that be somewhat interesting, but if the setting has magic, I wonder how that plays in...

In a #SciFi setting, you have other things going on. On the one hand, you absolutely do not want anyone firing weapons on ANY #SpaceStation, so it is likely that guns are scanned for and have their ammunition removed or something. Lots of technology, even in the modern era, that can do that.

Conversely, how do you regulate that when technology exists that can fabricate weapons on the fly? Can you stop someone from rigging a replicator to make a handgun?

Not in #StarTrek...

Regardless of the setting, going back to the Concealed Carry thing, not every setting is going to have a feasible means of communicating who is or isn't licensed. A medieval Nation might not have the means to make an enforce licenses that can't be counterfeited by someone with basic writing tools. Conversely, an interstellar polity might not be able to reliably communicate cryptographic identities that can't be impersonated.

That's assuming there's even a central government...

Most of History involved city-states, settlements small enough that people could reasonably know who was or wasn't part of this settlement, without the kind of outside rule that national regulations would require. Even when there was a nation level government, it typically couldn't handle that kind of minutia, at least not on a wide scale, so such licensing would have been reserved to very specific people, such as knights / samurai.

However, at the smaller scale is where reputation comes in...

In one of those small towns or cities, someone might be able to gain a reputation, either through official channels of local government or through simply being known by enough people, such that they would be allowed to do things the average outsider wouldn't. This could be in multiple towns for someone who traveled a lot, so maybe your group of heroes has to be known by people in the town, or pass a test, before they can carry weapons in there.

This also works with organizations...

An organization which has the means to do that sort of checking, and to send information about individuals within the group, might be able to make agreements with local governments, especially if they are doing something useful like protecting the roads, dealing with medicine, or just facilitating trade. Organizations throughout history have been large enough to have those means, but small enough for members to reliably know each other.

Historically, churches and postal services had this...

So in my own fantasy setting, I have these spread out city-states after a global War caused what was effectively a collapse. They don't have the kind of national government that would be able to do licensing over a large area, but perhaps neighboring city-states could coordinate?

I also have independent "Knight Orders", which Iall have some sort of infrastructure for training and identifying members, and for dealing with local governments. Perhaps their members I have special privileges...

There's a lot to think of here, a lot of interesting stuff one could fit into a setting, and a lot of material that could be fit into a story involving this.

Maybe a criminal impersonates someone to bring a weapon into the city? Maybe the heroes are unarmed at a key moment because they had to check their weapons? Maybe they have to smuggle weapons in for some shady activity? Maybe one of them is an idiot and gets arrested for doing that unnecessarily?

Lots of ideas to be had!