Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I used the search function and did not come up with a post that answered my question.

I think I already I already know the answer, but I wanted to see what others thought. Is the possession of a firearm or deadly weapon considered illegal in the SW universe? While GM'ing I have assumed that the closer you get to the core the more illegal having a deadly weapon on you becomes or you need to buy some kind of licence and have your weapon stamped/tracked in someway.

Anyway, what do you guys and girls think? Thanks in advance.

Look at the movies. EVERYONE is armed. In the mid and outer rim people carry openly. In the core worlds people conceal their weapons. but everyone is pretty much carrying all the time.

Watch the movies. Watch the clone wars cartoons.

I think that the farther you get from the "bright centre of the universe", the more lax the weapon laws get. In my campaigns I run it like this: a single sidearm is completely normal and legal in the outer regions (say, about Mid Rim and out). More than one sidearm is still OK, but you start getting funny looks, and any passing law enforcement people will certainly remember you if there are reports of violence in the area they saw you in. Long arms, like carbines and up, are generally prohibited on most developed worlds. You can own as many as you like, but if you try walking out of the starport with a heavy blaster rifle someone's going to stop you and make you put it back on your ship. Same goes for grenades and explosives.

I've also run a campaign in the Tapani sector, in the Colonies. This is a very old, highly developed sector of space where weapon laws can reasonably be expected to be more restrictive. I handled this by allowing sidearms if the owner had a lisence to carry. This required a valid ID (or a good fake - make a Skulduggery vs. Perception check with some setback dice for the forger due to inspector's familiarity with document and so on), followed by a Knowledge (Education) check to navigate the bueraucracy. A separate carry permit was required for each House's holding in the sector, and was always tied to one ID. If the ID "went bad", as in the owner was wanted for a crime, the permit would be worthless.

The exception to the above rules is any weapon marked ®, as in restricted. These are illegal anywhere and will be confiscated if noticed and the owner brought up on charges.

In my campaign, each world is different from the next. Laws will depend greatly on the society that inhabits the planet, where the planet is, what connection it has with the Empire. My suggestion is that any world that you have, roll a d10.

On a roll of 1, the planet's law level is low, while on a roll of 10 its high.

Vary that by the government type of the world, and to suit your story. Make sure you have a card, or sheet or "database" entry or something that you keep track of the worlds that your players visit. Then when they go back there, you are not guessing what the law level is or who's there.

What the guys have said above is true though, especially around starports when pilots have to be at the ready to deal with ship thieves, skip-tracers, and other calamities like Mynocks.

One of the Order 66 Podcast segments - I think it was Fragments from the Rim - dealt with this topic nicely.

I think that the farther you get from the "bright centre of the universe", the more lax the weapon laws get. In my campaigns I run it like this: a single sidearm is completely normal and legal in the outer regions (say, about Mid Rim and out).

In the movies you see people on the frontier (Tatooine) walking around with blasters, while at Coruscant you don't. It's a big Galaxy and local law levels are going to vary widely. Cloud City didn't have citizens walking around with blasters like on Tatooine, even though it was also the frontier. Like Coruscant, it was urban. So that could be an indicator also. When deciding on the local law or lawlessness, I would factor in both Core vs. Rim and Urban vs. Rural if you didn't want to toss a die like suggested above.

THEN, there is Imperial law that trumps local law. You could go the Traveller route and say that Imperial law may be found at any starport, orbitting station, major Imperial city, etc. Or you could just say Imperial law of no open carry is everywhere, it just isn't enforced in many places. Coruscant? Obviously enforced. Tatooine? All kinds of laws are being broken there. Even if you say there is a local garrison of 20 Stormtroopers, what are they supposed to do about the hundreds of thousands of citizens daily breaking a laundry list of laws of some far off Imperial capital? Even if they tried and there wasn't open rebellion, they could only imprison or fine so many. So, they choose wisely when invoking Imperial laws.

Also, keep in mind that local exceptions to the planetary laws may apply. Just because a planet as a whole is OK with sidearms doesn't mean that any given business, agency or office on that planet allows armed individuals on their premises. Most restaurants, night clubs and other "social" places would be very likely to ban weapons on their property.

Unless your players are murder hobos, this sort of thing is unlikely to matter much in the campaign. So long as they don't run around shooting random people it doesn't matter if they're carrying a weapon - it matters only that/if they use it. If you need them to be unarmed for story reasons, have them visit a place that don't allow weapons and have whatever encounter you planned occur there.

There isn't going to be a hard and fast rule. To me you should be using it as a plot driven item, as opposed to something that is always or never in nature.

Also, if the players get a bit too insistent that they can carry their weapons whereever they want, perhaps a reminder that the 2nd Amendment is a United States only thing, we don't have it north of the border. Using this as a model, there could well be a Core World where it is normal for people to be armed with open carry (I'm looking at you Corellia), whereas many others would require extensive permits even for a slug thrower.

Look at how Luke is armed in A New Hope: Slugthrower, which never gets fired. Owen and Beru don't seem to be armed, even with a climate where Sandpeople are common. Their weaponry seems to be based on what you might expect on a farm or a ranch where those who run the ranch need them to protect their herds/crops. In Mos Eisley, Luke is unarmed save for his lightsaber which he doesn't know how to use, and which nobody seems to pay any mind to until Obi-wan pulls his out. He acquires a blaster carbine on the death star, and then at the awards ceremony, he is now carrying a pistol as a sidearm, when he is now clearly working for the Rebellion.

I think this is plenty of fodder to indicate that it varies virtually everywhere. Honestly, I think it should be as restrictive or as lax as the plot needs it to be.

Also, if the players get a bit too insistent that they can carry their weapons whereever they want, perhaps a reminder that the 2nd Amendment is a United States only thing, we don't have it north of the border.

While the US does have the 2nd Amendment, it isn't universal. States like Texas allow for Open Carry with no permit, but require a permit for Concealed Carry. Cities like Washington D.C., Chicago, etc... make it as difficult as possible for anyone to legally own, let alone carry a firearm. So it really varies from place to place in general.

The movies and TV shows are dealing with open rebellion or wars and as such I think the perception that everyone carries weapons is based on this somewhat.

In reality I would expect that the Emporer would make carrying weapons less than legal. How do you subjegate and control universes when the civilians are armed? I would expect that the wearing of weapons is going to be reflected by the level of Imperial prcecence on a world.

Also, if the players get a bit too insistent that they can carry their weapons whereever they want, perhaps a reminder that the 2nd Amendment is a United States only thing, we don't have it north of the border.

While the US does have the 2nd Amendment, it isn't universal. States like Texas allow for Open Carry with no permit, but require a permit for Concealed Carry. Cities like Washington D.C., Chicago, etc... make it as difficult as possible for anyone to legally own, let alone carry a firearm. So it really varies from place to place in general.

True. I'm trying to steer this away from being political, but using your example to carry it further, even in place that such rights are expected, the variation of laws depends upon where one is. Again, the example of say Corellia vs. the Corporate Sector.

I think if we look at episodes 4-5, Tattooine and Bespin are your only benchmarks for what can and can't be done in public.

Tatooine is backwater with a clearly low level of law. It's controlled by the Hutts after all.

Bespin is to small an operation to be on the galactic radar, but let's face it, the only offender (Han) was being escorted by the boss of the whole facility.

So those aren't good examples.

If we go to the prequels, we have Coruscant, Naboo and again we have Tatooine. Naboo is probably the only good example and nobody except guards/security are walking around with weapons. The underworld of Coruscant is the only other example - and let's face it...it's the underworld.

I would say real life examples would apply, where some countries (planets) have high gun control, whilst others do not.

If you want an example of what I do for my campaign, check out My Speculative Trading rules which has some rules for laws that I use.

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/131616-rules-speculative-trading/

I'd assume the further out its more Wild West -- strapping because your dumb if you don't.

The further in the core it's more civilized and there is no need for such nonsense because you have CSEC and police and guards to protect you...politicians and richy richersons have bodyguards or guards so they don't need them. Illegal? Probably not but I'd assume the further in the core you have upscale places that frown in it and probably won't let you in fancy places with them. There are a couple of example in the books where Han had to hide a hold out to meet politicians at fancy restaurants with Leia-- its Han...he's naked with our his blaster so ya know.

But up to you for plot if you want to make richy places or rich sectors of cities are no guns or weapon zones do so-- it increases drama and tension-- HELL there are rules for hiding weapons vs pat-downs... So there ya go

Also remember it is Star Wars...wars in the stars...not Sometimes Star Wars.

The setting has always seemed very "Wild West" to me so I generally rule that a side arm like a light pistol is considered common place other than the occasional high society local where you might be expected to only have one if its a showpiece and very finely crafted as such or some places of business in more civilized worlds (core/corporate sector) where it may not be illegal but will likely incure setback. Larger weapons I only allow as "acceptable" in some parts of the outer rim and more lawless worlds and even then you're typically going to be noticed and trying to show up at most clientele meetings for a job will often result in a bad disposition or an outright no bargaining if you look like you're ready to fight then and there (same goes for heavier armors). So rarely do I say a player "can't" legally and instead just increase social difficulties or attempts to "blend in" if they appear to be geared to the teeth for a fight (the exception being larger gunnery type weapons that will get you arrested almost anywhere).

I think that the farther you get from the "bright centre of the universe", the more lax the weapon laws get. In my campaigns I run it like this: a single sidearm is completely normal and legal in the outer regions (say, about Mid Rim and out).

In the movies you see people on the frontier (Tatooine) walking around with blasters, while at Coruscant you don't. It's a big Galaxy and local law levels are going to vary widely. Cloud City didn't have citizens walking around with blasters like on Tatooine, even though it was also the frontier. Like Coruscant, it was urban. So that could be an indicator also. When deciding on the local law or lawlessness, I would factor in both Core vs. Rim and Urban vs. Rural if you didn't want to toss a die like suggested above.

THEN, there is Imperial law that trumps local law. You could go the Traveller route and say that Imperial law may be found at any starport, orbitting station, major Imperial city, etc. Or you could just say Imperial law of no open carry is everywhere, it just isn't enforced in many places. Coruscant? Obviously enforced. Tatooine? All kinds of laws are being broken there. Even if you say there is a local garrison of 20 Stormtroopers, what are they supposed to do about the hundreds of thousands of citizens daily breaking a laundry list of laws of some far off Imperial capital? Even if they tried and there wasn't open rebellion, they could only imprison or fine so many. So, they choose wisely when invoking Imperial laws.

People seem to have blasters on coruscant. They just conceal them. Bail had one.

Senators. We don't tend to see much of the NORMALs in the movies.

Senators. We don't tend to see much of the NORMALs in the movies.

Agreed. But wasn't the purpose of the question to establish the norm? To do that, you need to work out what the "specials" can do and get away with.

Ultimately its your game to do as you will, but know that the laws are what the story requires them to be - just keep them consistent or give a reason why they've changed, when the players revisit that world.

EXAMPLE

The players visit the world of Rai'Ya. They have tight border security, but once checked and licences/permits are in order, people can walk around with holstered or slung weapons freely. Some laws exist which require each citizen who owns a firearm to have a licence. During their time on the world, they end up having a fire-fight in the streets, and due to several despairs, some explosions occur and the GM decides that the collateral damage is to public infrastrure and even goes so far as to have civillian casualties. The characters were using blaster rifles and carbines at the time.

The next time they visit the world, the planet may have passed laws increasing security, calling in the Empire, or adjusting laws that require additional security protocols making in more difficult. Depending on what happened, the world may have passed sweeping change and ALL weapons are now banned.

Just an example

Agreed. But wasn't the purpose of the question to establish the norm? To do that, you need to work out what the "specials" can do and get away with.

Ultimately its your game to do as you will, but know that the laws are what the story requires them to be - just keep them consistent or give a reason why they've changed, when the players revisit that world.

EXAMPLE

The players visit the world of Rai'Ya. They have tight border security, but once checked and licences/permits are in order, people can walk around with holstered or slung weapons freely. Some laws exist which require each citizen who owns a firearm to have a licence. During their time on the world, they end up having a fire-fight in the streets, and due to several despairs, some explosions occur and the GM decides that the collateral damage is to public infrastrure and even goes so far as to have civillian casualties. The characters were using blaster rifles and carbines at the time.

The next time they visit the world, the planet may have passed laws increasing security, calling in the Empire, or adjusting laws that require additional security protocols making in more difficult. Depending on what happened, the world may have passed sweeping change and ALL weapons are now banned.

Just an example

I do agree it's all up to gm call but given the, I think, well established space western feel of Star Wars (especially for eote and the original trilogy) id think the vast majority of places just wouldn't have much problem with a small sidearm but might take a bit more notice of anything that could quickly mow down a room of people.

In short I don't think we need to worry about what normal everyday citizens carry as a result as the extremes of legality are the most fitting for most party's situations.

I'm not arguing the point. Its your game. Do as you please. I'll stick with doing things in my campaign, my way

Most weapon laws are very slow to change. Even the Empire hasn't declared ownership of CR90 Corvettes, X-wing Starfighters, and Mon Cal Cruisers illegal.

Real World Example: In Australia in the late 90's a mass shooting which resulted in the deaths of 34 innocent civillians. The Government in response brought in sweeping gun laws which restricted many weapons (if not all) and ownership was through licence only. This change occurred ALL within a 3 month period.

Just sayin'

Guess it depends 'where' you are in the galaxy, its a big place, 100,000's of inhabited worlds, customs and history where laws vary quite a lot. Joining a republic or an empire doesn't necessarily forfeit local laws, but you neighbours might have very different laws.

Majority of the outer rim through to the colonies tends to be sidearms or small melee weapons aren't really an issue.

Using them on other people even in self defence might be though!

Bigass rifles, military automatic weapons, grenade launchers and stuff like that you might think are 'legal' in the more lawless holes of iniquity, but the reality is that most of the locals 'might' take offence at them, you could be mistaken for bounty hunters where they don't like your type, rival gang members or the local warlord thinks you might be gunning for him or trying to slice a chunk out of a crimelord's business.

I've had a few places where there is a blanket ban on ALL civilians carrying weapons due to a history of insurrection or extreme hatred fo the local authorities, who don't trust them as far as they can throw them.

I would actually point to firefly in this case for examples.

It has.

Core world - even security mostly uses stunners.

Mid world - open carry pistols

Rim world's - open carry

Lawless moons - what you are not armed? Money please!

I would also not assume just because you can't see a weapon does not mean it is not there. In many states in the US people carry concealed. But most people don't carry and assume they don't need to.

I wouldn't worry to much about your players carrying side arms unless plot needs otherwise.