The right to bear arms

Every prince in Scarterra has to figure out how well armed he or she wants the populace to be.   In most realms, the people who are trained best in combat are the upper class. They have the free time to devote to training and the wealth to buy the best equipment. Those trained this way are frequently given the title of knighthood or something equivalent.   Given the number of dangerous things in Scarterra this is rarely sufficient. Most princes maintain a force of fairly well paid and well trained commoners as men at arms and they also have a reserves so at least some of the general populace has some combat training and access to arms.   A well armed populace is more able to revolt against the local prince, but a poorly armed populace is going to be very vulnerable to military invasions, brigands, and random monster attacks. The best way to reconcile these two opposite risks is to maintain an armory. If needed, the people can be armed quickly to repel an outside threat, but the people are not constantly armed and thus able to plot insurrection.   Things differ from realm to realm, but there are some commonalities in Scarterra. In general, Scarterran nations restrict weapon ownership less than most medieval Earth cities did. This is because 1) Scarterra's supernatural elements lead to many frequent small-scale threats that the local lords can't always handle right away and 2) local lords are more concerned about unchecked peasants with magic than they are concerned with unchecked peasants with weapons.   Slaves are generally forbidden to own weapons; even gladiatorial slaves don't normally get to take their weapons outside of the arena. Serfs are generally not allowed to possess military weapons at all outside of true emergencies. Slavery is on the decline in Scarterra a whole. Some hope serfdom will follow slavery into the dustbin of history.   Most free peasants own a few very simple weapons and have limited access to the local armory. Most yeoman and burghers can legally own and carry any weapons and armor that they can afford.   Different regions favor different weapons but in general swords are the most commonly seen weapon carried in self-defense by those who can afford it.  Staves and knives are the most common weapon for self-defense by those too poor to afford swords or in places where sword ownership is legally restricted.   Spears are the most commonly seen battlefield weapon, at least among the general populace.