I am working on my own homebrew campaign and another thread inspired me to want to ask the community, What rules do you have for carrying weapons in town?

I have a number of rules, but they could be enhanced.  The basic premise of my rules are, Nobody carries Weapons in town unless given permission by the Mayor or the ruling figure, if the settlement has walls.  If the settlement has no "boundary" it is just considered open country.

When adventurers arrive at a new walled settlement they are required to surrender their weapons or stay outside.  They are permitted to apply for a permit to carry weapons.  If granted they may carry weapons inside the town.  They must also carry their permit if they are carrying weapons.  Guards may ask anyone carrying to show their permit.  Guards won't bother people they know to have permission, and generally don't bother people anyway unless they have a reason.  The only time it could be a real problem is if a party showed up and forgot they had not received their permission already.  They surrender their weapons and then go inside and buy another weapon because it was nice and shiny and then they find out they forgot the rules before they obtained permission.  Oops.

Another element of this is, "What is the proper etiquette for carrying weapons in town?"

In former eras there were laws called Sumptuary Laws.  These laws prescribed things like what you could wear in public and the like.  It gives the party a reason to have a member that can advise them on local laws and customs.  Sumptuary Laws would include what quality of fabric a person could wear, which depended on their station.  Other ideas expressed in these laws would govern whether a man could carry a rapier or foil, a dagger, or possibly a non-edged weapon.  As a matter of fact, one punishment in medieval times was to tell a man he could not carry a weapon of any kind for a set period.  If the man had to travel often, this was a death sentence.

I haven't gone so far in my campaign lore, but setting rules for what is allowed to be carried in town for weapons might be a good story element for RP.

So let me know what rules you have for carrying weapons in your setting, or even some ideas you have.  I want to prepare a well fleshed out description of how things work in my campaign.

As long as there’s sleight of hand or some check to try and hide your weapons.

Well in a lot of my worlds it's ok, because adventurers gotta do their work, also the guards probably can't stop them.

In other worlds where it isn't ok, my players kinda just disregarded laws and hopped around the world anyways to do what they needed to. A few members still tried to follow laws.

As long as you're not waving them in people's faces and threatening important people and stuff like that it is fine.

These laws really vary depending on the time or place. 

If there was a war on, everyone was required to carry weapons. 

If there was no war on but civil unrest, then there could be restrictions as the ruling class would fear an uprising.

If dueling is a thing, typically it was only for nobles. Any laws addressing weapons would only allow for nobles to carry weapons as a way to distinguish themselves as nobility.

There are exceptions though, depending on the time and place you could get special permission to carry weapons IF there were restrictions. If you were a traveling merchant for instance. 

In a DnD setting though, it can be whatever you want and don't forget about magic. 

I imagine if Wizards are allowed to walk around towns with their wands and staffs, fighters and paladins should have their weapons.

Buying weapons in a... licensed carry? town would require either a permit upon purchase or a delivery with receipt at the borders. I remember something about that in some story, but my brain says it was a scifi story, not medieval fantasy. Might could work regardless?

My perspective would be less on the what, and more on the why. 

If weapons are only to be carried with permission, what's the reasoning? Has there been a rash of street violence? Does the ruling class fear an uprising? Is there a healthy dueling culture that needed to be regulated? From there, you can go wherever you want. 

What about scrolls and components? Maybe some wizard was holding the town hostage? Maybe a magic school blew up? 

I just have this idea that if you focus on the why, everything flows much easier. 

The why, in this case, is that carrying weapons is regulated because a number of foreigners are moving through the realm all the time and the local rulers like to know what they are dealing with.  Magic items are also inhibited in the same way, but not material components and magic foci.  Adventurers are, in this realm, given a license to practice.  Once they clear their first walled town they are given credentials to practice adventuring and carry the necessary tools.  However, if they are found to abuse their gifts with the population, they can lose their license, which puts them in an altogether different situation.  Therefore it pays to stay on the right side of the law.

if pcs want to carry weapons in town, let them, but not without a fight! send in some guards, and have the pcs fight them, or use a charisma check.

I think you could really have it depend on the town to amp up the roleplaying. Does town A suffer from bandits a lot? No way the guards are letting a group of strangers enters with weapons, I mean they could be MORE bandits.

Does town B have an established city guard and a low crime rate? Sure, weapons are allowed but the guard will be keeping an eye on you

Does town C have an established city guard but there has been a recent rise in muggings or murders? sure, weapons are allowed but you have to reveal all carried weapons to the guards before entering so they can jot down who has what.

Does town D basically resemble a small southern town in the US? then I dare you to aim that weapon at a shopkeeper lol

The why, in this case, is that carrying weapons is regulated because a number of foreigners are moving through the realm all the time and the local rulers like to know what they are dealing with.

I could go with that, but just to throw this out there. History tells us that travelling from place to place in a medieval setting was pretty dangerous, so anyone travelling was usually armed. Anyone banned from carrying weapons, like a merchant or courier, was basically put out of work. 

Of course that's history in the real world, with a wildly different environment than any fantasy setting. That being said, do a lot of adventurers come through town? Are your PCs part of a large guild? Perhaps there is an agreement in place between the guild leaders and the city? 

Looking at history again, if you didn't actually live in the big city you would be charged for entering, tolls for bridges, tolls for just about everything. Why not a weapon toll? 

"Do you have your writ of citizenship? No? Lets see, that's four blades, I see a scroll case there, what's that? Is that a non-magical staff?" -Casts detect magic- "You lied to me, that IS a magical staff. That's a cleric of Pelor? Well they get a discount. Military service? Here is another discount. With the obvious lying, because I'm feeling generous that will be 10 GP. Be sure to carry this itemized scroll, so should the guard challenge you they will let you be about your business. Have a nice day." Stamps the scroll, hands to you. "NEXT!"

I like Cormyr's laws regarding weapons in towns:

1. Adventurers must acquire a charter before undertaking any operation as a group.
2. All weapons must be peace-bonded. The only persons exempt from this law are members of chartered adventuring groups and members of mercenary groups that can offer proof of employment.