Centralized Weapons Storage Rule

The Centralized Weapons Storage Rule requires firearms and specified piercing weapons within the Colony’s walls to be stored in the Armory under the Watch’s protection. It gives the Watch a concrete security function within the Colony’s system of seven equal Trades: weapons are centralized rather than left in private custody.

Scope and Requirement

The rule covers all firearms and piercing weapons inside the Colony’s walls. Its definition of piercing weapons is specific: longbows, crossbows, and blades longer than ten centimeters. Those arms must be kept in the Armory, where the Watch is responsible for their protection.

The Watch and the Armory

The rule rests on the Watch’s formal standing as one of the seven Trades, equal to the others. Its prescribed structure includes at least one First Captain, three Second Captains, fifteen Full Watch, and a number of runners to be determined. Assigning the Armory to the Watch therefore connects collective weapons storage to an established body with designated leadership and personnel, rather than to an unspecified guard or individual household.

Significance

By gathering firearms and piercing weapons in one protected location, the rule makes weapons custody a communal responsibility administered by the Watch. The regulation specifies who protects the weapons and where they are kept, while leaving no private exception in its stated requirement. In the Colony’s institutional design, centralized storage ties access to potentially dangerous arms to an accountable Trade.