Those were supplied. There was an assumption they would be needed for defense. To arm 35 men, the Virginia Company in 1609 sent 20 muskets, bullet molds, 40 swords and daggers, 200 pounds of gunpowder, 600 pounds of lead and 3 melting pans, 20 breast plates and 36 helmets. In 1622 the Company suggested every man going to the colony should bring a musket. The King in the same year sent 300 "harquibussies". These were likely 16th c. matchlocks that were long obsolete, because more obsolete gear was sent as well- 1000 "bills" ( polearms) 400 bows, 800 sheafs of arrows and some mail shirts. Obviously, a colony was a good excuse to clean out the royal armory.

With the exception of a failed attempt at glassblowing, Jamestown was to send home mostly raw goods. Good timber, especially, was getting to be in short supply at home, and of course tobacco would quickly be the major cash crop, creating rich planter families like the Carters and Byrds. A gunsmith actually making a gun is first mentioned in 1693, named Robert Parkes, and it likely had been made earlier, perhaps around the 1670's. But with so much better money to be made with tobacco or corn, the General Assembly enacted a law in 1633 requiring craftsmen to continue practicing their crafts and not turn planters, and tried passing more laws to keep gunsmiths at work- it was a matter they saw of public defense to have arms repaired. But they met with little success. As one report at the end of the 17th c. put it, "For want of Towns, Markets, and Money, there is but little Encouragement for Tradesmen and Artificers". Very early in the 17th c., Virginia was endless plantations and farms. Without a market, how would a tradesmen sell his goods and buy food, clothing, and supplies? Easier to turn farmer.

Harold Gill, Jr: The Gunsmith in Colonial Virginia