Switch weapons script not working

Unity Engine
,
1

I’ve been trying to implement a script for switching weapons in my game, but the array I use to hold all of the GameObjects that represent my weapons always shows up as 0 outside of the Start() method. How can I fix this to make it functional? I have attached the script I am using to do this, which is the same script that I use for movement.

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class Player_Movement : MonoBehaviour

{
    private Rigidbody rb; // rb = rigidbody of player
    public bool isGrounded;
    [SerializeField] public float jumpHeight;
    [SerializeField] public float speed;
    public GameObject bulletPrefab;
    public GameObject pistol;
    public GameObject empty;
    public Camera playerCamera;
    public GameObject[] weapons = new GameObject[2];// = {empty, pistol};

    public int currentWeapon = 1;
    public int numWeapons;

    //float trueSpeed;

    // Start is called before the first frame update
    void Start()
    {
        rb = GetComponent<Rigidbody>();
        GameObject[] weapons = { empty, pistol };
        numWeapons = weapons.Length;
        Debug.Log("length of arr: " + weapons.Length); ;
        //SwitchWeapon(0);
        Debug.Log(numWeapons);
       
    }


    // Update is called once per frame


    private void OnCollisionEnter(Collision collision)
    {
        isGrounded = true;
        //Debug.Log("on ground");
    }


    void Update()
    {
        Vector3 forward = transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward);
        Vector3 right = transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward);
        float horizontalInput = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");
        float verticalInput = Input.GetAxis("Vertical");
        Vector3 direction = new Vector3(horizontalInput, 0f, verticalInput);
        //float speedtotal(direction * speed* Time.deltaTime);
        //Debug.Log (speedtotal);
        //Vector3 direction = (forward * horizontalInput * speed) + (right * verticalInput * speed);
        transform.Translate(direction * speed * Time.deltaTime);
        //Debug.Log(controller.isGrounded);

        if ((Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Space)) && isGrounded) //(rb.velocity.y==0))
        {
            rb.velocity = new Vector3(0, jumpHeight, 0);
            if (isGrounded == true)
            {
                Debug.Log("on ground also");
            }
            isGrounded = false;
        }

        if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0))
        {
            print("The Left mouse button was clicked");


            GameObject bulletObject = Instantiate(bulletPrefab);

            bulletObject.transform.position = playerCamera.transform.position + playerCamera.transform.forward;
            bulletObject.transform.forward = playerCamera.transform.forward;

        }

        if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Alpha1)) {
            Debug.Log("length of arr outside of Start: " + weapons.Length);
            SwitchWeapon(0, weapons);
        }

        if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Alpha2)) {
            SwitchWeapon(1, weapons);
        }

    }
    void SwitchWeapon(int index, GameObject[] weapons)
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < numWeapons; i++)
        {
            Debug.Log(i);
            if (i == index)
            {
                Debug.Log("i=index");
                Debug.Log("length of arr in method: " + weapons.Length);
                weapons[i].SetActive(true);
                weapons[currentWeapon].SetActive(false);
                currentWeapon = index;
            }
        }
    }
}
2

I have found an alternative way to solve this issue, I have first used a transform[ ] array that I would fill up with my assets in the project, then I rewrote the SwitchWeapon method to accommodate this change. I will write the changed code below:

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class Player_Movement : MonoBehaviour

{
    private Rigidbody rb; // rb = rigidbody of player
    public bool isGrounded;
    [SerializeField] public float jumpHeight;
    [SerializeField] public float speed;
    public GameObject bulletPrefab;
    public Camera playerCamera;
    public int currentWeapon;
    public Transform[] weapons;

    // Start is called before the first frame update
    void Start()
    {
        rb = GetComponent<Rigidbody>();
        SwitchWeapon(0);
       
    }


    // Update is called once per frame


    private void OnCollisionEnter(Collision collision)
    {
        isGrounded = true;
        //Debug.Log("on ground");
    }


    void Update()
    {
        Vector3 forward = transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward);
        Vector3 right = transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward);
        float horizontalInput = Input.GetAxis("Horizontal");
        float verticalInput = Input.GetAxis("Vertical");
        Vector3 direction = new Vector3(horizontalInput, 0f, verticalInput);
        //float speedtotal(direction * speed* Time.deltaTime);
        //Debug.Log (speedtotal);
        //Vector3 direction = (forward * horizontalInput * speed) + (right * verticalInput * speed);
        transform.Translate(direction * speed * Time.deltaTime);
        //Debug.Log(controller.isGrounded);

        if ((Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Space)) && isGrounded) //(rb.velocity.y==0))
        {
            rb.velocity = new Vector3(0, jumpHeight, 0);
            if (isGrounded == true)
            {
                Debug.Log("on ground also");
            }
            isGrounded = false;
        }

        if (Input.GetMouseButtonDown(0) && weapons[1].gameObject.activeSelf == true)
        {
            print("The Left mouse button was clicked");


            GameObject bulletObject = Instantiate(bulletPrefab);

            bulletObject.transform.position = playerCamera.transform.position + playerCamera.transform.forward;
            bulletObject.transform.forward = playerCamera.transform.forward;

        }

        if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Alpha1)) {
            SwitchWeapon(0);
        }

        if (Input.GetKeyDown(KeyCode.Alpha2)) {
            SwitchWeapon(1);
        }

    }

    public void SwitchWeapon(int num)
    {
        currentWeapon = num;
        for (int i = 0; i < weapons.Length; i++)
        {
            weapons[i].gameObject.SetActive(i == num);
        }
    }
}