Some Advice?

I am trying to build a game that has third person shooting, and weapon melee combat. How would i go about activating the proper animation sets determined solely by what weapon i pick up or equip? Would it be possible to put all of the animations i wnt into one skeleton, and somehow have it intelligently switch between sets and blendspaces determined by a weapon, or, would i be possible to code a weapon, to switch the skeleton and animation sets im using when i pick it up or equip it.

Any help, or resources on the subject would be appreciated. Thank you.