Crossbow and broadhead sales ban and crossbow licensing one step closer.

[Herman30]

Governments can keep on banning until we´re back in stoneage and then ban stones because killing will go on with stones if nothing else is left.
Crime and murder can NEVER be eliminated by banning stuff.
Crime and murder can never be eliminated if we want to live in a free democratic society. There will always be people with criminal minds who do not want to live by the rules.

 

[mrmike]

 

[ONE]

Three extremely expensive bows and a rake of spare parts purchased this week, they'll all be stolen next week.

 

[demented dale]

Three extremely expensive bows and a rake of spare parts purchased this week, they'll all be stolen next week.

you might be ok in ireland x

 

[Herman30]

you might be ok in ireland x

Isn´t northern Ireland british with british law?

 

[Chris]

Isn´t northern Ireland british with british law?

Northern Ireland is not the same as Ireland, they’re different countries.

 

[rarms]

Who should pay the cost for the new license?

What should be the criteria for being eligible for a license? What happens if you don't meet the criteria for a license?

Licenses don't work in the way politicians sell them to us.

 

[rarms]

It’s worth noting that you have to go through several forms of driver training and qualification, hold a license and hold insurance in order to drive a lorry (which also has to undergo regular safety checks), which has a primary purpose of transporting goods rather than shooting a deadly projectile.

I'm sure all the people that Herman was referring to who used lorries for illegal actions made sure they had their license and insurance sorted first...

 

[Chris]

I'm sure all the people that Herman was referring to who used lorries for illegal actions made sure they had their license and insurance sorted first...

Do you happen to have any figures to support that? I don’t remember any lorries used to deliberately kill people by driving into crowds in the UK, although he did say it must be way more than people killed by crossbows so I’m sure there must be some numbers somewhere to back that up?

 

[bobnewboy]

How about last night? A car rather than a lorry, but similar qualifications, safety checks etc required:

Several suffer serious injuries after car ploughs into pedestrians in Derby

Friar Gate is closed from the junction with Curzon Street and Cheapside, up to Ford Street

www.derbytelegraph.co.uk

These incidents happen several times a year, and many more people are injured in each one compared to any crossbow incident. Some are barely reported beyond the local press.

A moment’s checking on news finds deliberate incidents (rather than accidents) all over the country. Examples: Oct 4 2025, Birmingham; 26 May 2025 Liverpool (130 injured); May 10 2025, Salisbury, and so forth.

 

[Chris]

Similarly you’ll be able to google incidents involving crossbows, but crossbows aren’t a vital form of transportation for most of the country. Though that article doesn’t suggest any malicious intent at this stage, I don’t think anyone’s suggesting crossbows are causing many accidental deaths or injuries.

It’s silly to compare an object which is literally designed to fire a deadly projectile to kill quarry/people, with something which provides transportation and essential utility to millions of people. I wonder how many people take cars out each day compared with crossbow users?

Plus of course, as I mentioned there’s most often insurance.

 

[Wildgoose]

If you keep a crossbow for target shooting and have space to shoot, or access to a range etc would you apply for the licence?

Would anyone here not apply?

 

[bobnewboy]

Similarly you’ll be able to google incidents involving crossbows, but crossbows aren’t a vital form of transportation for most of the country. Though that article doesn’t suggest any malicious intent at this stage, I don’t think anyone’s suggesting crossbows are causing many accidental deaths or injuries.

It’s silly to compare an object which is literally designed to fire a deadly projectile to kill quarry/people, with something which provides transportation and essential utility to millions of people. I wonder how many people take cars out each day compared with crossbow users?

Plus of course, as I mentioned there’s most often insurance.

Yes, but you’ve made my point for me. It’s not the item, it’s the person and their ill intent. Licensed, insured, qualified, restricted or even banned, people can and do use those items for harm.

I don’t have or use a crossbow, but I do know many people who use and enjoy them as a shooting sport. It’s very competitive and absorbing, and I’d like to think that they can continue to do so without some shadow hanging over them, such as exists for pistol shooters these days. On a personal level I make and shoot archery bows, as a hobbyist, so if crossbows are licensed or limited in some way I’d be worried that archery would be under similar considerations.

 

[Herman30]

How about longbows, are they not getting licensed? You can shoot several arrows with a longbow in the time it takes to load a crossbow so a longbow should be more dangerous.

 

[Wildgoose]

I don’t own a crossbow so my view is an outsider looking in.

A problem I can see is the amount of tactical style crossbows, with videos of people shooting ballistic gel, sides of meat and human manakins to test or demonstrate their killing power.

Videos about crossbows for home defence or killing zombies aren’t helping.

Videos by preppers who recommend crossbows as weapons for when the wheels come off don’t paint shooters in a great light…

Crossbows are a force multiplier, designed so.

A medieval combatant can train from childhood to shoot a longbow. Requires much practice and strength building (even resulting in physical changes to skeletal system I believe)
Pretty much anyone can pick up a crossbow and have a deadly range.

A person seriously wanting to commit an act can rent a large vehicle (with ID, funds, correct licence) and drive into an unprotected crowd (avoiding kerbs, bollards, posts designed to stop exactly that) of course.

 

[bobnewboy]

If you keep a crossbow for target shooting and have space to shoot, or access to a range etc would you apply for the licence?

Would anyone here not apply?

I don’t have one or access to one, but in the Government’s summary of responses at the top of this thread the overwhelming response from interested parties was to not introduce further legislation. But Government being Government they will probably push it through so they can ‘be seen to be doing something’. As Woody Girl mentioned further back, this kind of reaction has done nothing at all to reduce knife crime incidents, and (imo) that should be much, MUCH more important to resolve than the rare incidence of crossbow related crime.

 

[TLM]

It’s silly to compare an object which is literally designed to fire a deadly projectile to kill quarry/people, with something which provides transportation and essential utility to millions of people.

So you can't forbid cars, they are available for mayhem all the time. Now how does that make them less dangerous. A perfect weapon, gov can't restrict them!

Besides the logic of forbidding something to make it less available is more than slightly wrong, it is less available to people who would not misuse it anyway and does in many cases not restrict availability to people who could care less about laws and are using them as always. Something like knives?

 

[mrmike]

If you keep a crossbow for target shooting and have space to shoot, or access to a range etc would you apply for the licence?

Would anyone here not apply?

Very likely that anyone owning and using a crossbow for legitimate target shooting would apply for a license.

Also quite likely that anyone owning a crossbow who doesn't use it for target shooting would not apply for a license.

The problem is that any government can license or ban anything that they like and law abiding persons will comply. There will always be a section of society who will not comply with the laws.

Breaking the posted speed limit is illegal - some folk still ignore this.

Stabbing someone is illegal, whether with a zombie knife, 10" kitchen knife, screwdriver, or 3" paring knife. Yet it still happens.

If somebody wishes to do harm to another they will do so using whatever they can find.
If all we have left is 4x2 timber and nails then I'm sure those would be put to use.

I guess my thoughts are that murder is already against the law, no matter what 'implements' are used - more and more legislation won't make it more illegal will it?

 

[TeeDee]

I guess my thoughts are that murder is already against the law, no matter what 'implements' are used - more and more legislation won't make it more illegal will it?

Points well made in my opinion.

Seems to be certain ideas and cultural changes having knife crime become more prevalent?
Although maybe the same knife crime has always existed?

 

[John59]

This is one of those ones where half of me is opposed to increasing government restrictions on things, but then half of me understands in this instance. If you need a license for a > 12ft/lb air rifle then having something much deadlier as license-free doesn’t really make sense.

Agreed
And dont start me on knives!!