300,000 crossbow owners in this county. Why?

[newnamethanks]

What possible reason could anyone have for owning one? Competitions? Is that a thing?

Thats absolutely mental.

It's certainly made me think that it's about time that I got around to making mine before it's too late and they get banned in a pointless knee-jerk reaction.

Why? She lives alone. She was sexually assaulted in her bed several years ago when a drunk man got into her house. I think it is understandable that she wouldn't want to risk experiencing that again.

My aim is too bad for a crossbow. I just have a taser and an intimidating-looking DH to put attackers off.

Self defence must be proportional.

Using a heavy duty torch to whack an intruder is fine, a crossbow not so much.

Cos it's massively risky for many reasons. You can't just go killing people who enter your house with a freakin crossbow. It's not a Hollywood movie and you could end up in prison for a long time. Likewise if she makes a mistake with it theres every chance the would be assailant would use it on her, as happenned with that knife attack many years ago.

I agree it’s risky: you could get disarmed, there may be an innocent intruder like a neighbour who’s got keys and thinks you’re still away on holiday, opportunist but basically harmless child thieves etc.

But if a woman was up in court for shooting a genuine intruder with a crossbow, whatever his motives, and I was on a jury I’d acquit on self-defence grounds unless there was a strong reason to think it wasn’t a fearful response (like shooting a burglar in the back when he’s fleeing out the front gate).

A compound bow uses a pulley system to tension the string, which after a certain point in your draw means it is much lighter to complete the draw and then hold. However, in every other way it is still a conventional bow in terms of how you hold it, i.e. the bow is more or less in the vertical plane.

A crossbow is constructed completely differently. The recognisable bow part sits in the horizontal plane and the draw is also in the horizontal plane. Crossbows can be tensioned with conventional strength, by using the power of the legs or using draw aids. I've attached a couple of images so you can see the difference.

I shoot recurve, 20+ year member of the National Field Archery Society, and would support tighter regulation of all bows. They are deadly weapons.

A small slight woman isn't going to be able to hit an attacker hard enough with a torch to stop them.

An arrow will.

Who said anything about killing someone?

Ahh is she really precise? Just go for a leg shot?! Sorry but it's a farce.

I do archery and crossbows are banned at archery clubs because they have a trigger and can be kept loaded.

Bows used in archery are totally different.

Obviously can still be used as a weapon but then so can anything really.

If someone breaks into her house and enters her bedroom, they'll get what's coming to them. I'm sure she would rather serve 100 years in prison than be raped again.

And I would do the same. I would kill to protect myself and my family in my own home.

"We need to talk about Kevin" by Lionel Shriver

And people such as 'friend' above are allowed to own them with little knowledge of how to use them. Entirely inappropriate and dangerous.

She knows how to use it. It would be stupid to have a weapon that you don't know how to use properly. She also knows how to shoot guns (we both do), but she doesn't own any guns.

That's Ella Gibson in your photograph.

I'm a shot gun holder and have been a licence holder for 20 years. I'm a county clay shot, and have to go through the usual police/medical/storage checks every five years. We have all the appropriate security.

Cross bows though, don't require any checks as far as I know. The only restriction is the owner needs to be over 18.

The trouble is, they are relatively easy to make, so licencing and controls would be hard to implement.

@Meadowfinch Perhaps straight out banning them is an idea then?? Anyone found with one dealt with appropriately.

It would be more difficult to kill somebody 50yds away with a hammer than to shoot them with a crossbow.

The secondary school field down the road from me is full of archers every weekend. The other secondary school is full of fencers each weekend (do they use sharp swords?)

No, they don't. There's a button on the end and these days scoring is via radio signals. It's not difficult to convert a weapon to deadly if you want to though. (Used to fence epee competitively, hence my choice of user name).

My two brothers did that as a sport decades ago. There are clubs near where I currently live, shops in Bangor and Lisburn too. I would have said it's an interesting hobby.

However, there is also a "gang" elements her in recent years. Some local thugs (we know exactly who they are) have trespassed our farm for target practice. There are a lot of people who have these, that frankly should not.

You've only got one shot too. Better not miss.

You know, I looked up if automatic crossbows even existed, and there does seem to be a semi automatic version but as a method of home security its preposterous.

You can 3d print them and guns if you were so inclined. Banning weapons outright won’t get rid of them for people who would use them for purposes of deliberate harm to others.