Hunting and Angling.

[Croix]

Newt:

On an allied topic, how about bows and crossbows in the UK?

Newt,

 

Bows and crossbows are perfectly legal in the UK without any form of licence or power restriction, I believe you have to be 17 or older to buy one. Hunting with bows or crossbows is strictly illegal though.

I think there may also be some restrictions on the type of arrowheads that can be legally bought.

 

Dave

 

[ 11. August 2002, 08:23 AM: Message edited by: Croix ]

[chesters1]

only the honest people have a license ,when i expect most death by shootings comes from people without them ,no problem getting guns of any description or ammo either, large furtive chaps in most cities will supply you with them unfortunatly they dont issue receipts in case of breakage ,just after the falklands war there were plenty of pistols about ,i got offered one for £20 in a local pub ,it looked like it had never been used

speaking of weopons why dont the army drop these crap rifles we have now and issue ak47`s etc there usefull in all conditions ,if they get broke one of the natives will fix it for a couple of fags no problem

[RobStubbs]

Newt,

I don't know the technicalities but black powder can be held by individuals for home loading, probably needs and extra piece on their certificate though. As mentioned there is no restriction on bows and crossbows, except that hunting with them is illegal here.

 

Rob.

 

[ 11. August 2002, 01:26 PM: Message edited by: RobStubbs ]

[Jim Roper]

Newt:

Jim - is the black powder restriction a blanket one or can you hold small quantities (such as the amount required for black powder wepons)

I think that an explosives license is required to hold ANY quantity of black powder but it's easy to get one by all accounts. I gave up pistol shooting when the ban came in but I beleive that there are still quite a few people using non-cartridge revolvers. Some of these weapons are available with quick change cylinders that can be pre-loaded.

I'm not sure what would happen to the metalwork if they were left pre-loaded for long periods with either B.P. or Pyrodex.

I expect there are some being kept under the bed in case of burglaries.

I would still prefer to have my Ruger Security Six .357 and my Britarms .22 though.

 

Jim Roper

 

http://www.march-info.org

 

[ 11. August 2002, 01:54 PM: Message edited by: Jim Roper ]

[Jim Roper]

Nightwing:

Fake licenses are diffult here(in Michigan, at least), because our drivers licenses have a scanner strip like a credit card with all the info on it.

Obviously, anything can be faked, but illegal gun purchases using fake I.D.s are extremely rare.

Truth is, if one is a criminal, they are not likely to try to make a purchase through a legit dealer, as they can do it "off the street" easy enough, and with not chance of getting caught by the system.

If I rang our police to ask if someone in particular had a gun license, the information would not be forthcoming.

 

Outside office hours, you won't get a reply.

 

People can have their guns seized by the police if they are not carrying the correct license for their weapons, even if they have their drivers license with them, and even if their ID is without doubt.

In other circumstances, a firearm/shotgun certificate, with your photograph on it, is not deemed to be proof of identification.

 

In this country, every person owning or wanting to own firearms or shotguns is considered to be a potential criminal by the authorities.

 

Life gets tedious, don't it?

 

Jim Roper

 

http://www.march-info.org

[Cranfield]

Purely in the interest of balance.

 

I would have to say that I have held both firearm and shotgun certificates since they were a legal requirement.

I have never encountered any problems with the Police in renewing or operating my certificates.

[Newt]

Interesting that bows and crossbows are legal to own but not to hunt with. Seems contrary to common sense.

 

For one thing, they are so large they are impossible to conceal so not likely canidates for commiting crimes.

 

For another, very environmentally friendly since there is no "bad stuff" like lead or explosives involved.

 

Anyone have an idea what the thinking behind this prohibition might be?

[Cranfield]

Apart from deer, we don,t have any animals that could realistically be hunted with a bow and arrow.

 

Its also very difficult to hit a fox from the back of a horse with a longbow.

(I,m sorry,but the Devil made me type that)

[chesters1]

newt the hunting deer with arrows ban may be from times before the usa existed ,certain naughty people used to kill them for outrageouse reasons like hunger or starvation and as all the deer were for the king to kill for sport, laws were bought out to stop the commoner having sport before dinner

now ofcourse we can only hunt round 4ft straw discs with unusual breeding plumage consisting of brightly coloured rings ,although they used to "hunt" carboard cutouts of animals on a woodland course up the road,the fastest to finish + the highest points on the "animal" won

[RobStubbs]

I don't know the reasons why bow hunting is illegal here but I'd have a guess at it being in part because it's more difficult to obtain a clean kill. I know bows can be extremely effective and deadly in the right hands but generally speaking, you'd have trouble matching the accuracy of a rifle.

 

Rob.