Crossbows

Degsy

Whats the licencing situation with crossbows?Are they illegal in this country?

Dvs

legal=yes

license=yes apply at local Garda station

Not sure of fee, same criteria as any other firearms application,
you must be able to show that you have a need for the firearm.

Yes, I know its not a firearm, but it comes under the firearms act.

They have a bad rep though,
usual reason, tabloid hype!
Stories about gob****es, shooting cats called tabby that belonged to frail white haired old ladys, or ducks on ponds that were being fed everyday by children.
re-action=ban/restrict the inanimate object.
Send the afor mentioned gob****es for counseling,
blame society for their personal issues,
not the poor disfunctional gob****es.

Result= genuine minority sports people get demonised.

Gob****es find other means to demonstrate how society has failed them joyriding,drug dealing,joining the progressive democrats.:D

Dvs.

Clare gunner

More like,Garda up in Dublin got shot in leg with one during bank raid in 1990 or so story goes with a "meat skewer" fired from a pistol model crossbow.Must have been point blank to be hit and injured with such a toy.Immediate panic in media and politicans,notably Ray Burke and O Dea .What comes of it ?offensive weapons act 1992.Banning alot of street weapons,like throwing stars,nunchuks,etc,giving us the NVD and silencer fiasco and liscensing to wit an archery device,and making Ireland the laughing stock of the world yet again.Folks in Europe when hearing this,were wondering did our bank robbers get dressed up as Whillhelm Tell and shoot apples of the held up bank staff heads for an encore??

Anyway, liscense costs as much as a rifle,so why not get a more effective weapon in the first place?Crossbows are a major PITA to use[had one for 10 years before the liscensing].They are inaccurate beyond belif, [yes,I know there are match crossbows,but they are shot like indoor air rifle matches at 10/20 meters]even when scoped.In the end I just used "kentucky windage" to hit the target.The strings wear out maddeningly fast,and they require more practise than a rifle.
The bolts cost even then a small fortune,that would get you a brick of 22 ammo.They are useless if they get even the slightest damage to the bolt or get bent out of shape.
Forget small game hunting with them,the loss of a bolt does not justify a rabbit.You need to hunt big game like a deer for it to be worthwhile,and since that is illegal here as well as fishing with them,you have an expensive toy that isnt worth much use for anything in Ireland.A decent compund bow will set you back appx 400/500 Euros,and that would get you two good 2nd hand .22 rifles and 200 rounds of ammo apiece.Hence they are not very common anymore in Ireland,somthing like 25 registerd?

Degsy

I was just wondering because they seem to have disspeared completley.My friend and i had a barnet wildcat and we got sick of it after about a week,the constant hauling back on the string would tire you out in ten minutes,the bloody thing never hit anything beyond a bout five feet and we used to allways lose the bolts.As far as i know he's still ot it up in the attic somewher gathering dust(illegally)!!

Clare gunner

Might as well leave it there.He wont get ammo[bolts] for it anymore,and DIY bolts are a waste of time.So leave it there.Wonder how many other crossbows are in a simmilar state around Ireland?