can you legally own a crossbow in the uk
Laws on crossbows No licence or registration is required to own a crossbow in the United Kingdom. Under the Crossbows Act 1987, crossbows cannot be bought or sold in England, Wales or Scotland by or to those under 18. Possession is also prohibited by those under 18 years old except under adult supervision. The act states that crossbows may be used by persons under 18 years of age only when supervised by a person aged 21 years old or over.[5] Similar prohibitions for Northern Ireland are made in the Crossbows (Northern Ireland) Order 1988. Section 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prevents their use for hunting birds. In Scotland, section 50 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 [6] makes it illegal to be drunk in a public place in possession of a crossbow.
English longbow The earliest longbow known from England, found at Ashcott Heath, Somerset, is dated to 2665 BC,[1] but no longbows survive from the period when the longbow was dominant (c. 1250â€“1450 AD),[2] probably because bows became weaker, broke and were replaced, rather than being handed down through generations.[3] More than 130 bows survive from the Renaissance period, however. More than 3,500 arrows and 137 whole longbows were recovered from the Mary Rose, a ship of Henry VIII's navy that sank at Portsmouth in 1545.