"Mark D. Fulwiler" wrote:
> "Michael S. Lorrey" wrote:
> > Subject: Re: Guns
> >
> > That more people are
> > not killed with bow and arrow I think is a testament to how stupid most
> > criminals are.
>
> But aren't bows and arrows rather bulky to carry around and hard to
> conceal? This would seem to make them much less appealling than guns for
> criminals. Also, someone could easily shoot you with a gun by the time
> you set up your bow shot. Many criminals are indeed idiots, but not all,
> so I would be willing to bet there are good practical reasons why arrows
> are rarely used these days. It would make a good topic for a research
> paper anyway.
While most bows, even of the compund type, are bulky, they are no more so than a rifle. There are small folding pistol sized crossbows which are easily concealed. I think that the main reasons criminals do not use such weapons is because a) they are opportunists, they take opportunities to commit crimes as they present themselves. Very few crimes are plotted out and planned in detail, and those are the types which are typically gotten away with, because they minimize witnesses and dispose of evidence. b) criminals are not patient. Very few criminals have the patience to stalk their victims for extended periods (stalkers are of course the exception), c) while a bow gives the advantages of silence, a home-made silencer for a pistol can be made with a plastic motor oil container stuffed with toilet paper, d) the lack of regulatory paperwork needed to obtain bows is countered by the criminals willingness to purchase guns on the black market.
Despite this, I still see a bow as having advantages, not the least being that if caught, you are likely to serve a lesser sentence for a crime done with a bow rather than a firearm, as well as the fact that kevlar body armor is useless against a hunting arrow, which may become an important factor if body armor becomes popular for civilians now that it is legal for them to purchase it. I'm not sure of the penetrability of kevlar/titanium layered body armor, but that is not yet available for civilian use.