On Friday, June 04, 1999 8:21 AM, Michael S. Lorrey [SMTP:mike@lorrey.com]
wrote:
> 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.
Bows take a lot more work to use than guns, require more skill to use, and have a much lower rate of fire. The psychological element is also important - a victim is much more afraid of a pistol than of a hunting bow.
Besides, criminals rarely use rifles. Usually they want pistols, which have a combination of concealability and short-range lethality that no muscle-powered weapon can match.
> 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.
Kevlar cloth is less effective against arrows than against bullets, because a projectile with a sharp point can cut through the fabric. This is not the same thing as 'useles', however. If your arrow is less than razor sharp it will be stopped easily, and your heavier sorts of body armor have so many layers that an arrow isn't likely to penetrate them all anyway.
Any modern form of rigid armor is pretty much immune to arrows. They just can't concentrate energy well enough to punch through modern materials.
Billy Brown
ewbrownv@mindspring.com