Fairy enough, but what if you cant proove that your in some shape or form afiliated to an Archery body, then the cards are stacked against you. yes.
Up here in bonny Scotland its something like a ?2000 fine and possible jail time if you hunt anything including a blinkin rabbit.
Some years ago a member of the club I was in wasnt satisfied with shooting once a week and went to a local graveyard to shoot his bow (you cant kill anyone) however the police caught him via a complaint and altho we didnt know what the inquiry/outcome was, he was certainly dragged down to the cop shop for more questions, so even a GNAS card aint any protection.
I think my point is and Robinhood has discovered this already is that the cops dont really know, but if a complaint lands on their table then they will act using other laws.
Peter makes a good point that to be completly solid you should seek a professional advice via a solicistor, however one of the issues here was ?120 at the local club, by the time you have legalised yourself you may be paying ten times that just to get yourself started.
Its easy to say lets go and start our own club, however Why is the local club paying ?120, do they have the best premices in the area, is it a good idea long term to be setting up another club where there is one already, personally this idea could go oh so very pearshaped in a short space of time.
To Robinhood away and join the club because ultimatly your saving yourself a lot of hassle long term.
Afaik, an item is only an offensive weapon if someone intends to use it as such... A bow (strung or unstrung) isn't necessarily "an offensive weapon".
On the other hand if you walk up to someone intending to hit them with your riser, then you're definitely carrying an "offensive weapon"...
That's neither here not there when it comes to how the police would react though. Walking around with a strung bow in a public place may well result in the arrival of firearms officers... And that's without considering how the "knife" laws might relate to pointy objects like arrows.