Archery Laws in uk

cestria

Member
Fonz Awardee
- join a club and get the use of a recognised shooting ground as well as GNAS insurance, and let the current relaxed situation continue.QUOTE]


Well said.


I suppose it depends on a club's circumtances but club fees do seem to vary a lot. We pay ?60 to the club and ?3/week shooting fees+ GNAS fees but still feel that this is great value for money.(but it can be expensive if there is more than one member of the family in the club)
 

gilf

New member
We only pay ?30 a year where we shoot, literally just outside of London and I think that has gone up from where we used to shoot which was ?15 a year.
 

mk1

It's an X
Supporter
, but have my own equipment, i thought as i'm a member of an ordinary sports and social club , that i may be able to use thier own fields, is this legal?
Having permission to use a piece of land is the first step. After that, though you are not a member of GNAS its rules are designed to ensure you and the public are protected while shooting and are therefore very worth following.

GNAS Rules say that for distances up to 60 Yards/metres, the MINIMUM length of field is 110 yards (for recurve).
Beyond 60 yards, add 50 yards to the shooting distance. For compound, the minimum range is 150 yards.

You also need at least 20 metres on either side of your target. Of course if there is no danger someone will come within those distances while you are shooting. e.g. you've got a brickwall or a field of corn you can have a shorter distance but of course its easier to find stray arrows on a mown field than in a corn field. You can download the GNAS Rules from their website.

If the public have access to the field you may need to rope yourselves off and you should at least have some strategically placed warning signs.

You should also have a metal detector to hand as I suspect the groundsmen will not be happy at you leaving stray arrows and they can bury themselves. If other sports use the field its vital to find lost arrows. I remember one club I visited was threatened with a law suit as a rugby player had found a stray arrow the hard way, the Club had a counter suit going as one of their members had got a rugby boot stud in the hand!

Of course if someone complains about you being there, and you would be surprised - someone once called the police out to a big tournament I was at and the police had to investigate - bosses all in a row, judges in green jackets and ironed white trousers and we were "playing in the park with bows and arrows" - it helps to know what you are doing.

You could always start a Club . . .:stirthepo
 

Rik

Supporter
Supporter
I also understand it to be that if you take your bow out of the bag in a public place then you can be arrested as the bow is an offensive weapon.
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.
 

Peter Galbavy

New member
Let's face it. Without wanting to get political, once upon a time English law basically said "if it isn't explicitly prohibited, then it is allowed." Now, with fear as the primary tool of state control, that has reversed to "If it isn't explicitly allowed, then it is prohibited."

OP: You will never get a real legal opinion without paying a professional legal person (solicitor, lawyer, whatever) - who has their own insurance to protect us and them - to give you one. If you really want to be independent of GNAS and that whole infrastructure, then you should certainly do this.
 
J

jojo

Guest
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.
 

danda

Member
Club. Definitely the way to go.

Equipment when starting, advice from people who know when you feel the urge to unleash the plastic. Proper insurance cover. (Imagine missing the boss, carrying over the wall and through a coach carrying the American* Personal Injury Litigators Society on a visit to see Buckingham Palace, which is just along the road from The Cavern.

Most important of all, proper coaching and initial training, so that you don't develop any bad habits, and get some idea of etiquette.

Most sports, etiquette means a snobby exclusivity. Archery, the way you conduct yourself with other people around is, to a great extent, dictated by safety, not to say commonsense, considerations.




*nothing against Americans, just picked because the suing would be in a different league...
 

Ambermile

New member
Feeling wicked here, but surely the Second Archery Law of 1363 by Edward III is technically still in effect?

I realise that in practise one would be hard-pushed to use it as a defence but surely if a law is still on the statute book...



Arthur
 

Lord_Azrael

New member
Is that the one declaring that archery should still be practiced by all able bodied men, including in the streets?
If so, I believe this was actually repealed back in the 1970's after some students found it was still valid and decided to do exactly that, in the street!

The laws of the country are so ridiculous in the extent that they are created and forgotten about, and therefore so many things start falling into 'grey areas' where in one area you'd probably be ignored and in another you'd get locked up. The laws are generally interpretted by the individuals in a lot of cases and therefore the best law is common sense!

And if you think ours are bad, you should see some of the American ones!!!........
 

Ambermile

New member
Yup - but only at targets greater than 120 yards!!!

And I agree, there are some odd/old laws (buying bibles on Sundays comes to mind) but the point was that despite this fact (that they are around and technically valid) they can be superceded by more recent laws.

* It is illegal to be drunk on Licensed Premises (in a pub or bar).
* It is illegal for a lady to eat chocolates on a public conveyance.
* In Chester, you can only shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside the city walls and after midnight.
* In Hereford, you may not shoot a Welsh person on Sunday with a longbow in the Cathedral Close.
* In York:, excluding Sundays, it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow.

Actually, the one we are thinking about was *probably* repealed in the 60's...

Archery Laws of England

A more worrying thing is that archery/bows may be beginning to be thought of along the same lines (and in the same sentence) as firearms...



Arthur
 

General_Lee

New member
Fonz Awardee
With regards "bows as offensive weapons" some little scrote broke into my car outside my house and stole among other things my scope and my bow.
Being concerned about the fact someone who would break into a car on a busy a road was now armed with my bow i went to the police. the cops said "hmm, not a lot we can do about that." and returned to a mug of tea and the sun.
Robinhood, you'd be much better to join a club. not only do you get the safety and cover of a NGB, you also get lots of freindly advice and suport from your fellow members
 

mk1

It's an X
Supporter
Excellent link, and I belive there was a thread earlier in the year for people concerned about transporting their equipment. Lets face it many of us get the bus to clubs etc and travel by plane and train, shoot on school and sport centre fields without any legal prosecutions for holding "offensive" weapons.

Am I going to get stopped by the police for exiting John Lewis with a set of kitchen carving knives secreted in a carrier bag - I so DON'T think so.

Common sense please. A club mate of mine travelled home by bus with his recurve strung and popped across to the chippy opposite his flat got stopped by a police and questioned and told to beat it out of sight as the football stadium down the road was spilling out. Daft chump should have gone to his flat first and not been so stupid.
 

masapwood

New member
A sports and social club manager told me if we become members for ?20 yearly , we can use the field they own at the back, archery clubs i have looked into , want ?120, yearly, big difference, as my wife would need to pay that too, as we shoot together.
By the way we live in Gloucestershire.
Robinhood1958, I shoot at a club just north of Bristol (not too far for you) ?20 pa, ?10 joining fee, Shoot 365 days a year & the odd night time shoot also, after that all it will cost you is a bit of graft every now & again to keep the club tidy (& we have a club house, with a fire, come warm ya pasty's) reduced rates if you live 25 miles or more from club & reduced rates for family membership. 36 field targets, lot's of nice & very good archers.
 
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