Archery Laws in uk

[Robinhood1958]

Can anyone please tell me the law as regarding where i can and cannot practice my archery target shooting in the uk, im not a member of an archery club, 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?, I rang the police , but they told me that they didnt know the law on that, and there may be an old medieval law that permits me to shoot in certain areas.

[Macbow]

If it is private land and you have permission you're OK to do archery but let common sense prevail as regards to safety. Anywhere the public may feel their safety is being threatened you could be told by the police to stop.

[jojo]

A lot of the rules will ultimematly come down to insurance, if you hit someone then you will be sued if not go to jail. Im not sure about the other governing bodies but GNAS will have basic rules that say for example you must comply with the basic setup for an archery range which off the top of my head is 25mtrs each side of the target and Im not sure of the distance behind the target but it is extensive, in addition GNAS will insist that there be at least two GNAS members on this range for it to be covered under the GNAS insurance policy.

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. So with regard to shooting on public or private premises you would obviously need permission from the owner and proof of liability insurance. (GNAS i think covers for up to 2 Million liability insurance it may be more)

But please dont quote me on the above, you must check it out completly to cover yourself. And you should be aware that in the UK no one in archery will thank you if you cause injury to anyone, its the very last thing we need in our sport.

Best thing to do is go join a club as they will have all this sorted.

Originally Posted by Robinhood1958

Can anyone please tell me the law as regarding where i can and cannot practice my archery target shooting in the uk, im not a member of an archery club, 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?, I rang the police , but they told me that they didnt know the law on that, and there may be an old medieval law that permits me to shoot in certain areas.

[Murray]

A police representative said they don't know the law?? nice....

It's difficult to shoot on your own and stay within GNAS rules. There are other organisations who would insure you (but the question might be, would they support you if it all went pearshaped?).

There may also be local byelaws which you should check out which might prevent your use of some areas.

As above, best to find a club then you don't need to worry.

[Watch_Man]

Air guns cannot be fired within 15m of a public place when shooting on private land if it could cause a danger to the public. I wonder if plod would look at the airgun law and use it as a guidline for archery???

[Robinhood1958]

When i asked the police , they said although not certain, it may be the same as the air gun laws

robinhood1958, if you were to give us some idea of your location, not exact but county i am sure there is enough members on here that will point you in the right direction of the nearest archery club close to you, weather it is

nfas, efaa<<<<<field archery clubs or gnas>> target archery,

[Robin the Hood]

Apparantly, theres still the old Law in Chester that allows you to shoot a Welshman with a Bow and Arrow at 9 o'clock within the City walls.
Not that I hate any Welshman!
......
I see a Hit List coming

[Raphe]

Originally Posted by jojo

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.

I've always wondered about this one - I can see it applies pretty readily to a compound bow, but what about the others where "some assembly is required".

Can I take out a riser legally (it's just a chunk of metal - though presumably I could club you with it)? How about the riser with limbs attached but no string? How about a strung bow but no arrows?

I've also heard it said that you can only legally transport a bow if you are travelling to or from an 'official' archery event (club night/tournament/(shop visit?)) - anyone got any comment on that, since I'm not sure it sounds like good enforcable law...

My assumption is that the police have some latitude in interpretation, and they would look for some kind of intimidation resulting from the transport/display of a bow before acting... but assumptions and laws dont mix.

If only there was a fully researched GNAS guidance paper on the subject... (and there's a question: would GNAS insurance cover legal expenses incurred in defending a case arising from the transport or display of a bow outside the GNAS-ratified shooting field?)

Random thoughts...

[Beardy]

Re: the bow is an offencive weapon.
Possibly, but...
Eldest Nephew is a member of the peelers down in old london town and his comments about were (we were talking about knives) that any knife _could_ be considered an offencive weapon, but possesion is not the main issue, it's intent. So if you are carrying a bow to or from a club then no worries, but if they (the police) believe that you are on your way to kill a welshman not in Chester, then you have intent so you up a creek with a propulsion implement. As with most things it depends how you talk to teh occiffer concerned and what sort of mood his wife was in if you were to get stopped with an assembled bow in full site. He can cause you lots of inconvenience even before the laws are looked at by teh CPS.