Firearms are much older than compound bows also.
I have no problem with crossbows. I just have a problem with them being put into the wrong season. Call them what you want, they are not "bows". Some ancient models were designed to hurl rocks instead of bolts. You can fire an arrow with a slingshot (there's a bowfishing rig designed to use a slingshot to fire the arrow), you can fire an arrow with a converted rifle, you can hurl an arrow (dart) with an atlatl--that doesn't make any of these devices a "bow".
IMO, crossbows belong in the "primitive weapons" season, not the bow season.