HuntingNet.com Forums - Crossbow=NOT a gun

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ORIGINAL: bigcountry

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ORIGINAL: Catsclaw

AH HA!!!!!

So I AM on to something here!! :D

Not really. I hang around cause I enjoy hearing what Dnk has to say. But as a person on the outside I suggest another argument. When people say its like a gun, they mean, you don't have to draw it.And you know that they know that you know what they mean. The people who makes that argument know what they mean, and if you try to morph it into a mechanical engineering class, you really lose your point and sound not too smart.

This is not gospel but a guy outside looking in. A more convincing argument is history. Another is the one shot both have. Stay away from obvious's and negatives and amplify the positives. It works in politics.

I have had the opportunity to see arguments on both sides here in MD at the state house. I am just saying what works in my mind.

Right. I'm kind ofon the same page here.
Nothing against them personally, thinking of gettig one for my Father for X-mass in fact.

Better to focus on the similarites of bow and xbow. The same nature of the projectile and the limits it imposes in terminal effect, range, power and accuracy. (yes, xbows shoot higher poundages, faster, tech more accurate than traditionally fired bows.They are still no where near the same power and accuacy as available in firearms, so why make such a point of their "better than a bow" stats.:eek:Doing thatonly hindersyour agrument that they are not a "gun".)

But when someone says "like a gun" they don't mean the similarities of the mechanics of how a trigger works, etc, but rather that they see bothas a "point and shoot" weapon. Not just a similar profile but that they both store and hold their energy for use at a later time and independent of the physical restraints of the shooter,just one is chemical and the other mechanical, while a bow requires the archer to draw and hold that energy with consious effort at the time of the shot. In their thinking, anyone can load a xbow (especially with modern cocking devices), walk around, then shot it some time later. Add the visual of scopes and just picking it up and sqeezing the trigger and they have it set in their mind. Again, better to focus on the similarities to a "regular" bow and arrow to make your point.

Also, the though of"gun" has only little to do with what or howit fires. The argument about hammers, fireing pins, etc is not good either since they are not exclusive or defining of a gun anyway.
After all, "guns" can fire bullets by chemical combustion (gun powder), or via compressed gas (air guns,CO2 and nitrogen) a hybrid like some experiments with combustable gases (propane, etc) or even the experimantal rocket guns from the 50s. And air doesn't mean just your Daisy or Red Rider but includes the big bore air rifles, from modern45 & 50 cal, to the ones made in the early 1800s, like the one taken with Lewis & Clarke. And there have been experiments and use of "arrow-like" projectiles in many firearms also.