Crossbows

Turning America Back Into A Nation Of...

Whose idea was it to allow these military style weapons to be used in hunting? American unilateralism knows no bounds, it appears. Don't people know that these are internationally banned weapons?

In 1097, Pope Urban II outlawed the use of the crossbow. Four decades later, Pope Innocent II convened a Lateran Council with nearly 1,000 prelates. They forbade "under penalty of anathema" not just the use of crossbows, "the dastard's weapon," but the entire "deadly and God-detested art of slingers and archers." You could get a waiver if you were on a crusade, but that's a different conversation.

Of course, it wasn't just the Catholic Church. Conrad III, the Holy Roman Emperor... banned the use of the crossbow in his army and his realm.

Not only that, they have also been banned by some of our more forward looking states, such as Maine. Oddly, though, their reasons seem to be anti-noble, rather than anti-peasant:

The taboo carried over into modern times. In American Colonial days into the 19th century, crossbows were associated with European nobility and spurned, said Ottie Snyder, a cofounder of the American Crossbow Federation.

In Maine, crossbows were banned for hunting in 1856, but have remained legal to own.

Well, no matter. Maine just passed a law letting people use them again. And so did New Hampshire. And Pennsylvania, last year. Vermont (of course) already permitted them. Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island in New England have provisions allowing for their use, but only by citizens who are not capable of using traditional bows.

Given the sudden, practical attempt to enforce the long-theoretical "states-rights" interpretation of the Second Amendment among another of the solid Blue states, it will be interesting to see where this goes. Might we soon have Blue State militias, armed primarily with crossbows? There is something to be said for the concept, surely.

Hat tip NRA-ILA.