Nice try, Guest, but:

"...the Crossbow became the assault rifle of its day (requiring less training to use than the Longbow)..."

You were directly comparing C/bows with L/bows. Going back to a BC Chinese weapon (& yes I did know vaguely about it, though I couldn't have given you a date) doesn't wash. You were talking about medieval times, not 200BC. Unless you know better, I certainly don't know of any medieval equivalent to this weapon!

Of course the 210BC crossbow is approximately analogous to an AK47, I'll concede that, but if you really were thinking about that weapon when you made the original quote that I picked you up on, you needed to have explained yourself a LOT better in the first place!

Incidentally, any idea what the evidence for poison on the bolts is? Only I'm inclined to think that excrement was perhaps more likely to have been used, being rather more readily available, & probably as effective (over the course of a few days). Nasty, but true...

As to the Assize of Arms, again, so what? You are again quoting an entirely military law that has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on a modern debate about the accessibility of arms to ordinary people (i.e. civilians). If I can find time, I might do a more detailed explanation of this point, but I did say I was going to try not to get involved in yet another argument about guns! ;)