McGrath, you're not as right as you might like to think you are! And I'm a pretty good shot with a longbow... ;)

And as for Guest, in case you hadn't noticed, the world has changed a bit in the last 750-odd years. Ed III's edict (thank you for that - it was being discussed in another thread & I couldn't remember the date!) had absolutely bugger all to do with crime or personal protection. I really can't be bothered to argue in detail, because gun threads are always polarized 'twixt gun nuts & gun haters so it makes 'discussion a bit pointless, but your quote of a 14thC Law is asinine & irrelevant. Your understanding of 14thC life is equally limited & puerile ("The Longbow being the equivalent of a personal firearm in 1369" - {rollseyes} no, not at all!).