I am given to understand that wrist braces are illegal in some countries and US states. Has anybody ever heard the governments reasons for this. This thread is NOT about the merits of wrist braces.
frosty2
frosty2
Wrist braces illegal
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Since when does the government need a rational reason for passing a law?
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Generally speaking, during the sixties and seventies the power of the wristrocket was exagerated, while the non wristbrace slingshot were treated as toys, add to that a lot of morons commiting vandalism and presto, wristbrace slingshots are weapons, non-wristbrace are toys, ban the weapons not the toys...My worry is now that the ridiculusness of that is known and just how powerful non-wristbrace slingshots is being broadcast on the internet it wont be long before non-wristbrace slingshots become resticted as well.
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It is hard to legislate around slingshots. No doubt there was some media outcry against someone shooting something or someone with a slingshot and the legislature realised they can't differentiate powerful slingshots based on kinetic energy because that depends on lots of factors like whether the original bands were used, the weight of the projectile, length of draw, the ambient temperature and humidity and possibly even the release technique. Rather than set up a climate controlled testing lab dedicated to slingshots, it's a lot lazier to legislate on design features. The wrist brace is a feature that enables the shooting of stronger bands so that was banned.
Of course when the legislation was enacted they probably didn't count on people to invent slinghots with better rubber, flatbands, butterfly bands, low forks, back of hand braces or have sufficient strength to make wrist braces moot and then certainly didn't expect the information to spread at the speed of a viral video of a homemade toy destroying human body analogues. I imagine those countries will eventually cotton on and level a complete ban.
This is no criticism of Jörg and I remain a big fan of him and his channel and I don't think that alone will make much of a difference to legislation. There's so much easily accessible information out there and the German slingshot scene remains so vibrant that it's probably just a small factor.
Of course when the legislation was enacted they probably didn't count on people to invent slinghots with better rubber, flatbands, butterfly bands, low forks, back of hand braces or have sufficient strength to make wrist braces moot and then certainly didn't expect the information to spread at the speed of a viral video of a homemade toy destroying human body analogues. I imagine those countries will eventually cotton on and level a complete ban.
This is no criticism of Jörg and I remain a big fan of him and his channel and I don't think that alone will make much of a difference to legislation. There's so much easily accessible information out there and the German slingshot scene remains so vibrant that it's probably just a small factor.
Well, the ban came when news magazines wrote about demonstrants shooting with braced slingshots against armored police squads and the cops were very much afraid. Nobody got hurt, but they broke some equipment, like helmet vizors and so on.
This was an embarrasment to the government so they banned the wrist braces. Banning slingshots would have upset the general population as almost every German boy had a slingshot at some point. Gun laws only work when the majority of voters are not affected, everybody hates loosing something. It is OK if some weirdos loose their toys, though.
The government wants one thing more than anything else: To be reelected. They do not act if acting means loosing, not winning votes.
I have said it several times now and i say it again: My videos won't change a thing. But if some a.....e commits crimes with a slingshot and the press picks that up, then they will react.
But I would expect that they would prohibit carrying and shooting a slingshot in public, while owning one and shooting it within your fenced premises would still be OK. They have done that with other weapons already.
This was an embarrasment to the government so they banned the wrist braces. Banning slingshots would have upset the general population as almost every German boy had a slingshot at some point. Gun laws only work when the majority of voters are not affected, everybody hates loosing something. It is OK if some weirdos loose their toys, though.
The government wants one thing more than anything else: To be reelected. They do not act if acting means loosing, not winning votes.
I have said it several times now and i say it again: My videos won't change a thing. But if some a.....e commits crimes with a slingshot and the press picks that up, then they will react.
But I would expect that they would prohibit carrying and shooting a slingshot in public, while owning one and shooting it within your fenced premises would still be OK. They have done that with other weapons already.
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It is simply asinine. To think someone can own a compound bow and even a compound crossbow and even a handgun!!!!!!!!!! but not own a wrist braced slingshot. I am glad I live in the great state of New Hampshire where these are legal. You can make a sling-x bow, but you cannot shoot a wrist braced sling? Lawmakers need to re-evaluate the situation.
I am sick of big government trying to dictate where and when I take a piss. Sorry to get political but it pisses me off.
I am sick of big government trying to dictate where and when I take a piss. Sorry to get political but it pisses me off.
Dead on, RecurveMaster.
Remember: You are not responsible for the state the world is in. But you are responsible if it stays that way.
If everybody who feels that way would stand up and fight, then there would be no such ridiculous situation. In the US, the NRA and other groups do a pretty good job, that is partly the reason for the better situation the US is in. But here in Germany, there is no lobby. People stay quite in fear that standing up for their rights may make things worse.
Jörg
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In France, you can own any type of slingshots, but you can't go out with them.
To be more precise, you can't go out with a "competition slingshot". But the definition of "competition slingshot" is not given.
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The law was taken during seventies, as slingshot were involved in riots.
By chance, news media are more concerned by shotguns shot against police force nowadays, by far more sensational...
Sure a wooden fork is considered as a toy, and a slingshot equiped with butterfly bands will be considered completely inofensive by those who never heard about that style.
Another thing is that not many young people use slingshots in our developped countries, they are more concerned by PS3 or X-Box. Look at this forum, not many kids.
As a kid, i made some bad things with my wrist rocket, but i was a kid...
To be more precise, you can't go out with a "competition slingshot". But the definition of "competition slingshot" is not given.
The law was taken during seventies, as slingshot were involved in riots.
By chance, news media are more concerned by shotguns shot against police force nowadays, by far more sensational...
Sure a wooden fork is considered as a toy, and a slingshot equiped with butterfly bands will be considered completely inofensive by those who never heard about that style.
Another thing is that not many young people use slingshots in our developped countries, they are more concerned by PS3 or X-Box. Look at this forum, not many kids.
As a kid, i made some bad things with my wrist rocket, but i was a kid...
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Dead on, RecurveMaster.
Remember: You are not responsible for the state the world is in. But you are responsible if it stays that way.
If everybody who feels that way would stand up and fight, then there would be no such ridiculous situation. In the US, the NRA and other groups do a pretty good job, that is partly the reason for the better situation the US is in. But here in Germany, there is no lobby. People stay quite in fear that standing up for their rights may make things worse.
Jörg
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Jörg, this is a shortcut i take, but taking the NRA as an example is not appropriate to our activity. Guns business represent a lot of money, not slingshots. And i think that US beeing in better situation, well, it is only an opinion
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That post fills me with hope, Joseph. You're right. Most kids of the age that would cause a nusiance are not interested in slingshots as much as we were when we were young.
I'm still concerned that adults intent on civil unrest may pick slingshots as a symbol or a tool and bring down the wrath of the legislature upon us, but after that they shall have to ban cobblestones and scaffolding.
I'm still concerned that adults intent on civil unrest may pick slingshots as a symbol or a tool and bring down the wrath of the legislature upon us, but after that they shall have to ban cobblestones and scaffolding.
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So, Joerg, you think the NRA is making America a better place, huh? Wish you could come and live in one of our big cities.
Some apparently lack understanding creating a law when infact they ought to encourage wrist braces since it limits the shooter to mostly not hitting the target. They are cumbersome and are not easily concealed and they make you shoot from bad to worse. In my opinion .
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Hmmmm, Joseph, what countries do you consider developed? -- Tex
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Those where you have more chances to find a Mc Donald, a bank or a telecom dealer than to find a good baker or a good butcher, and where all efforts are done to hide the increasing pauvertyHmmmm, Joseph, what countries do you consider developed? -- Tex![]()
I live in one of them, maybe not the worst, but not to be proud of these days...
Is my answer correct Tex?
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That is a pretty good answer I guess. I just wanted to be sure that I did not live in a non-developed country Joseph. -- Tex
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This perplexed me also, until I realised that the people who bring in this bullsh!t bureaucracy actually know nothing of what they are supposedly 'controlling'; take for example the fact that here in the UK if I want to buy an air rifle which outputs 12.01 ft/lb of muzzle energy I need to apply for a Firearms Certificate as said air rifle would constitute a Section 1 Firearm yet you could buy a tactical hunting crossbow producing >150 ft/lb and it doesn't require any registration whatsoever.
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Oh and don't even get me started on our pistol laws!
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Our own pistol shooting Olympic team can't even legally train in the [email protected] country they're supposed to be representing - imagine how disenfranchised they must feel!
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...Oh I can't recall any cases of anyone going on a shooting spree with an Olympic target pistol!
Oh and don't even get me started on our pistol laws!
...Oh I can't recall any cases of anyone going on a shooting spree with an Olympic target pistol!
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PS: Gun crime is ubiquitous in London, with shootings every other day, illegally owned pistols (which are abundant and very affordable,) constitute the weapons used for >99% of these shootings.
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It wasn't the Pope, it was one of his subordinates and the statement that guy made was really ignorant...
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Not yet Tex, but they are working on it...
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