chris is too smart for most people. i have always liked his work.

"Do you suppose they had 'Bow Control' back in feudal Europe?"

Yes, they did. However, it mostly was a manifestation of the regional leader (duke, earle, prince, whatever) 's paranoia.

1. A long bow is not a practical weapon for a mugging. Too hard to shift the aiming point, and if you think about it, easier to defeat the closer the target is.

2. Who has the time? Living on the edge of starvation most of the time leaves no time for parctice, and those puppies took a lot of practice.

3. Every idiot had at least 2 knives.

4. Too dangerous. The kings bowmen could put a shaft through a 1" thick solid oak door at 100 yards, and put 3 hits in a 1 foot circle. Those guys were mutants, on about the same scale as an NFL linebacker. They practiced 6-8 hours a day, every day. Anyone thinking about freelancing with a bow was met with overwhelming force. In today's terms, think about the biggest gun you could possibly have being a 22, and every policeman in the city is an ex-army-ranger carrying a 9 mil, an Uzi, and an M-16 all the time. Gives one pause.

ak