Call for evidence outcome

Controls on the use of crossbows on public safety grounds: government response

Updated 19 March 2026

1. Introduction

1.1. This document provides a summary of the responses to the call for evidence paper ‘Controls on the use of crossbows on public safety grounds’, published by the Home Office on 14 February 2024 which ran until 9 April 2024.

1.2. It covers:

• the background to the call for evidence
• the next steps following this call for evidence, and
• a summary of the call for evidence responses

2. Background

2.1. The previous government published a call for evidence paper on 14 February 2024 to seek information and evidence about whether further controls on crossbows should be introduced to help minimise the risk to public safety from individuals who would misuse crossbows and use them to commit criminal offences.

Context

2.2. The current statutory controls on crossbows are based on age restrictions, and with additional controls preventing crossbows being used in hunting animals. There is no licensing (or registration) scheme in place for anyone wishing to purchase and own a crossbow. The lack of comprehensive controls on the sale, possession and use of crossbows can be contrasted with the licensing system governing the use of firearms, which is based on significant checks on the suitability of someone holding a firearm. There are also very serious offences and penalties for having an unlicensed firearm. This call for evidence, instigated by the previous government, was therefore interested in interrogating that discrepancy and receiving evidence as to whether there should be some form of licensing scheme that would provide controls on the use, ownership and supply of crossbows.

2.3. The previous government did not propose in the call for evidence paper what such a licensing scheme might look like but set out three potential different approaches. If some form of licensing scheme did come into force, then, depending on the parameters of the scheme, it would be unlawful to own, supply or purchase a crossbow without the relevant authority. This would also apply to crossbows already owned by an individual. The government must therefore ensure that any new controls are proportionate to the public safety risks involved with the sale and possession of crossbows.

2.4. The three potential options outlined in the previous government’s call for evidence were:

a) Licensing of sellers and suppliers. This would make it a requirement for sellers, suppliers and importers to have a licence from the police in order to sell crossbows and bolts. Obtaining a licence would be subject to police approval. Sellers would be required to keep a record of buyers, including name, date of birth, address and purpose of the purchase and this information should be shared with the police on request. Breach of the licence conditions by the seller / supplier would include a financial penalty and / or withdrawal of the licence.

b) Licensing of sellers and buyers without police checks. This approach would make it a requirement for those who wish to purchase and possess crossbows to register and obtain a licence. Granting of the licence by the police could be automatic on paying a fee but the police would have the authority to refuse in certain circumstances.

c) Registration of sellers and buyers following police checks. This approach would be similar to option b) above, but the police would undertake suitability checks on sellers and buyers before they registered and granted the licence.

2.5. The call for evidence paper also looked at whether additional measures might be required for the sale and possession of broadhead arrows. Although it is unlawful to hunt with a bow or crossbow, it is lawful to sell or possess broadhead arrows or bolts. Broadheads are, primarily, used for hunting and have no purpose in target shooting. The paper therefore sought views and any supporting evidence on whether or not broadhead arrows should be prohibited.

2.6. The previous government did not have a view on the options above, and the purpose of the call for evidence was to get views and evidence about whether such changes were needed.

Responses to the call for evidence and next steps

2.7. The call for evidence ran for eight weeks. A total of 2,960 valid responses to the call for evidence were received, whether by completing the online survey, or by sending responses to the Home Office by email. We are grateful to all those who responded, and we appreciate the time taken by a wide range of individuals, bodies and groups to provide their views.

2.8. Respondents were given the opportunity to provide additional comments or evidence.  Every comment that was made in response to the call for evidence was read by officials in the Home Office in order to ensure that everybody’s views were considered before this response to the call for evidence was published.

2.9. There were a large number of comments suggesting that further controls were not required in relation to either crossbows or broadhead arrows, stating that these were used safely in pursuits that were enjoyed by many. In addition, there were many comments made about the number of incidents involving crossbows being low and questioning why further controls might be necessary. There were also supporting views, in particular from family and friends of victims, that there should be more controls than at present. We are also grateful to all who responded with additional information on crossbows and broadhead arrows.

2.10. Public safety is a government priority. The government is concerned how easily that these weapons can currently be purchased and the use of these weapons in the murders in Bushey on 9 July 2024, and the attacks by crossbow in Headingley on 26 April 2025, and in other cases where crossbows have been used to commit murders and other serious criminal offences, have highlighted that further controls on crossbows are required.

2.1 1. The government will, therefore, introduce further restrictions on crossbows through introducing a licensing scheme for existing crossbow owners, and we will consult on the details of the licensing scheme. In addition, the government will also prohibit the sale of crossbows. We will consult on how best such a ban might be achieved, and will set out more detail in the consultation, but we would anticipate that existing crossbow owners will be able to keep their crossbow provided they apply for a licence and pass the necessary suitability checks that a licensing scheme would require. We also plan to prohibit broadhead arrows as discussed in the call for evidence.

2.12. Responses to the call for evidence showed that the majority of crossbows purchased by respondents identified as owners were bought online. Whilst face to face sales enable sellers to carry out any required age verification at the point of sale we want to ensure that purchases made online are subject to robust checks. The government has, therefore, brought forward measures in the Crime and Policing Bill to update the law on online sales of crossbows by requiring stronger age verification checks at point of sale and point of delivery.

3. Summary of the call for evidence responses

3.1. The Home Office received 2,902 completed online responses before the 9th April deadline.  71 responses were received via email before 9th April deadline. 12 were online responses either providing further information or supporting evidence (so have been removed from call for evidence analysis, while their online responses have been kept in). One response could not be received because of the size of the email. Of the remaining 58 email responses, 14 provided direct responses to one or more of the survey questions, and these responses have been included in the call for evidence analysis.

• There were a total of 2,960 valid submissions (i.e. non-duplicate) received, including both online and email responses. The summary in the first table includes responses which did not directly answer survey questions, but where further information was provided.

• We have assessed both free text and closed text question responses to identify where responses best fit under one of the following mutually exclusive categories:

  • crossbow owners
  • businesses which rely on crossbows either for retail purposes or other uses (e.g. hiring for events)
  • organisations which represent crossbow or other archery / firearm users
  • family and friends of victims of crossbow attacks
  • members of the public

Respondent group	Number of responses	% of responses
Business	18	0.6%
Owners	1,312	44.3%
Public	1,584	53.5%
Victim’s family / friends	34	1.1%
Representative bodies	11	0.4%
Law enforcement	1	0.0%
Total	2,960	100%

4. Responses to specific questions

Introduction

4.1. In this chapter, we provide data from responses to the specific questions posed in the call for evidence paper. The total number of responses varies by question, as some respondents did not provide a response to every question.

Licensing of crossbows

Q1. Should there be further legislative controls around the sale and ownership of crossbows?

Respondent type	No	% of respondents	Yes	% of respondents	Total responses
Business	10	77%	3	23%	13
Law enforcement	0	0%	1	100%	1
Owners	1241	95%	63	5%	1304
Public	1256	81%	292	19%	1548
Representative bodies	4	57%	3	43%	7
Victim’s family / friends	0	0%	34	100%	34
Total	2511	86%	396	14%	2907

Respondent group	Observations	Yes	No
Businesses	94	13%	86%
Owners	1041	5%	95%
Public	1757	18%	82%
Victim’s family / friends	19	100%	0
Representative bodies	4	50%	50%
Law enforcement	0	N/A	N/A
Total (note rounding issues)	2918	14%	86%

Q3. If yes, do you consider one of approaches outlined in 2.4 of this call for evidence paper, and listed below, to be a preferred option? ^{[footnote 1]}

Type	Sellers and suppliers	Sellers and buyers (police checks)	Sellers and buyers (no police checks)	Other	Total
Business	0	2	1	0	3
Owners	8	14	30	9	61
Public	8	239	28	19	294
Representative bodies	1	0	1	1	3
Victim’s family / friends	1	33	0	0	34
Total	18	288	60	29	395

Percentage of respondent group

Type	Registration of sellers and suppliers	Registration of sellers and buyers following police checks - similar to firearms licences	Registration of sellers and buyers without police checks - similar to fishing licences	Other	Total
Business*	0%	67%	33%	0%	100%
Owners	13%	23%	49%	15%	100%
Public	3%	81%	10%	6%	100%
Representative bodies*	33%	0%	33%	33%	100%
Victim’s family / friends	3%	97%	0%	0%	100%
Total	5%	73%	15%	7%	100%

*Small sample size

Prohibiting the sale of broadhead arrows

Q5. Should the sale and possession of broadhead arrows be prohibited (with the exemptions listed at paragraph 3.2 in this call for evidence)? ^{[footnote 2]}

a) Yes, with these exemptions

b) Yes, with different exemptions or no exemptions

c) No

Responses

Type	No	Yes, with different exemptions or no exemptions	Yes, with these exemptions	Total
Business	9	0	5	14
Law enforcement	0	1	0	1
Owners	1086	41	174	1301
Public	1132	80	331	1543
Representative bodies	2	0	4	6
Victim’s family / friends	1	7	26	34
Total	2230	129	540	2899

Percentage of respondent group

Type	No	Yes, with different exemptions or no exemptions	Yes, with these exemptions	Total
Business	64%	0%	36%	100%
Law enforcement	0%	100%	0%	100%
Owners	83%	3%	13%	100%
Public	73%	5%	21%	100%
Representative bodies	33%	0%	67%	100%
Victim’s family / friends	3%	21%	76%	100%
Total	77%	4%	19%	100%

Q8. Do you purchase, or have you ever purchased, broadhead arrows?

Respondent	No	Percentage of respondent group	Yes	Percentage of respondent group	Total
Business	8	62%	5	38%	13
Owners	503	39%	801	61%	1304
Public	1496	97%	49	3%	1545
Representative bodies	2	33%	4	67%	6
Victim’s family / friends	34	100%	0	0%	34
Total	2043	70%	859	30%	2902

Q9. If you answered ‘yes’ to Q8 was the purchase of broadhead arrows for any of the following:

a) Personal / recreational shooting

b) Sport

c) Re-enactment

d) Other (please specify in the free text box at the end of this call for evidence).

Responses	No	Percentage of respondent group	Yes	Percentage of respondent group	Total
For personal or recreational shooting	174	22%	631	78%	805
For sport	593	74%	212	26%	805
For re-enactment	615	76%	190	24%	805
Other	564	70%	241	30%	805

NB: Owners only, and where question has been answered (805 responses)

Q10. If a prohibition was brought in and you believed you had a defence against this by means of the exemptions set out in paragraph 3.2 of this call for evidence, which exemption below would apply to you?

a) Item of historical importance

b) For use in bone-fide historical re-enacting

c) Sporting activities

d) For use in film and theatre

e) Possessed on behalf of a museum or gallery, or lent or hired by a museum or gallery for cultural, artistic or educational purposes

f)  Antique (over 100 years old)

Responses	No	Percentage of respondent group	Yes	Percentage of respondent group	Total
Item of historical importance	218	59%	153	41%	371
Use in bona-fide historical re-enacting	195	53%	176	47%	371
Sporting activities	76	20%	295	80%	371
Use in film and theatre	304	82%	67	18%	371
Possessed on behalf of a museum or gallery, or lent or hired by a museum or gallery for cultural, artistic or educational purposes	311	84%	60	16%	371
Antique (over 100 years old)	249	67%	122	33%	371

NB: Owners only, and where question has been answered (371 responses)

Crossbow ownership

Q11. Do you own a crossbow?

Respondent	No	Yes, I own 1 crossbow	Yes, I own more than 1 crossbow	Total
Business	5	4	5	14
Owners	210	607	488	1305
Public	1540	0	0	1540
Representative bodies	0	2	4	6
Victim’s family / friends	34	0	0	34
Total	1789	613	497	2899

Percentage of respondent group

Respondent	No	Yes, I own 1 crossbow	Yes, I own more than 1 crossbow	Total
Business	36%	29%	36%	100%
Owners	16%	47%	37%	100%
Public	100%	0%	0%	100%
Representative bodies	0%	33%	67%	100%
Victim’s family / friends	100%	0%	0%	100%
Total	62%	21%	17%	100%

Responses (‘No’ filtered out)

Respondent	Yes, I own 1 crossbow	Yes, I own more than 1 crossbow	Total
Business	4	5	9
Owners	607	488	1095
Representative bodies	2	4	6
Total	613	497	1110

Percentage of respondent group (‘No’ filtered out)

Respondent	Yes, I own 1 crossbow	Yes, I own more than 1 crossbow	Total
Business	44%	56%	100%
Owners	55%	45%	100%
Representative bodies	33%	67%	100%
Total	55%	45%	100%

Q12. If yes to question 11 above, how long ago did you purchase your crossbow (if you own more than one then please answer this question in relation to the last crossbow you obtained and provide additional details at Q22 for any others)?

• In the last 12 months
• In the last 5 years
• Longer than 5 years ago
• I own one but did not purchase it

Respondent	Between 1 and 5 years ago	I did not buy it	In the last 12 months	More than 5 years ago	Total
Business	1	2	0	1	4
Owners	254	56	60	247	617
Public	1	6	1	1	9
Representative bodies	1	0	0	2	3
Total	257	64	61	251	633

Percentage of group

Respondent	Between 1 and 5 years ago	I did not buy it	In the last 12 months	More than 5 years ago	Total
Business	25%	50%	0%	25%	100%
Owners	41%	9%	10%	40%	100%
Public	11%	67%	11%	11%	100%
Representative bodies	33%	0%	0%	67%	100%
Total	41%	10%	10%	40%	100%

Q13. If yes to question 11 above, where did you purchase your crossbow (if you own more than one then please answer this question in relation to the last crossbow you obtained and provide additional details at Q22 for any others)?

a) From a high street shop

b) Online

c) It was gifted to me

d) None of the above

Respondent	From a high street shop	It was gifted to me	Online	Other	Total
Business	1	1	0	2	4
Owners	111	63	326	113	613
Public	1	0	4	1	6
Representative bodies	0	0	0	3	3
Total	113	64	330	119	626

Percentage of group

Respondent	From a high street shop	It was gifted to me	Online	Other	Total
Business	25%	25%	0%	50%	100%
Owners	18%	10%	53%	18%	100%
Public	17%	0%	67%	17%	100%
Representative bodies	0%	0%	0%	100%	100%
Total	18%	10%	53%	19%	100%

Q14. If a licensing or permit scheme was brought into force, would you consider applying for a permit or licence to continue to own a crossbow?

Respondent	No	Yes	Total
Business	6	7	13
Owners	715	585	1300
Public	1042	494	1536
Representative bodies	0	6	6
Victim’s family / friends	33	0	33
Total	1796	1092	2888

Percentage of group

Respondent	No	Yes	Total
Business	46%	54%	100%
Owners	55%	45%	100%
Public	68%	32%	100%
Representative bodies	0%	100%	100%
Victim’s family / friends	100%	0%	100%
Total	62%	38%	100%

Q15. If a licensing or permit scheme was brought into force, would you consider applying for a permit or licence to be able to purchase a crossbow?

Respondent	No	Yes	Total
Business	6	7	13
Owners	755	539	1294
Public	1014	519	1533
Representative bodies	1	5	6
Victim’s family / friends	32	1	33
Total	1808	1071	2879

Percentage of group

Respondent	No	Yes	Total
Business	46%	54%	100%
Owners	58%	42%	100%
Public	66%	34%	100%
Representative bodies	17%	83%	100%
Victim’s family / friends	97%	3%	100%
Total	63%	37%	100%

Q16: Do you use a crossbow for one of the following:

a) Personal / recreational shooting

b) Sporting competition

c) Re-enactment

d) Other (please specify in the free text box at the end of this call for evidence)

Activity	No	Percentage of respondent group	Yes	Percentage of respondent group	Total
Personal or recreational shooting	243	19%	1055	81%	1298
Sporting competition	1005	77%	293	23%	1298
Re-enactment	1085	84%	213	16%	1298
I do not use a crossbow	1184	91%	114	9%	1298
Other	1079	83%	219	17%	1298

NB: Owners only, and where question has been answered (805 responses)

Manufacturers / Importers / Retailers

Q17. Do you manufacture, import or sell crossbows and ancillary equipment?

a) Manufacture

b) Import

c) Retail

Type	Number of business respondents
Import and retail	4
Manufacture and retail	1
Manufacture only	3
Retail only	4
Total	12

Q21. If you are a manufacturer, importer or retailer of crossbows would you continue to do so if a permit or licensing scheme was brought into force?

Manufacturer

Manufacturer	No	Yes	Total
Business	1	3	4

Importer

Importer	No	Yes	Total
Business	2	2	4

Retailer

Retailer	No	Yes	Total
Business	6	3	9

1. Licensing of sellers and suppliers. This would make it a requirement for sellers, suppliers and importers to have a licence from the police in order to sell crossbows and bolts. Obtaining a licence would be subject to police approval. Sellers would be required to keep a record of buyers, including name, date of birth, address and purpose of the purchase and this information should be shared with the police on request. Breach of the licence conditions by the seller / supplier would include a financial penalty and/or withdrawal of the licence.
   - Licensing of sellers and buyers without police checks. This approach would be similar to the ‘Registration of sellers and buyers’ option (option c) but would also make it a requirement for those who wish to purchase and possess crossbows to register and obtain a licence. Granting of the licence by the police could be automatic on paying a fee but the police would have the authority to refuse in certain circumstances.
   - Registration of sellers and buyers following police checks. This approach would be similar to option b) above, but the police would undertake suitability checks on sellers and buyers before they registered and granted the licence. ↩

2. (3.2) There would be exemptions to any prohibition, in line with other prohibited offensive weapons, for items of historical importance or for use in bona-fide historical re-enacting, sporting activities, for use in film and theatre, possessed on behalf of a museum or gallery, or lent or hired by a museum or gallery for cultural, artistic or educational purposes. Antique broadhead arrows would also be exempt (over 100 years old). ↩