ìSchedule 2 ó Controlled weapons [r. 5],br>Item Article Description
3. Bow An article made or modified to be used to discharge an arrow by an elastic force
and includes the arrow.î
Time, Place and Circumstance…
Itís not only legal to own a bow in WA, itís whole notch of fun no matter what flavour of the sport you get in to (field, target, bowhunting). But like all things fun, there are laws that apply. Bows are as far from being toys as you can get and common sense îreasonable manî rules apply. And ignorance of the law has never been much of a defence for breaking the lawÖ.
A bow is classed as a controlled weapon in Western Australia. WAís police apply the ìtime, place and circumstanceî test to anyone they find in possession of a controlled weapon. Pass the test and itís all ìHave a good dayî. Fail the test they are most likely to seize your bow.
PlaceÖ the test for place is pretty simple ñ do you have permission? Itís not about written permission as you have permission implied on your own property, your archery club etc. If your story is you are returning from somewhere youíve been hunting or shooting on, you should have permission to visit that property. In this case, the police, quite rightly, will ask: ìWhere you have you been?î, ìWhatís the property owners name?î, ìWhatís his phone number?î And they will call him. Itís not good look to then say they wonít be home after answering all these questions.
TimeÖ like in the Place test, itís all about permission too. Itís either the right time or wrong time. Simple.
CircumstanceÖthe best example of the circumstance test is someone fishing and being in possession of a fishing knife. Itís for cleaning the fish youíve caught ñ time, place and circumstance, itís all as it should be. But what if you were on that same beach (Place) at the same time (Time) but only had that fishing knife and no other fishing gear in your possession? The circumstances changed real quick didnít they!
The big picture is, if youíre doing the right thing youíll never have a problem and youíre putting your best foot forward for our sport to boot. Your bow in a bow bag when you are on the road is a good look. Having your archery club membership card in your wallet is a good look. And if itís a farm youíre hunting on, having a cheat sheet with farm name, address, landline, mobile number and names of your hosts on it is a very very good look.
