GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Back Room => : tuttleje January 01, 2009, 05:03:01 AM
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Anyone else experience a similar law? Here is the Williamsburg (Va) City Code section:
Sec. 10-124. Discharging air rifles or gravel shooters.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to shoot an air rifle, BB gun or gravel shooter in the city.
(b) Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished in accordance with section 1-15. In addition, his air rifle, BB gun or gravel shooter shall be confiscated.
(Code 1975, § 21-30)
According to this regulation, I can't shoot my Gamo Whisper inside my garage.
What's a "gravel shooter"?
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Well.......after extensive research (Google), I did discover a reference to a "gravel shooter". However, I don't think it is exactly the one reference in the City Code.
It would be VERY effective on the extermination of tree rats (and everything else) in my backyard.
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5SAtCfhUxY&feature=related
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Welcome to the GTA Forums James !
You have found, The BEST AIRGUN FORUM on the Internet !! And, A GREAT PLACE TO BE !!!!!
Don't feel too bad, I live in the C.C.C.P of New Jerkey, where they consider ALL airguns, slingshots, etc. as Firearms ! I'm waiting for the Peoples Governor Supreme to get a splinter from a wooden pencil, then they will be Firearms too ! We sure live in interesting times !
Now that Your a Member of our AirGun family Forum, I hope to see you here often !
HAPPY NEW YEAR !
Bill
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In the city applies to private property? Time to move to florida or texas or arizona.What about a potato gun?
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Original-Potato-Cannon/
That might not be banned. LOL john
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Probably a sling shot. You are lucky. Up here in Fairfax it's a class 3 firearms felony if you hit a house. Increases to class two if the house is occupied. You can't legally shoot anything which propels an object. That would include bow and arrow, as well, unless you are on private property or at a range. Shotguns and pea shooters - it's all the same to the law.
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I've been looking for the Fairfax Regs, Redfeather.
Where'd you find them online?
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I didn't get that online. I think it came from a conversation with a police officer when I enquired some years back. Anyway, the regs here are Draconian. I know one young fellow who was walking with a friend accompanied by an air rifle. They cut across a school yard and then went into a backyard where his friend asked him to hold his gun for a minute. Someone reported them and the poor kid was convicted of "brandishing a firearm", a felony, at that.
I'm sure you can find a phone number and maybe the county government can point you in the right direction.
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Well, crap. I looked up a link to the county code. According to them I can't even shoot within the confines of my yard!
"Section 6-1-2. Hunting or discharge of firearms in certain places prohibited; exceptions.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to shoot any gun in any areas of the County which are so heavily populated as to make such conduct dangerous. Except as otherwise provided herein, it shall be unlawful to discharge any gun:
(1) In all areas of the County except those areas which are exempted in accordance with Appendix J to the Fairfax County Code;
(2) On any lot of real property containing less than twenty acres; and
(3) On any parcel of land which is not posted with signs giving reasonable notice that guns are in use on that parcel of land and that no trespassing is allowed. Such signs shall be placed where they can reasonably be seen. However, if firearms are in use on only a portion of any parcel of land which meets the acreage and other requirements of the term "parcel of land," as defined by Section 6-1-1, then only that portion of that parcel of land on which firearms are used shall be posted with signs."
Note that airguns are considered firearms.
Here's the link:
http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=10051&sid=46
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When you have to many people in to small an area then this is what happens....I could hit the neighbors house with a shot but I'd have to sneak over there to do it....I also have to drive 60 miles one way to get to a Walmart so it evens out....
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I live withing the city limits but two sides of my property are on the edge of the county property. The county has no laws about shooting with bb or pellet guns, but the city does. I talked to a cop one day about it and he said it would be a judgment call on the part of a cop if he had a complaint from a neighbor. I only have one neighbor that is close to me. I think the city I live in only has about 12 police officers who drive police cars around. When you see one which is not often, they always wave...:) I shoot amost every day here and never had a problem. Also had one of the GTA Fun Shoots here and no problems. Guess I am very fortunate to have a big place to shoot. Almost 1.5 acres and no homes on two sides within a half mile.
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You are fortunate indeed Gene. I have plenty of room in my backyard to safely shoot and my neighbors know I shoot and don't care, my one neighbor has his own airgun range in his yard, but I still take great care to make sure the pellets go where they're supposed to and also to avoid having other neighbors get a glimpse of me walking around the yard gun in hand. Even though I'm legal I'm just not looking for any problems. All it can take is one "bad" incident to ruin a good thing, plus as we all know,,,, these guns aren't toys and safety is always a must.....
Jeff
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I also have some room around me and also access to plenty of hunting turf to get into. Most my neighbors know me as the vermin exterminator and call when they have a problem. :) Ed
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Ya Jeff, I always take my guns out the back door and I have a wood security fence on two sides of my property that blocks anyone from seeing me shoot or hold a gun. You are right, it is better to be safe and not flash around the pellet guns because from a distance they do look like the real thing.. Last thing you want is to have grandma up the road call the authorities and tell them you were flashing a fire arm around inside the city limits..:( Next thing you know you will be surrounded by a super Swat Team..
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Yeah, one time I made the mistake of takin my AK B3 with me just before nightfall. I went out into the hundreds of acres of open land which is rectangular, so it is way longer than it is wide. I'd say 400yrds wide, with a hill in the middle and about a mile long. I can't be seen from any roads, but folks can see me from their backyards and windows. I forgot that to everyone else, that thing looks like a real AK47. Well...somebody called LE, I saw headlights comin, and I hightailed it outta there in seconds, safe back on my property. Another time, in the black of night, I had to *evade a helicopter*, yes they were lookin for me...they came outta nowhere. I was near my property, and was able to hide and run. It was weeks before I went out again. All of this trying to rid the area of an overpopulation of skunks. 10 were taken last year on the land I described, and theres at least three more right around my backyard, on the other side of the fence. The funny thing is, the city has no law about adultsdischarging airguns...there is just an ordinance that says you may not bring an airgun into any park. It is specifically unlawful for minors to be in possession of a bb/pellet gun or discharge one, they must be supervised by an adult. I've been over the regs many times, and feel pretty safe, but its what everybody else thinks that brings LE out to investigate. They have to show that they are doing something, even though they are probably rolling their eyes the whole time.
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I gotta tell`ya, Dave. The era I [and probably you] grew up in where kids w/ BB guns were a dime-a-dozen and no one gave them a second thought is gone.
The loss of the family, family discipline/cohesion,... particularly fathers... and the MTV Gangsta do-anything culture spewed out by the Media, is producing some really scary punks. And people rightly now get fearful seeing kids w/ guns.
Helluva note.
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I hear ya. I wonder what they think when they see a 50 year old bald man with an AK47 wandering around in the hills. Thats what my wife asked me when I was complaining about not being able to go out and get after them skunks.
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Worse yet, early 60's.... :-)
Well, I have gone back to my childhood (so says the wife).
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Hehe...well at least we stay outta trouble, a lot more than we would if we didn't have toys to play with(http://../jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif)
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With all those anti-gun and anti-hunting sentiments going on....don`t we all wish there were less groceries around...so people will hunt with firearms or airguns to supplement their diet, just like in the old days. I remember when we were kids...my bro and I, we can carry our bb guns to a park right in the middle of a metropolitan city and shoot. Now if I bring them out to my backyard...and happened to be seen by the neigbours....they will be confiscated by the police if called.
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Naw. That would be the Great Depression. I was just thinking yesterday about how we all had slingshots as kids, either Whamo's, Wrist Rockets or home-mades, and folks in out neighborhood thought nothing of us shooting them at cans, birds, etc. Nowadays it lands you in jail with all the father rapers and mother stabbers.