GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Back Room => : rr_shooter March 10, 2008, 05:42:41 AM
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From the photos I’ve seen posted on this forum, it’s evident a number of you live on acreages or have direct access to shooting/hunting areas from your property (lucky!). My question is more for those who, like me, have to feed their air gun addiction while living within the confines of suburbia.
The statutes for the city in which I live prohibit the discharge of air guns (hard to believe in Texas of all places, but true, nonetheless). Are statutes more lenient in other towns? If not, how do you handle your outside shooting activities with your neighbors? Have you discussed it with them, or do you work on the premise it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission? Ever had the cops called out by unhappy neighbors?
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Ask for forgiveness rather than permission. If the neighbors do talk to you about it, ask them if they would like to take a couple of shots at a target. They might just like it and become a member of the GTA family down the road. If the police do come, just play dumb. They aren't going to lock you up for shooting an air rifle in you back yard. Unless you have some unpaid tickets or warrant for your arrest :o . I shoot into a silent pellet trap in my house from time to time. Then out to the back yard with the boys. My neighbors haven't had any problems with it yet. Then again the air rifles are a lot quieter than the M1000's that blow up mannequin heads over the fourth of July :p .
Dan L
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I would suggest proactively clearing it with your neighbors so that they understand "what that popping noise is" and see that your target setup is safe. I do backyard shooting here in Fort Worth, and my neighbors are very cool with it. However, I do respect the noise levels and time of day (no early morning shooting). I talked with some local law enforcement people and they say that "BB gun target shooting" is generally tolerated as long as nobody files a complaint.
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Hello YOUR NAME,
I too live in an area that doesnt allow the shooting of airguns, so I do my shooting in my basement.
Occasionally I go to the range, when I feel the need for longer range shooting !
If you set up your indoor properly, it can be fun, and challenging. :)
P.S. be certain where your shots will travel if you attempt to shoot in your backyard, It's our responsibility to keep our sport safe for everyone !
Bill
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Bill, what part of Fort Worth are you in? I'm in the Summerfields, between Basswood and Heritage Trace. Should go shooting sometime.
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Remove a back window screen, such as kitchen, and shoot from inside the room to the backyard. That's what I do. But that's just because Idon't want the hood rats who moved in across the street to see my B30, think it's a firearm, and break in to steal it. Their dad's tried to run over their mom a few times, and I don't want him thinking that I can supply him with a weapon to finish the job. No, I'm not kidding.
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Funny you should mention it, I had a visit by the local police the other day. I've got a long yard, and people behind me (and to both sides). I have a trap set it at the far end, right in the corner so it's not pointing at the house behind me (it's off to the left). Anyway, I've been shooting out there daily until a few days ago when I ran out for a minute and came home to find a police woman in my driveway. She said "Hi. Were you shooting a pellet gun in your backyard." I said "Absolutely! I had checked with another officer and he said it was ok to shoot on your own property". She was smiling and said "ok, don't worry about it, my son has a pellet gun too". I asked if there was anything wrong with it, she said not a thing, it's fine. The neighbors called the police because they weren't sure if it was a pellet gun I was pointing down the yard.
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Dan -
I'm nestled down here in the lovely TCU neighborhood. I guess I pass your place every time I drive up to Cabela's for pellets anf targets.
Shootin' weatherand Daylight Savings have arrived, so maybe I can get out more. Maybe we can meet midway (Flying Saucer downtown...?)
- Bill
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I can’t shoot in my backyard either. There is a public golf course behind me and the golfers teeing off might get a little upset with me pointing a rifle in their direction. Although some of their tee shots can be more dangerous than me shooting into a target box. For that reason, I set up a 21’ range in my attic and I’ll shoot in my garage occasionally. Anything longer than that I head on up to Mike’s place. :)
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Also a suburban shooter unless I head to other folks land, so most of my home shooting is @ 25yards.
Considering the range, would be better to start with a quiet rifle for home use...the quieter the better; no real need for super power just to shoot at 25yards.
While things that attach to the muzzle to deaden noise aren't allowed, can build a big version that does NOT attach to the gun in any way. Something as simple as a chicken wire tunnel, wrapped in old shag carpet or open weave cloth, set ahead of your bench can really deaden noise. Leave just enough room for barrel clearance AND sighting (so make the tunnel taller than wide)...make sure the barrel is inside the tunnel....can do a whole lot of bench testing/chrongraphing without anyone being disturbed by noise.
Given a quiet enough rifle, need to consider a quiet backstop. So far, nothing has beat a two foot tall stack of carpet cut into squares. This is two foot of END ON carpet, with a 2X4 backing wall for any that get thought the seams). Cost?..free, just look for someone replacing their nasty worn out carpet; just ask before picking it out of their trash.
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Bill inTX - 3/10/2008 8:59 PM
Dan -
I'm nestled down here in the lovely TCU neighborhood. I guess I pass your place every time I drive up to Cabela's for pellets anf targets.
Shootin' weatherand Daylight Savings have arrived, so maybe I can get out more. Maybe we can meet midway (Flying Saucer downtown...?)
- Bill
Yep you drive right by me on the way to Cabubbas. Are you a long time resident of the TCU area or a student? I really like that area of town, the Historical District is nice to drive around on a Saturday, followed by a trip to Panera for a bagel and a walk around the Botanical Gardens. I probably have that sort of Saturday 5 times a year with my kids...actually did that about 2 weeks ago while a friend was visiting. The barmaids at the Flying Saucer are great to look at, but how well can they shoot? There'll be no sherkers in my airgun club:) Honestly I rarely go downtown and barhop, maybe twice a year I'll take my wife to dinner down there and then pop over to the Flying Saucer to listen to some music, or maybe up the street for a movie. Wouldn't mind hooking up for a trip to Cabelas some Saturday to hang out, check out the airguns and pick up some ammo. Also there's about half a dozen of us in the DFW area that hook up every once in awhile to shoot together. I went shooting this past weekend with one of these guys, my good friend Joel Lively, out in Decatur, but we are planning on having a shootout out by Weatherford in the not so far off future AND we are working on a location for the Autumn Airgun Festival (might have found a location as of this past weekend). Keep your eyes on the Regional Shooting Events forum, I'll post it there when we get something settled.
Oh yea, in answer to the reason you posted in the first place.....my backyard backs up to one of those flood ditches they carve to keep the neighborhoods from flooding. So behind my back fence is about a 30 yard gap between me and the backyard neighbors. I shoot off my porch at an angle down and towards the corner of my yard, so if I miss it just goes into the flood canal. My neighbor on one side is too old to hear me, and the neighbor on the other side is a gunnut, so he could care less. The neighbors behind me can see into my backyard, but once the trees behind the fence get their leaves back no-one can see in. Right now I'm only really shooting my Tau in the yard which is pretty quiet. When I turn my Career way down low I can shoot that also, but my QB is too loud and the B26 is a bit loud also...usually save those for when I go out in the country. Shot my good friend Joel Lively's .50 cal Dragonslayer this weekend, what a cool airgun, and way too loud for the city limits:) Shoot me an email next time you need pellets/targets, I'll hitch a ride or meet you there. Think my email is under my forum profile, but if not danieljnelson (at) sbcglobal.net
Here's some pictures from our little shootout this past weekend.
http://airgunartisans.com/CaseysPlace.htm
Take care,
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As far as I can decipher from San Antonio's city code, there are no regulations regarding shooting air guns. I still try to be discret about my shooting, to not draw too much attention. I have a decent little range set up in my backyard. I shoot mostly out of my garage into a silent trap in my backyard about 10 yards away. Most of my guns don't look like a typical "firearm" so they don't look so manacing when I take out birds in my front/back yard. I would love to get a B26 or something similar, but without acreage to wander it would just draw unwanted attention.
-Josh
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I live in Frisco, TX. No discharge of any type of air gun. Denton allows up to 300fps. Corinth has no limits on FPS. Restrictions say you have to build an approved shooting range in your backyard. I am lucky to have access to land to shoot on. 13 acres in the city limits, 50 acres out of city limits. New law allows you to shoot on 10 or more acres in city limits if it was not annexed prior to 1982. You need to check into that. Any "agriculturlal Land" annexed prior to 1982 you can shoot shotgun or air gun for hunting. 50 or more acres no restrictions on type of gun for hunting. If you have some agricultural land near you, the owners may allow you to shoot on it. All you need is their permission in writting.
See the attached regarding code 251-002
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Bill and Dano, any time you need more range for your guns come up to Denton. I have a 100 ft. indoor range. Rain or shine I can shoot. When I feel like shooting longer distance I open up the overhead door and have an additional 300 or so feet to set out targets, although my maximum is 50yds or so for target practice.
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I'm more of the age group where people wonder if I'm TCU faculty. However, I'm really employed at an airplane factory on the west side of town, but have lived in the TCU area since the mid-80's.
I'll let you know when my next Cabela's Road Trip gets scheduled (I almost bought an RWS34 last time...). Another good trip is "Cheaper Than Dirt". Good place for targets and to rub elbows with paramilitary militia members buying assault rifles.
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live on 10 acres in citra fl. no complaints even when the powder burner is out and about. John
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Josh one of these days I'm gonna have to get you out to the range. s
hooting in the back yard is not much. shooting at the range cost , but no one to complain about the shooting.
I'd even let ya shoot some of my guns, mostly 22.
R26, HW57, QB's , BSA Lightning XL , Cr 160,, RWS850 coming in sometime this week. Thats just the rifles, pistols, Cr 600's. TW 150, Cr150, M2K4 also 22 cal.and my all time favorite LD carbine.
Yes Gene,Dano, broke down and got a 850 :-)
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I live in a metropolitan city so no shooting in the city or even in one's backyard. I usually go into some industrial area....with train tracks and those large metal containers....when a train is rolling or when the workers move those containers around and dropping them onto other containers they cause a racket (which covers some of the air gun noise...if not all of it).
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threex4 - 3/11/2008 8:53 PM
...........Yes Gene,Dano, broke down and got a 850 :-)
Haha, I guess I am the only one left that hasn't broken down and bought one yet. I am shooting a TF79T running on a regulated HPA these days, pretty much the same thing without the repeating action, and I gots me some quick loading fingers!
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This one is suppose to be backyard friendly, so we'll see. I traded my Santa Rosa R7 for it, which I never did get used to shooting it. lop always seemed too short for me. and being 177, fat fingers had a hard time loading it. 22 are more finger friendly lol.
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This thread is one of the more disturbing ones that I've seen, given that some participants in it seem to have the attitude that the rule of law doesn't apply to them.
This kind of "lawless attitude" definitely doesn't do people like me -who would like to see fish and wildlife agencies throughout the USA adopt California's progressive stance in authorizing air rifles as a legitimate means of taking small, edible game- any favors. What it does do is play into the sterotypes that many regulators already have about "adult airgun enthusiasts." In the eyes of many of them, the words "adult" and "airgun" don't go together. And by adopting the "yeah, I know the law says I can't, but to hell with it -I'll just do what I want to do, anyhow" stance, we prove that they are correct.
Kinda tough to bill ourselves as law abiding airgun owners when our participation in a thread like this involves commentary on circumventing law or how best to "get away with it."
Very mature, that is. Soooooo adult. And what a fabulous role model for youth! On the one hand, it is hoped, we expect our youth to do what they're told at home, behave in school and abide by rules, and grow up into honorable, law-abiding adulthood. On the other, we demonstrate how much value we really place in the rule of law when we publicly express methods for circumventing laws we don't happen to agree with or believe should apply to us as individuals.
The original poster's question has a really, really, simple answer. If it is ILLEGAL to discharge an airgun in the jurisdiction where you live, DON'T SHOOT THERE. PERIOD.
And no, I don't feel sorry for you if you have to travel a bit to shoot LEGALLY. I've had to do the self same thing for the whole of my life. I have to do that exact same thing now.
I was raised, for the most part, in metropolitain LA / Orange County, California, and I lived there most of my life. There isn't a single municipality in either of those counties where shooting an airgun in your backyard is legal. So I had to travel outside of the metro area to target shoot. For me, the closest and best place to LEGALLY shoot involved a 125 mile one-way trip from my home in San Juan Capistrano, CA.
Now, I live in Tahlequah, Oklahoma where -surprise, surprise- it is illegal to discharge an airgun inside our fair city's corporate limits. Outside of town, in rural Cherokee County, you can shoot whatever you want on your own land. Since I don't own rural land here in Cherokee County, I have to do what I've always done to enjoy my shooting hobby legally -go to the nearest / best range or public land shooting area, where I can do my thing LEGALLY. In my case, that is the public shooting area on the Cherokee Wildlife Management area just outside of Zeb, here in Cherokee County. It's a nine mile drive from my home in Tahlequah and takes about 15 minutes of my time to get there.
If I couldn't go there, I'd go somewhere else. And I'd drive as far as I needed to in order to do my thing the way I want to legally. What I WOULD NOT DO is pretend that the Talequah shooting ordinance doesn't apply to me, and shoot in my own back yard knowing that doing so is illegal.
When airguns are legislated like firearms are in this country, it'll be easy for us to blame draconian lawmakers for a lack of knowledge and understanding. It'll be harder for us to argue our case effectively if we display the kind of attitude about the rule of law that is found in this thread. It'll probably be impossible for some of us to put the blame where it really belongs when that day happens.
And as long as we have "adult airgunners" on public forums, entering into public discussions about "getting away" with violations of discharge ordinances, entering into public discussions about killing animals outside of the privilaged authority of a hunting license, and so on, the question isn't "if" that day will come, but "when."
JP
http://www.uplandhunter.net
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no offense, but that comes across more condescending than informative.
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At the request of member Magnette his post in this thread has been deleted. As far as this topic/discussion goes I think we can all agree that a responsible person should of course strive to obey the laws that govern the locality in which they reside. That being said perhaps we should just move on to other topics and let this thread be ??
Jeff
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killdawabbit - 3/12/2008 5:13 AM
no offense, but that comes across more condescending than informative.
Well, so be it. If you are NOT advocating violating discharge laws and ordinances on the basis that we airgunners can "get away with doing so" as a direct function of the relatively discreet nature of our hardware compared to firearms, then my participation in this thread quite obviously doesn't apply to you so there is no need for you to feel slighted.
On the other hand, if you ARE one of the participants who WAS offering advice on how to circumvent discharge ordinances, then I wouldn't be surprised to find that you view the comments I made as condesending. If you have already made up your mind that discharge ordinances don't apply to you, I can see how you might not really want to see commentary to the contrary comming from another airgun enthusiast.
But in my view, the offense was already committed in the form of a few airgunners playing into the sterotype that paints "adult airgun enthusiasts" on the whole as EXACTLY the kind of folk who wantonly disregard discharge ordinances and hunting regulations because we can "get away with it."
So I recokon we're even.
JP
http://www.uplandhunter.net
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We all SHOULD be able to agree to strive to obey the laws that govern the localities in which we reside.
Moving on....
JP
http://www.uplandhunter.net
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And so we move forward understanding that everyone should know there local airgun and hunting law's. Please take the time to know and understand them. So let's put this baby to rest and injoy our great forum. :) Thank's, Ed
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Well said Ed, glad to see we're "moving on".
Jeff
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I personally found it to be condescending and arrogant. I believe in obeying laws that are constitutional.
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This thread moved to the back room by CDT
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Jerrold is right. He could have put it nicer terms but he is right. Anyone who feels that their constitutional rights are being stepped on by laws that regulate firearms or air guns has the constitutional right to challenge that law, but not the right to ignore it because it isn't convenient for them.
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I've sat here for about an hour steaming about this thread. I could go on for pages about people who think freedom extends to obeying the laws they personally agree with or think constitutional, but I won't. The one thing I would like to say is that those folks who think they know the legal system better than "Uplandhunter' ought to figure out who they're dealing with. He has more legal expertise in his little finger than most of us (including me) have now, or probably will ever have.
Rant over,
Mike
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my point was the use of tact, which this thread is losing more of.
I mentioned nothing of what I beleived to be "right", nor have I said I disagreed with anyone. please notice that.
I have no superiority complex to force on anyone or ego to stroke.
I don't let any posts get me angry, on any forum. it really doesn't bother me.
-Mark
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One of these days... What is the name of the range you go to again?
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here's a link to it Josh. If I go out its usually on a Saturday, cost 10 bucks, but you can shoot any thing you want. they dont charge by the gun , just the person. bring your own targets. they supply ya only one
http://sanantonio.citysearch.com/profile/map/10080045/marion_tx/bexar_community_shooting_range.html