Need some advice on shooting at my house

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tec498

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Hey guys,

I was shooting at my house today (we live in a rural area) against a backstop I have and I had the police called on me by a neighbor. Everything turned out good but listen to my story and let me know if I should continue to shoot here.

I had 4 friends and my brother there and we burned through 150 rounds of 12 guage, 50 rounds of 9mm, 100 rounds of .40 S&W, 90 rounds of 7.62x39, and 250 rounds of 5.56. We were out there for a little over an hour until we heard a quick blip of a police siren and figured it had to be because we were shooting so we packed it all up, went to the driveway and waited to see if the cops showed up.

We walked back and waited a few minutes and they finally pulled in and they got out and asked what was going on and if we were shooting and I responded by saying yes so one of them said "ok, let me see where you're shooting at". I told him ok and asked if I did do anything wrong what would happen and he said "i'll just ask you if you'll do it again and if you say no i'll give you a warning". I walked them back to my backstop which is a hole 10-15 feet in the ground that is roughly 30'x50'. I told him we shoot from the top of the hole into it and he said it looks about as safe as you can get and then wanted to eyeball how far the complaining neighbors house is from the shooting spot. My county requires you shoot at least 100 yards from a residence and he said the guys house was over 100 yards away. He also mentioned the rural area where I live has no ordinance against firing guns and it is ok to do so.

We walked back and I asked if I could continue to fire my guns there and he said there's no problem with me doing it. He did tell me I should keep an eye on the ordinances to make sure they don't change because so officers aren't as easy going as him and his partner. He also said my county is starting to get a lot of northern people that are liberal moving in that don't like guns. They said they would go over and let the neighbors know that we're not doing anything against the law and are shooting safely.

Overall it was a good encounter with law enforcement and they seemed to be a couple of really good guys and I made a little conversation with them by telling them the guns we were shooting and they said that was cool.

So after all that should I continue to fire my guns at my house? What would you guys do in this situation? Apparently nothing I'm doing is against the law but should I have consideration for my neighbor? I've been shooting guns back there for years and my neighbor has lived here for 20+ years. Even though the cops said it's ok I want your opinions :)



Also! I applied for my concealed carry permit a week ago. Even though I didn't get a ticket/warning/anything should this affect it at all?
 
Until someone changes the law, WHY NOT.

I shoot on my property, Been doing if for 17 years. Only once did a new neighbor call the sheriff. He checked out my range, told the lady if it bothered her she should move back to town.

Sounds like you and the officer handled it pretty well.

Contrary to what others have said, most officers are like the one in your encounter.
 
Thanks! I'm glad to hear you think I should continue shooting. The rifle range is an hour drive for me and the pistol range is ridiculously expensive. I think I got off good with the cops because I just went ahead and let them see the range and check everything out. They thanked me for my "hospitality" before they left. I've found most officers in my county to be down to earth, good people.
 
I can't judge if what you were doing was safe or not but if there are no laws against it you should be allowed to fully exercise your Second Amendment rights on your own property, so long as it is safe. If your neighbors are offended that is their own problem and they are free to exercise their right to move to an area where it is illegal.
 
150 rounds of 12 guage, 50 rounds of 9mm, 100 rounds of .40 S&W, 90 rounds of 7.62x39, and 250 rounds of 5.56...
county requires you shoot at least 100 yards from a residence and he said the guys house was over 100 yards away
Click to expand...

How much further than 100 yards?



I would recommend being considerate and talking to your neighbors. Tell them when you are going to burn through 600+ rounds.

Going around with the "screw them, I have a right" attitude just for the sake of being obnoxious is what gives gun owners the reputation for being stupid jerks.

I am not saying you need to ask their permission. I am suggesting you let them know in advance when things are going to get loud for a while. That way they can go to the store or something and you can shoot.
 
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The (HUGE) range I shoot at is on the edge of a small town and has been there for years. They have rifle, pistol, small caliber and black powder ranges plus sporting clays, trap and skeet ranges. Of course there's an archery range. In recent years people have put up huge, expensive house all around the land and of course have tried to close down the range. No luck with that! This is Wisconsin and that range was there before they were. They knew it when they built there. There are some very wealthy Chicago people that are members and they know all the legal maneuvers necessary to keep it going.
 
I have a range on my place. Nearest neighbor is across the road about 400 yards behind where I shoot.

No problems with me but I did get a call from a neighbor complaining about another neighbor shooting! ! ! ! ! He did like you and shot continually for a long period. It was a woman calling to complain.

I told neighbor she had called and not to worry about it as police would not do anything as long as he kept shots on his property.




Normally I won't shoot big stuff but maybe 30 minutes at a whack.

This is a hunting area and in the season there are shots especially on Saturday in season all day.

There has been a range in Conover, NC for fifty years. Some folks from up North built houses nearby and complained about the noise. Got nowhere in court as rounds were kept within property.

You might just quietly ask around and find where the police shoot and how close housing is to their range.

Even better contact your legislator and ask him to introduce a range protection law based on the South Carolina Law. There are now signs all over the state that say "SHOOTING RANGE NOISE AREA". There are 53 registered ranges in this county. A range is defined as one person shooting at a target. On I20 coming in from Augusta Ga there is a Welcome to SC sign and within fifty feet of that it says SHOOTING RANGE NOISE AREA haha.

Keep shooting but do it shorter periods for a while and establish a track record so to speak of how long you have been shooting at your place. If you hear neighbors shooting go make friends with them. When I built my range I poured conrete pad and wrote in pad XXXXXXX Range and date concrete poured which in my case was 1994.

You might also go down and talk with Sheriff.

Also let neighbors shoot at your place to sight in etc.

Main thing keep shooting.
 
I live in a rural area, but I have neighbors on both the left and right sides of me. Out of respect I only shoot when I can catch one or both of them gone. I have plenty of distance and backstop when I walk down back but I don't like to shoot that close when people are home. When I catch both of them gone I don't even walk off the back deck... :)
 
Hey dude, take the neighbor a slab of the best ribs around, and go talk to them. See if maybe they also shoot, maybe you took them by suprise. Sometimes it's all in the "Silver Tongue".;)
 
Thanks for all the replies! I guess I will continue to shoot but not for long periods of time unless I'm shooting .22 LR.

I've seen that neighbor riding his four wheeler over my property with a gun strapped to it and then heard several gun shots from the direction he rode in. He just did it last Sunday. I know the land he's shooting on isn't his but I won't say anything because it isn't my business and the noise doesn't bother me. It always seems the people who do things like call in complaints are hippocrates.

I know I didn't catch him by suprise because about 6 years ago we let off a lot of rounds when I got my shotgun and he walked over and just stood there and we offered to let him shoot and he said no he just wanted to make sure we owned the property and were shooting in a safe manner. We asked him if he had a problem with the shooting and he said not as long as you shoot where you're shooting. I don't know what his issue was today...
 
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