shooting your firearms in Maine

M

Mags

New member
I have a cabin in Maine and own 3 acres of land. I have neighbors on both sides me but none behind me. can i legaly target practice in my back yard? is there a law about dischargeing a firearm with-in so many feet from a residence? I looked but couldnt find anything.
 
I know in VA firing of weapons on private land is generally regulated by Cities and County governments. There may be some general state laws about how close to building you can fire weapons that sort of things.

The link to State Law search is http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/search.asp

It does not work for me, might be down temporarily. I would go on your County or City site first. 3-arces is Kinda small for a lot of shooting, not that far from the neighbors, but occasional shooting might be OK. I can legally shoot in my back yard, but the neighbors are way to close, for that action to be neighborly. My Father-in-law has 10 acres and we occasionally will shoot clays and target practice at his place, wish it was closer than 700 miles though.
 
It would definitely be dependent upon the municipality you were in. What city or county limits you are in would, be more than likely be the limiting ordinances.
 
The law is 100 yds from a dwelling unless you have permission from the owner. You don't say what town your cabin is in so I'd recommend that you check at the town office. Might not hurt to give the neighbors a heads up as well. Things like that are a lot more accepted north of the volvo line.

cars
 
Thanks, thats very helpful. there is a marsh behind my cabin and thats the direction I would shoot it, so the safty factor is just fine. I have shot my .22 there a few times. But i just bought an Ar15. I know thats going to be quite loud so i just wanted to make sure i didnt create any problems for myself.
 
Mags said:
there is a marsh behind my cabin and thats the direction I would shoot it, so the safty factor is just fine.
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It sounds like you are depending on the marsh rather than a berm to stop those bullets. If that is indeed the case, what is to prevent a ricochet from hitting someone several hundred yards downrange? Such an event would likely result in a great deal of legal issues.

I recall, as a child, spending a lot of time in marshy areas and seeing adults gathering cattails and other plants fairly frequently.
 
Go ask and invite the neighbors to a shooting session. They may like to shoot and be wondering the same thing.
 
The Marsh is no mans land. Unless you want to be neck high in mud. I always make sure nothing is out there.
 
The Volvo line is an imaginary line between the more liberal big government nanny state mindset of the higher population density in the southern part of the state, and the more rural traditionally Independant Mainer. The stereotype is of the middle-aged ponytail wearing college professor or the affluent Massachusets transplant, The Volvo's and Saabs seem to be some sort of status symbol to these groups, like a secret handshake. Its kind of a joke, but not really, there IS two Maines.

Disclaimer: To anyone reading this from southern Maine, I understand that not ALL from Augusta south are like that;)

cars



LOL just googled two Maines, its all right there
 
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Three acres is not the wide open spaces, and a marsh is water. Rule 1 is to not shoot over or at a body of water, due to ricochet concerns. I'd find a safer place to shoot with a lot more distance to the next house and a good backstop.

Are you certain there is no one behind your property? That AR-15 has a one mile or more range. Go walk straight back one or two miles and see if there are any trails, roads, whatever, then think about how you are going to clear that entire downrange area each time you want to shoot off the back porch.
 
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