St. Pete man angers neighbors with gun range in yard

From the looks of the backstop/berm, I wouldn't take the chance he is.
Never mind the proximity of neighbors, children, parks, etc.
I hope he never bounces one. :eek:
 
I'm not sure where you're seeing the backstop you describe? The pic in the article looks safe, but it may be just a file photo.

It's going to come down to the bit about "reckless" in the article as far as I can tell. If its actually safe then its his circus so they're his monkeys. If it is inadequate safety they'll shut him down fast & pursue legal action.
 
Carannate said he has all the right paperwork for his gun and wants to use it in his year every other weekend, evening warning his neighbors in advance of when he wants to fire rounds.
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Wow, proofreading on some of these news sites is just non existent.

Shooting in a residential area can be done safely but unless I was the one doing the shooting I would not feel safe. You will never know if other people treat gun safety like you would. The more people in Florida that do this then the sooner they will pass legislation banning it.
 
That backstop looks pretty janky. I wouldn't discharge a firearm towards it.

However, rather than let this kid sink, I would hope some one would step in and offer to help him build a more suitable backstop. It would suck if FL passed some laws restricting this ability due to one persons lack of carpentry skills.
 
That backstop is pretty suspect. From the WLFA video posted here:

OkTL746.jpg


That said, I'm surprised there aren't local ordnances against this. Most suburban areas have laws against discharging firearms on property, except under certain conditions.
 
I'd rather see him use a wall of old tires filled with sand, about 3 tires thick and a much larger wall; However, his "fearful" neighbors endanger their own children more every time they put them in a car, In my humble opinion. God help the kid if he puts one over the berm, they will crucify him.
 
It's my understanding that Florida state law preempts localities from enacting laws that regulate shooting.
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That is correct regarding concealed carry and ownership of firearms, but I am not certain that it would apply to this situation.

Gun rights are protected by the responsible exercise thereof, and I don't consider the pictured backstop, if that is all there is, to be responsible or safe. If my house was behind such a backstop, I would not be comfortable with the situation at all.
 
Thanks, that's one pathetic excuse for a backstop.

Its an example of someone claiming their right without having the ability to accept the responsibility IMO.
 
If I were his neighbor, I wouldn't have much problem if he agreed to the following.

1. He puts the backstop between he and his house, i.e. he shoots in the direction of his own house. It is safe, is it not? So what's the big deal?

2. He puts suppressor on his guns so that we won't be wakened up from our Saturday afternoon naps. I will waive that if he shoots without hearing protections.

3. If we ever find any stray bullets in our property, he will sign over his property to us.

I am a reasonable man.

-TL
 
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Most residential areas that I know of where shooting is allowed place restrictions only on the path of the projectile itself or proximity of firing to a dwelling. I've seen areas in the south where people fire away in their back yards with no backstop at all--counting on their luck I guess that the bullet goes into the piece of junk they are shooting at or the ground. My guess is that in areas like these the only way to regulate them is if the firing constitutes a nuisance noise.
 
Not too bright IMHO. The way the backyards butt up against each other are simply too close for shooting safely especially with that backstop.

I live in a county which has similar laws that do not restrict your ability to shoot in your backyard as long as it is not deemed reckless. I have an area where I can safely shoot pistols in my yard which is sort of in a subdivision but not anywhere near the density of the guy in the video and my property backs up to the woods and open fields. Even then I only shoot during the day when most people are at work and never for an extended period of time. If I am doing serious shooting I go to the range.

I personally think that the cops who came to look it over and deemed it safe were being generous with their assessment of the berms safety. I think it is pretty sad that this kid is going to ruin it for other people because of his short sighted approach. You can guarantee he is going to get shut down and then there is going to be an ordnance written up restricting people's ability to shoot on their own property. It might not pass but it will put more people on the other side of the fence from positive gun ownership.
 
I've seen areas in the south where people fire away in their back yards with no backstop at all--counting on their luck I guess that the bullet goes into the piece of junk they are shooting at or the ground.
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I actually know people doing that. One in north Carolina and one in Missouri. One guy even has a county road running right behind his property at the back. He thought it was perfectly safe. Hard to understand.

-TL
 
Most residential areas that I know of where shooting is allowed place restrictions only on the path of the projectile itself or proximity of firing to a dwelling. I've seen areas in the south where people fire away in their back yards with no backstop at all--counting on their luck I guess that the bullet goes into the piece of junk they are shooting at or the ground. My guess is that in areas like these the only way to regulate them is if the firing constitutes a nuisance noise.
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If you have enough land you don't need a backstop. LOL
 
St. Pete is a very blue area in a mostly red state. That said, his backstop is unsafe to me. Where I used to live, county authorities could restrict shooting based on population densities. Maybe that could be something to use here.
 
Very, very very poor example of firearms responsibility. "We" don't need guys like that claiming to be responsible gun owners.
If I had kids at home in that neighborhood, I'd be hiring lawyers, cameras and a sniper team. :)
 
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

I mean you live in a suburban community have a little respect for your neighbors if nothing else.
 
With that backstop, I'd be worried too. Not much margin for error there!

I say this as someone who dreams of having a private shooting range on some future property!
 
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