Local shooting laws

[Captainkirk]

Here's an older, yet not-quite-resolved issue that could be considered a "legal issue":

http://www.tradhunter.com/tradhunter/fo ... 655#p23655

Have you checked your local laws lately?

[Captainkirk]

BTT. Any new members run into this issue?

[Grizzly]

You have to know the local ordinance and it also helps to know the police force. Our village passed an ordinance against just about anything that can be launched or fly through the air after a resident mowing his lawn had an arrow land in his yard close to him. But it was written so as only to pertain to village property, not private. Guess who the police chief asked first? Obviously I blamed it on some compounder drawing sky high and his release slipped. It really was a scary thought that someone was nearly hit with an arrow. Luckily I new the police chief (He had loaned me his model 29 Smith .44mag to take hunting when they first allowed that in Illinois) and he asked me as a favor or maybe more like a very serious suggestion that I lay low for a while and not shoot. I don't think they knew who did it and I only knew of one other shooter and his was a compound. If I remember right the angle of the arrow in the ground must have come from a different direction than my house. So after 6 mos or so of this, one day, here come the guys running for the board wanting votes. I told them I didn't want to vote for any of them cause they were messing with my favorite hobby. That lit a fire. They came back with, go ahead and shoot, since my setup looked save enough to them, BUT, if I launch one where it certainly doesn't belong, there will be a stiff fine. Also, I could shoot so long as no one objected around me. Great, that lasted probably a few years until I think my new son in law probably glared at a distant neighbor walking by who had grandkids playing nearby. I was then asked to stop and never did learn who it was who complained. They may not even be in the neighborhood anymore. I have come now to just shoot at one of the local ourdoor ranges at two parks about 1/2 and 3/4 hours away. I'm thinking of setting up a small section of privacy fence which would block the view around me and discreetly shoot when I want to.

There are neighboring towns that flat forbid it. Who knows, my police chief friend has since retired and there may be new ordinances. Ah, just remember, one bordering neighbor was on the board a few years ago. I could check with him. It was probably a good thing I stopped shooting at home. I shot so much, I think I was wearing the shoulders out. It sure was relaxing after a days work though.

There was one issue once. I was working on my 40 yard shots before work one morning and had to step out a few feet into the street to get the distance. A cranky old neighbor called the law and as luck would have it my friend took the call. Another warning to "stay off the road"!!! The cranky guy complained about all his neighbors and was not liked by the police very much. He even complained about one neighbor who had friends over singing Christian songs as a group. Well one day, a few years later, my Grandson comes home crying and tells me this guy threatened him for hiding behind a small bush in his yard while the kids were playing hide and seek. I went and knocked on his door with no reply so I wandered over the police station to see what they knew about him. A younger officer was on duty and wanted to know if he had anything in his hand when he threatened the boy. That would have upped the charge. I believe he did not really like this man and off he went to talk to the boy. Next thing we know, the old timer is spending the weekend in jail waiting on a judge Monday morning. At first I felt a little bad about it until my daughter tells me that he did the same thing to her when she was young and riding her bike past his house. I think the whole neighborhood cheered.

You know, this forum, or maybe it's just me since I no longer run off to work every morning, reminds me of seeing all the old timers gathering in the parks playing bocce ball and checkers while they swapped lies, err stories about the old days. Or now that I'm in Illinois, it would be more like the gathering of the farmers at the cafe or gas station drinking coffee and swapping tales and discussing who's planted what and how and if his rows were crooked You know, sometimes I do keep it short and to the point, really.

[Captainkirk]

The issue was never resolved for me. The ordinances are on the books, and being a mid-sized city I speculate "they ain't goin' nowhere". I moved my target butt up against the back of my garage, so if I miss, the joke's on me. Once the leaves pop, my "range" is pretty much invisible to the neighbors, although much shorter with the relocation (about 15 yards) but shooting is shooting. It's all good.
BUT...
That doesn't change the legality issues one whit.

[stumper]

We have a hard enough time controlling illegal discharges from firearms... I have never worried about shooting in my yard even when I shot with a compound... Maybe its the cruizer out front...

[Captainkirk]

We have a hard enough time controlling illegal discharges from firearms... I have never worried about shooting in my yard even when I shot with a compound... Maybe its the cruizer out front...

I never gave it a thought until the...um, "incident"...when the neighbor said she would rather come to me with her concerns than call the police...
Got me to researching and thinking...and that's when I discovered the ordinance. Really had to dig to find it, buried under "Illegal discharge of a firearm". Most LEO's probably have no idea, but no sense in poking a sleeping bear.

[Graps]

We have a hard enough time controlling illegal discharges from firearms... I have never worried about shooting in my yard even when I shot with a compound... Maybe its the cruizer out front...

They say the best cruse control is a police car in your rear view mirror.

[Graps]

several years ago I lived in a city limit that had the same laws.
I would shoot standing next to the fireplace( couldn't be seen from the road or neighbors ) and the target was across the back yard and concealed by the neighbors fence.
The biggest trick to that was DON'T TALK ABOUT IT TO ANYBODY.

[Captainkirk]

I've been working out in the yard the past few evenings and lamenting the fact that I can't yet drag my bows out and shoot...not until the leaves are out, blocking my backyard view from the neighbors.
Not that I couldn't do it...I've done it before in the past plenty of times. But the bottom line is, he times, they are a changin'.
Shooting a bow and arrow, even a trad bow, is no longer considered a social norm in villages, small towns and cities across the country.
Face it; these laws have probably been on the books since little Timmy Jones shot Old Man Wilson's Rottweiler in the keister with his Li'l Brave bow set back in '56...just no one paid any attention to them unless there was an injury.
What's changing is society's view of our shooting, hunting, trapping, and wild game processing lifestyle.
They aren't forbidding it just yet...but they are scowling at us and wagging a finger our way. And when they find laws on the books to use as ammunition, well...
It's a slow erosion of our lifestyle.
Just Say No, and raise your children/grandchildren accordingly.

[Graps]

Put your ghillie suit on and no one will see you.