Neighbor!!! I need to vent

[tvguy]

OP, your description of your property sounds like the description of Dirty Harry's Outdoor Shooting Range in Orange, Texas. So, while I am not a gun owner, it has been my experience that what you are doing is not only common accepted practice in many parts of the country, but that it is acceptable to run a commercial shooting range in a similar space and population density.

My suggestion would be to block your neighbor's cellphone number so you don't get the texts anymore. She is going to have to accept guns being shot on your property, and you are going to have to accept her fireworks. It's something that neighbors have to do sometimes, look the other way.

Although you remind me why nobody other than my wife, children and mother in law has my cell phone number.

 

[yoopermom]

"Safety Zones Around Buildings
Safety zones are all areas within 150 yards (450 feet) of an occupied building,
house, cabin, or any barn or other building used in a farm operation.No person,including archery and crossbow hunters, may hunt or discharge a firearm,crossbow, or bow in a safety zone, or shoot at any wild animal or wild bird within a safety zone, without the written permission of the owner or occupant of the property. The safety zone applies to hunting only. It does not apply to indoor or outdoor shooting ranges, target shooting, law enforcement activities or the discharge of firearms, crossbows, or bows for any non-hunting purpose."
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/hunting_and_trapping_digest_461177_7.pdf

This is from our state's (Michigan's) hunting regulations. We are close friends with a DNR officer in our county, and he has to answer many questions about it. What it basically means is that if my neighbor is target shooting (aka not hunting, just shooting at a paper target or bale of straw or whatever) there is NO legal boundary as to where he can or cannot do that, as long as he is on his own property. (Obviously, in hunter safety, we were all taught to never shoot if you are unsure where your bullet will end up.)

If you are HUNTING in Michigan, then you have to follow the 450 feet rule.

Now if she lives in a area that enforces noise ordinances, that could come into play.

The first two weeks in November are filled with constant gunshots here, with people sighting in their guns for deer season. I don't even notice it anymore. I know that's hard for others to understand, but the law is the law.

Terri

 

[Hisgirl]

I think the OP meant there wasn't a house through the woods for a mile.

The thing is...even with a .22, that bullet can travel 1 mile. So let's say someone in that beautiful country area wanted to take a walk through the woods....from that house a mile on the other side of the woods.

Do you see the problem?

Unless your son is sighting his rifle at a shooting range or shooting directly into a tall dirt berm, you do not know where those bullets are landing.

Read that again dearheart....YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE THOSE BULLETS ARE LANDING.

Fired ammo does not stop at property lines.

I'd be calling the cops too and we are avid sport shooters. What he is doing is not safe. Period. In fact, what he is doing is what gives gun ownership a bad name.

 

[anniemae]

Yeah, I agree with your neighbor. If I were her I would be very concerned as well.

 

[fbb]

OP, your description of your property sounds like the description of Dirty Harry's Outdoor Shooting Range in Orange, Texas. So, while I am not a gun owner, it has been my experience that what you are doing is not only common accepted practice in many parts of the country, but that it is acceptable to run a commercial shooting range in a similar space and population density.

The Orange, Texas litmus test will never lead you astray.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

My parents are on an acre and that is on suburbia. I would think it is far too close to shoot anything in their yards...Have you checked on what the laws are in your area? It does not seem right to me.

 

[Sydney2977]

As gun owners, we would never be shooting on our property in a situation like yours. Besides outdoor and indoor commercial ranges, the only other place we shoot is a good friend's property. He has a large acreage and has built a backstop like a commercial outdoor range. He is a firefighter, military reservist, Boy Scout leader, and teaches safety classes to youth and adults in his rural community so he takes the utmost care in what he does. Do you have this same sort of set up on your property?

I can sympathize with the firework situation. We live in a subdivision that is technically outside city limits where our 1/2 acre lot is the largest in the development of about 100 houses. The neighbors behind us (who thankfully just moved last month) set off fireworks every night for a week before and after New Year's and 4th of July for the last 8 years. It drove all the dogs around crazy and was just plain annoying when we were trying to sleep. But nothing ever landed in our yard or on our house and it was legal, so we just had to deal with it.

If it became a safety issue I would have taken it up with them, like your neighbor has tried with you, before involving the authorities. Maybe you should be thankful your neighbor is trying to warn you before someone possibly gets hurt, as other posters have stated.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My parents are on an acre and that is on suburbia. I would think it is far too close to shoot anything in their yards...Have you checked on what the laws are in your area? It does not seem right to me.

Just so you know, I live in the similar circumstances as the OP. It is unincorporated county.

We do have a large farm property next to my subdivision and they are always shooting, esp. on Sundays for some reason.

 

[NewRVLady]

Our lot is 1/2 acre
All my neighbors across street have acre lots
I would freak out if one of their kids was shooting a gun in their yard!

 

[BlovesC]

Maybe for Christmas Santa can bring your son some passes to a shooting range.

 

[sugahjunior]

OP, your description of your property sounds like the description of Dirty Harry's Outdoor Shooting Range in Orange, Texas. So, while I am not a gun owner, it has been my experience that what you are doing is not only common accepted practice in many parts of the country, but that it is acceptable to run a commercial shooting range in a similar space and population density.

My suggestion would be to block your neighbor's cellphone number so you don't get the texts anymore. She is going to have to accept guns being shot on your property, and you are going to have to accept her fireworks. It's something that neighbors have to do sometimes, look the other way.

Although you remind me why nobody other than my wife, children and mother in law has my cell phone number.

If I believed that my neighbor was ignoring a known public safety hazard, I certainly would call the police and possible an attorney to ask about the nuisance laws in my state. So, if that risk is worth it to the OP, she could take this poster's advice, but it might be better to actually address the issues rather than ignoring them.

 

[tvguy]

If I believed that my neighbor was ignoring a known public safety hazard, I certainly would call the police and possible an attorney to ask about the nuisance laws in my state. So, if that risk is worth it to the OP, she could take this poster's advice, but it might be better to actually address the issues rather than ignoring them.

I suspect if there was any violation of any law OP would have been contacted by Police long before now.

 

[bcla]

"Safety Zones Around Buildings
Safety zones are all areas within 150 yards (450 feet) of an occupied building,
house, cabin, or any barn or other building used in a farm operation.No person,including archery and crossbow hunters, may hunt or discharge a firearm,crossbow, or bow in a safety zone, or shoot at any wild animal or wild bird within a safety zone, without the written permission of the owner or occupant of the property. The safety zone applies to hunting only. It does not apply to indoor or outdoor shooting ranges, target shooting, law enforcement activities or the discharge of firearms, crossbows, or bows for any non-hunting purpose."
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/hunting_and_trapping_digest_461177_7.pdf

This is from our state's (Michigan's) hunting regulations. We are close friends with a DNR officer in our county, and he has to answer many questions about it. What it basically means is that if my neighbor is target shooting (aka not hunting, just shooting at a paper target or bale of straw or whatever) there is NO legal boundary as to where he can or cannot do that, as long as he is on his own property. (Obviously, in hunter safety, we were all taught to never shoot if you are unsure where your bullet will end up.)

If you are HUNTING in Michigan, then you have to follow the 450 feet rule.

Now if she lives in a area that enforces noise ordinances, that could come into play.

The first two weeks in November are filled with constant gunshots here, with people sighting in their guns for deer season. I don't even notice it anymore. I know that's hard for others to understand, but the law is the law.

Terri

Someone tried that in a semi-rural part of my county. He basically got in trouble because he thought his permission from one owner was blanket permission.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_15528665

Speck said he told the hunter he had violated state law, which prohibits hunting with deadly weapons within 150 yards of a residence. According to Speck, the hunter believed he was in compliance with the law because he had the homeowner's permission to hunt on the property.

The hunter was half-right. Fish and Game Warden Clint Garrett said hunters also must get permission from all homeowners inside the permission giver's 150-yard safety zone, which the hunter apparently didn't do.

Originally, state law banned all hunting within the safety zone. But Fish and Game Warden Patrick Foy said an exemption was added so a homeowners could hunt on their own properties.

 

[luvsJack]

Not sure where the op is but we have few shooting ranges around here. It sounds like there is hunting going on around her so maybe the woods are used for that purpose?

Our housr backs up to woods and we can shoot guns safely. There is no house for many miles in that direction. And no one would be walking back there as its entirely too thick.

Op, maybe you can explain your set up a little more? It does sort of sound like a sub divsion but then again maybe not.

 

[clh2]

I live in a country subdivision, in a rural area, there are farms nearby.

We have local ordinances that cover roosters as well as fireworks, and noise. Not sure about guns, as I do not own one, and it never really became an issue, so I never needed to know.

So-while it would be nice for neighbors to agree; I would use the local ordinances as a guide. I.e. If there are noise restrictions before 10am, then don't let your son shoot his rifle before 10 am.

 

[sugahjunior]

I suspect if there was any violation of any law OP would have been contacted by Police long before now.

Not if the neighbor was hoping that making op aware of the situation would rectify it. I applaud the neighbor's efforts to attempt to resolve the problem amicably.

 

[bcla]

Just from a purely academic point of view, is it legal for someone to be possessing a firearm without an adult present, assuming that we are talking about someone underage. I do get that it may be a pain (in terms of time and expense) to take a kid to a proper shooting range, but you still need to get along with the neighbors.

Now I have gone target shooting with a friend, although it's been a long time and hasn't interested me in decades. We did indoors, outdoors, and even semi-outdoors in the middle of a suburb. The indoor and semi-outdoor ranges all had backstops designed for shooting, and probably walls that could absorb any really badly aimed shots. The outdoor one was built years ago with a berm as a backstop. I figure a couple hundred feet of dirt will stop pretty much everything.

So in short - it doesn't sound to me as if this neighbor is being unreasonable. It doesn't sound like an appropriate place to be shooting off guns if it's in that close proximity to a neighbor who is uncomfortable with it.

 

[DawnM]

Wow, we have 2.5 acres and our neighbor has over 5. None of us would even think of shooting guns around, even when the deer come.

I would be furious if my boys wandered in our property and got hit by a stray bullet.

 

[Hisgirl]

Speaking as a gun owner and a lover of the outdoors and as the wife of a man who OFTEN loves to walk through the woods, I am horrified that folks are speaking of shooting into the woods.

You never ever ever shoot a gun unless you know exactly where that bullet is landing. Yall, this is so irresponsible. How do you know the bullet isn't traveling into the woods and lodging into the eyeball of a rabbit? You don't. You can't. This is why we go to shooting ranges. What if there was a hunter in the woods??

We own acreage and it's totally wooded and we wouldn't dare randomly shoot into the woods. One time, I saw two little boys, younger than six, walking through the woods. Their daddy was nearby and wanted the boys to enjoy a stroll through the woods. Odd, but there it was. Good thing no one was 'shooting into the woods' that day.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The Orange, Texas litmus test will never lead you astray.

The what? Where? Who made Orange, TX, the boss of us? And why wasn't I told about this?