Cecil County to “look into” restricting discharging of firearms on private property!?

[Rob R.]

***2nd Amendment Alert - Council President Joyce Bowlsbey promises to "look into" restricting the discharging of firearms on private property***

During the December 5th "Citizen's Corner" meeting, a small group of homeowners from the Chesapeake City area called on the County Council to enact new laws that would prevent a neighbor from using his rifle for target shooting. DNR and local police had been called in the past and determined that the shooter was discharging the firearm legally. One person who advocated for new shooting restrictions admitted that the person shooting "was not a nuisance" but he had concerns about safety, even though he had not talked to or visited the neighbor who is doing the shooting.

Council President Joyce Bowlsbey told the group opposed to the shooting that she understands their concerns because she has neighbors on two sides of her house that also shoot. She added that she's "afraid to go out and pick Christmas greens for fear of getting shot." Bowlsbey then stated, "People don't need automatic weapons as far as I'm concerned." It's unclear if Bowlsbey understands the difference between semi-auto and fully-auto weapons which are already severely restricted.

Bowlsbey finished the discussion by saying "This is an issue I appreciate and we (the council) can talk about it. We'll look into it."

Cecil County Campaign for Liberty will be watching this situation closely and vigorously oppose any attempts to restrict the Second Amendment rights of Cecil County Citizens. Bowlsbey's comments are concerning on their own, but those concerns are amplified because Alan McCarthy introduced a bill to restrict shooting on private property a few years ago while serving as Council Vice-President. This would seem to indicate that he would support any similar legislation that may be proposed. It should also be noted that Councilwoman Jackie Gregory defended McCarthy's proposed shooting restrictions while she was still a leader in the now-defunct "Cecil County Patriots" organization.

You can listen to the audio from Citizen's Corner by clicking on the link included below.

http://www.ccgov.org/home/showdocument?id=25459

 

[iH8DemLibz]

If they can't take them away, they will make it difficult to use them.

Backdoor gun control.

Best of luck fighting the Cecil County grabbers/restrictors.

 

[lazarus]

If she is picking those Christmas greens on her neighbors property, then getting shot is probably a legitimate concern. If not, then either they are shooting negligently or she has nothing to worry about.

 

[Rob R.]

Another reason why the hearing protection act/sportsman bill should already be flying thru to the presidents desk if not for LV which we still have zero camera footage of and lots of questions about.
I shoot on my property relatively often and to hear this from Cecil County is very eye opening. Reason why I’ve directed my gun budget to getting a rimfire, 9mm, and a 30 cal can as my distant neighbors have never complained and I plan to keep it that way.. In Europe it’s actually considered rude to shoot rifles unsuppressed, if you want a can they are on a peg hook at your local sporting store.. I remember some guys on another gun group mentioning rimfire cans are like $50-$75 over there..
Cecil is the one county east of Baltimore I would just assume to stand tall when it comes to anything anti 2a..
However Cecil recently required property owners to connect to public wastewater where possible at the cost of $6,000 within a 10yr deadline. Despite a big public outcry and opposition it changed nothing so anything is possible I suppose.

 

[buellsfurn]

man it just seems like it will never end something else we cant do properly on our own property that we go to work and pay for. If they don't want people to shoot on their property then their should fair amount more gun ranges in the state of Maryland.But we all know will never happen just take take take

 

[Makanik]

Just another person that can not mind their own business. If people just worried about what is going on with their own life they would be better off. Around me on Sundays it sounds like World War 3 and there are never complaints. Why because there has never been anyone hurt and we mind our own business. Maybe the person that lives next to them should start complaining about their doings.

 

[kraftyone]

Thanks for the info wife and I are moving in the spring and one of my requirements is enough land to make a backstop and shoot at home. Will keep an ear on this as it may impact my search decisions

 

[frogman68]

This has as much chance as passing as Shall Issue does in MD

 

[Doctor_M]

This kind of crap burns me up. It's not a nuisance and it's legal, but I don't like your right to do it so I'm going to stop it. I would say that the citizens responsible for these complaints are free to move a quarter of a mile east of Chesapeake City.

 

[Not_an_outlaw]

man it just seems like it will never end something else we cant do properly on our own property that we go to work and pay for. If they don't want people to shoot on their property then their should fair amount more gun ranges in the state of Maryland.But we all know will never happen just take take take

Hey, where's the park for the hoodlum motorcyclists in Baltimore that was promised?

 

[kraftyone]

If I had to guess probably horse people they are some of the biggest a**holes no matter where they are been yelled at many times by them in fairhill they think they own that place

 

[BossmanPJ]

I live in Cecil and shoot on my property on a weekly basis. Never any complaints. Of course, most of my neighbors do the same.

 

[frogman68]

If I had to guess probably horse people they are some of the biggest a**holes no matter where they are been yelled at many times by them in fairhill they think they own that place

Or a transplant from Ft Monmouth

I live in Cecil and shoot on my property on a weekly basis. Never any complaints. Of course, most of my neighbors do the same.

Thats why it will never pass. Like said in the link , we fix your your problem and create problems for others.

The guy doing most of the talking said he is a 2A advocate but uses a rod

 

[brownspotz]

If I had to guess probably horse people they are some of the biggest a**holes no matter where they are been yelled at many times by them in fairhill they think they own that place

I cannot stand horse people!!! My neighbors have those things as lawn ornaments, They had the audacity to ask me to stop splitting firewood as their precious "petuna" was traumatized by the sound of the splitter. I was like nope,go away.

 

[Mark75H]

Wouldn't MD's state pre-emption prevent a new county gun law? This isn't about a park or school or county office building which I think counties are still allowed authority.

 

[zoostation]

Wouldn't MD's state pre-emption prevent a new county gun law? This isn't about a park or school or county office building which I think counties are still allowed authority.

MD's pre-emption under 4-209(b) prohibits local government from regulating discharge at "established ranges." How the courts would define an "established" range is anybody's guess. My guess is that they would define it as commercial ranges and formal clubs. Many of the counties have local ordinances prohibiting discharge within x-number of feet from a dwelling and I don't think they've ever been overturned under pre-emption grounds.

You do bring up an interesting point though. It would be an interesting idea to try to use the pre-emption law against some of the more draconian local laws, like Howard County's for instance, that pretty much doesn't let you target shoot anywhere even on your own farm except while hunting unless you have a Zoning inspected & approved range.

https://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2005/gcr/4-209.html

 

[Fester60]

Is the rule in most MD counties still just shoot at least 150 yards from the nearest neighbor's house?

 

[Mark75H]

I though state pre-emption was what nullified the MoCo and Annapolis City ammo purchase laws

 

[j_h_smith]

It's never a good idea when the governing body of a county says they will look into something like this. It's even worse if this is the second time they said they'd look into it.

 

[lazarus]

This kind of crap burns me up. It's not a nuisance and it's legal, but I don't like your right to do it so I'm going to stop it. I would say that the citizens responsible for these complaints are free to move a quarter of a mile east of Chesapeake City.

Only limitation on it I think are reasonable is safe setbacks, the same as they are for hunting, and possibly limit the hours you can shoot recreationally to whatever local noise ordinances might be. Not many people shoot at night, but if I had a Neighbor rocking mag dumps at 11 o’clock at night would seriously piss me off. Most noise ordinance I’ve seen are “quiet” hours from like 9pm to 7am or something like that.

Hunting, predator/varmit and self protection of course not included.