Target shooting in backyard? (Map attached - Carroll County)

[Catmj]

Just my 2 cents, but I’ve got a co-worker who lives on about 5 acres outside of Westminster with changing elevations. He’s been shooting on his property for a few years now, usually in the evenings after work. He told me a couple of weeks ago the neighbors are now complaining about the noise. He said he’d limit it to Saturday’s only, but if they still complain, he may just have to have pissed off neighbors.

[lemmdus]

A good rule of thumb is when in doubt, don't especially when it comes to firearms and Maryland. Carroll County is pretty gun friendly, and if you have the land like that in CC, I would say go meet your neighbors, tell them what you want to do, where you will be pointing, when, etc. you might find you have a couple more friends and targets that you didn't know you were going to have.

[lemmdus]

Originally Posted by Catmj

Just my 2 cents, but I’ve got a co-worker who lives on about 5 acres outside of Westminster with changing elevations. He’s been shooting on his property for a few years now, usually in the evenings after work. He told me a couple of weeks ago the neighbors are now complaining about the noise. He said he’d limit it to Saturday’s only, but if they still complain, he may just have to have pissed off neighbors.

That's becoming a problem now in Carroll Country, encroachment of the Balt/Wash suburb trash. I would say if your friend has the room and a good back stop and not in the Westminster City limits, fire away anytime he wants. Let the neighbors complain. They can move back to Montg or Howard or Balt County.

[172pilot]

Originally Posted by Mr. B

I'll just add start with some CCI Quiet 22 the first time to "break the ice" with the neighbors.

I dont really have the answer, but wanted to add my experience to the conversation..

I live in CC also (just outside Mount Airy limits) and live on 0.5 acres, but have 75 acres of corn right behind my house. I went to the state police in person to ask this, and was told he had no idea if it was legal or not.. I said, OK.. so, if my neighbor calls you, are you going to come to my house guns drawn? and he couldn't give me an answer, so I went to my closest neighbor and asked if he's be upset with me shooting in the backyard, and he said "Only if you dont invite me!".. I still have one other close neighbor that I dont know well and haven't talked to, but I did actually go out and shoot a small number of the CCI quiet 22 as a "test" and nobody complained.. I'd love to know the real answer. I did have someone tell me that the state law was that as long as the lead didnt leave my property, it was legal, but I have a feeling there may be county laws that add to that..

[lazarus]

Originally Posted by 172pilot

I dont really have the answer, but wanted to add my experience to the conversation..

I live in CC also (just outside Mount Airy limits) and live on 0.5 acres, but have 75 acres of corn right behind my house. I went to the state police in person to ask this, and was told he had no idea if it was legal or not.. I said, OK.. so, if my neighbor calls you, are you going to come to my house guns drawn? and he couldn't give me an answer, so I went to my closest neighbor and asked if he's be upset with me shooting in the backyard, and he said "Only if you dont invite me!".. I still have one other close neighbor that I dont know well and haven't talked to, but I did actually go out and shoot a small number of the CCI quiet 22 as a "test" and nobody complained.. I'd love to know the real answer. I did have someone tell me that the state law was that as long as the lead didnt leave my property, it was legal, but I have a feeling there may be county laws that add to that..

Yes. counties and many of the towns/cities have ordinances regulating it.

With discharge if firearms, even if legal, best to talk to your neighbors. They might have perfectly good reasons they don’t want you doing it. For instance you might think your backstop is okay and it isn’t towards the neighbors house, but their kids’ swing set us through those trees and you can’t see it right now.

Or they do shift work and Tuesday through Saturday they are sleeping when you want to be shooting. So asking they’d be cool if you wanted to do it Sunday and Monday. Stuff like that.

A lot of neighbors you can find compromise with. The ones you can’t, just have to ask yourself is it worth it to pursue and piss them off. Might be. Might not be. Also how likely are they to find out. If it’s legal and perfectly safe and you are shooting quiets or suppressed 22lr at not metal targets and they can’t see you or your shooting range ever, maybe don’t stir a hornets nets by asking.

Same with hunting. If you are legal and the deer aren’t likely to ever leave your property, why ask? But if your neighbors can see you, even if legal, you might want to just mention it and test waters. Then you know if you’ll be able to knock on their door if a deer runs on to their property...or if the deer is lost at that point.

I had to ask two neighbors because otherwise I’ve got about a 30yd radius I can hunt off my back patio that is okay with safety zones. I’ve talked to two others because I wanted to hunt more of my property both because of the huge safety zones HoCo has even for archery from a stand (still 150yds) and also because deer are likely to run that direction and I might have one run on to their property. I’ve got one more neighbor to talk to because of that to open up the rest of my back woods.

Anyway, hard to hide gunshots and a neighbor might be reasonable and also have a reason they may want you to limit/adjust where or when you shoot. Many react better being given a heads up rather than coming to knock after you’ve started doing something.

[njjr1989]

Even if it is legal, it may still upset his neighbors. He must live there and his neighbors good will should mean something to him. My daughter has 12 acres in upper Baltimore County. We would occasionally target practice there. One day the police showed up. They told us we were not violating any county laws but they had a complaint from several neighbors. It was decided that we would not shoot there anymore as a goodwill move. It's not a matter of our rights, or the second amendment. It's common decency and going along to get along.

[dist1646]

Originally Posted by njjr1989

Even if it is legal, it may still upset his neighbors. He must live there and his neighbors good will should mean something to him. My daughter has 12 acres in upper Baltimore County. We would occasionally target practice there. One day the police showed up. They told us we were not violating any county laws but they had a complaint from several neighbors. It was decided that we would not shoot there anymore as a goodwill move. It's not a matter of our rights, or the second amendment. It's common decency and going along to get along.

"Going along to get along."
That is how "rights" are lost, more often than not.
As long as you were safe, common decency would have been for the neighbors to not interfere with the exercise of your duty to train as part of "a well regulated militia".

[lazarus]

Originally Posted by dist1646

"Going along to get along."
That is how "rights" are lost, more often than not.
As long as you were safe, common decency would have been for the neighbors to not interfere with the exercise of your duty to train as part of "a well regulated militia".

Legal doesn’t mean “not a dick”. It’s legal for me to put up a giant sign saying my neighbor is an A-hole.

Probably still going to rightfully piss them off.

I wouldn’t necessarily say don’t do it if you are legal and safe. However, I do think you need to talk to the neighbors first if you want to be a decent neighbor. As I mentioned previously, there could be a good reason they might want to discuss and negotiate it (night shift. PTSD, whatever).

If they are A-hats, maybe you say screw them. On the other hand, I’ve had shitty relationships with next door neigbors it sucks. The more land you live on, the less it matters. A couple acres isn’t a ton to live on and have really bad relations with your immediate neighbors.

[bobwilley]

Talbot Co is where I am, and I talked to the local Sheriff and he stated that he and the DA have reviewed the laws and the hunting setback only applies to hunting, not target shooting.

So I built a shooting range with railroad ties, with 18 tons of dirt behind it, so far no issues. On just over an acre in rural county.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by bobwilley

Talbot Co is where I am, and I talked to the local Sheriff and he stated that he and the DA have reviewed the laws and the hunting setback only applies to hunting, not target shooting.

So I built a shooting range with railroad ties, with 18 tons of dirt behind it, so far no issues. On just over an acre in rural county.

Outstanding!! Good for you...love hearing stories like this. Hopefully no one will complain, but at least you don't have to worry about it quite as much if they do. Did the Sheriff and DA review the laws as a result of your request for clarification, or did it seem like it had been settled long before? My guess they get a consistent stream of calls...