My son and I decided to cowitness / sight-in a new AR that we had built yesterday.
I've been 'blessed' to be able to shoot on my own small property basically on the border of two towns/two counties for years. I have two neighbors who have been here for the entire time we've lived here (11+ years). They live in a different town than I do, but we both live in the same county. I pay city taxes to a different city, have different trash pickup, and when I call 911 from my home, a different (city cop) LEO shows up that if they do (Sheriff). The county in which we live has a 500yd nearest occupied dwelling firearms ordinance with nearly no exceptions. The ordinance was written in 1967, I presume near the high-fervor of whatever thinking led to GCA68 being passed....even some LEO friends I have asked about it call it ridiculous. There's a $500 fine associated with the class 3 misdemeanor infraction associated with violating it.
However, The city in which I live and pay taxes to has a modern 100yd minimum firearms discharge ordinance from the closest residence or occupied building. They make exceptions for property that YOU own (the county ordinance doesn't) or property that you have permission from the owner. The exceptions are hunting, target shooting, self defense, dangerous animals, and LEO/Military duty.
Basically they want you to have a good backstop, be safe, and don't hurt anyone.
Back to my neighbors: They both live further than 100yds away from the area in which we've designated a shooting lane measured via google earth. My nearest neighbor built a fire pit, and detached garage that are nearly in the 100yd radius and basically those are on the property border.
Without drawing a map, we basically intersect like T with my property being the top line and theirs being the perpendicular vertical line.
The rest of the property around me is undeveloped farmland, and empty lots that aren't for sale and it is in the same town that I live in.
I've spoken to the law enforcement officers who are responsible for my house. They have no issue with me target shooting in the confines of the city ordinance.
Here's the kicker: yesterday about 2hrs after dark, I think I hear knocking downstairs so I answer the door and my friend county sheriff is there. I inform him that I am the homeowner, etc. and I step outside while my kids are inside, and close the door.
He informs me that my neighbors have complained about the gunfire noises, etc. Basically he said "they're sick of hearing it" and he informs me of the 500yd ordinance and that includes my home. The neighbor said that he owns guns and loves to shoot, but "I was scaring his dogs and wife" all this time.
I inform him that I live in the City of XXX and the ordinance is only 100yds for me. It was a basically friendly exchange, and we even talked about guns, etc. But I got the gist that it was a warning and if it happened again, he was going to charge me per the ordinance of the county.....
Here's the drama:
SO I promptly look up and verify everything I had told him and he told me was accurate, and I called my neighbor. I asked him why didn't he just call me and tell me to do it some other time, or give me some guidelines because we've been target shooting and sighting in hunting rifles here for YEARS. I told him that we always wait till everyone is inside, we don't shoot every weekend, we don't do rapid fire, never when anyone is walking their dogs, etc. And we've been shooting this way for YEARS. Why call or complain now, right before hunting season when there's going to be ALL KINDS of gunfire every weekend day (and sometimes night). He said it really bothers his wife. So I informed him that his fire pit on the property border sometimes bothers us, when he burns his yard trash and it blows over my dinner plate while we are eating on summertime nights, but instead of calling the fire marshall.....we just go inside. Needless to say, he understands now that in the future, that will no longer be the case.
BTW this neighbor likes to drink liquor every weekend, talk loudly and play the radio loud in his garage (garage door faces toward my house......10 ft from our property while house is more like 100ft away, it has a separate driveway) and I never expected him to ask permission to enjoy his own property. He also mows an empty lot next door that is congruent to our property lines to make his yard look bigger (keeps down the rabbits...is the story). he doesn't own but around 80ft of our shared property line but they damn sure spend more time on that 80ft line than anywhere else on their own land. I've heard him over there shooting what I imagine is a pistol from time to time. So...guess that is all out the window.
Anybody have a similar situation happen? If so, anyone know if the county overrides a city ordinance or vice versa?
And please don't give me a response to 'make peace' with this guy. AFAIK they're both retired, and want to move to the mountains. I certainly don't want to be the reason (with our great relationship) the door misses hitting him in the ass while he's hammering in his for sale sign. Up till now we've both tolerated our quirks/faults almost perfectly. Guess things done changed.
Here's some pics:
Street View
![Image]()
![Image]()
The big red rectangle is a lot that isn't for sale, and my neighbor neglected to buy it from the owner because the price is too high. The large rectangle is approximate lot lines for my property. The red arrow shows direction of fire towards 50 acre farm field.
Here's the big picture:
![Image]()
I've been 'blessed' to be able to shoot on my own small property basically on the border of two towns/two counties for years. I have two neighbors who have been here for the entire time we've lived here (11+ years). They live in a different town than I do, but we both live in the same county. I pay city taxes to a different city, have different trash pickup, and when I call 911 from my home, a different (city cop) LEO shows up that if they do (Sheriff). The county in which we live has a 500yd nearest occupied dwelling firearms ordinance with nearly no exceptions. The ordinance was written in 1967, I presume near the high-fervor of whatever thinking led to GCA68 being passed....even some LEO friends I have asked about it call it ridiculous. There's a $500 fine associated with the class 3 misdemeanor infraction associated with violating it.
However, The city in which I live and pay taxes to has a modern 100yd minimum firearms discharge ordinance from the closest residence or occupied building. They make exceptions for property that YOU own (the county ordinance doesn't) or property that you have permission from the owner. The exceptions are hunting, target shooting, self defense, dangerous animals, and LEO/Military duty.
Basically they want you to have a good backstop, be safe, and don't hurt anyone.
Back to my neighbors: They both live further than 100yds away from the area in which we've designated a shooting lane measured via google earth. My nearest neighbor built a fire pit, and detached garage that are nearly in the 100yd radius and basically those are on the property border.
Without drawing a map, we basically intersect like T with my property being the top line and theirs being the perpendicular vertical line.
The rest of the property around me is undeveloped farmland, and empty lots that aren't for sale and it is in the same town that I live in.
I've spoken to the law enforcement officers who are responsible for my house. They have no issue with me target shooting in the confines of the city ordinance.
Here's the kicker: yesterday about 2hrs after dark, I think I hear knocking downstairs so I answer the door and my friend county sheriff is there. I inform him that I am the homeowner, etc. and I step outside while my kids are inside, and close the door.
He informs me that my neighbors have complained about the gunfire noises, etc. Basically he said "they're sick of hearing it" and he informs me of the 500yd ordinance and that includes my home. The neighbor said that he owns guns and loves to shoot, but "I was scaring his dogs and wife" all this time.
I inform him that I live in the City of XXX and the ordinance is only 100yds for me. It was a basically friendly exchange, and we even talked about guns, etc. But I got the gist that it was a warning and if it happened again, he was going to charge me per the ordinance of the county.....
Here's the drama:
SO I promptly look up and verify everything I had told him and he told me was accurate, and I called my neighbor. I asked him why didn't he just call me and tell me to do it some other time, or give me some guidelines because we've been target shooting and sighting in hunting rifles here for YEARS. I told him that we always wait till everyone is inside, we don't shoot every weekend, we don't do rapid fire, never when anyone is walking their dogs, etc. And we've been shooting this way for YEARS. Why call or complain now, right before hunting season when there's going to be ALL KINDS of gunfire every weekend day (and sometimes night). He said it really bothers his wife. So I informed him that his fire pit on the property border sometimes bothers us, when he burns his yard trash and it blows over my dinner plate while we are eating on summertime nights, but instead of calling the fire marshall.....we just go inside. Needless to say, he understands now that in the future, that will no longer be the case.
BTW this neighbor likes to drink liquor every weekend, talk loudly and play the radio loud in his garage (garage door faces toward my house......10 ft from our property while house is more like 100ft away, it has a separate driveway) and I never expected him to ask permission to enjoy his own property. He also mows an empty lot next door that is congruent to our property lines to make his yard look bigger (keeps down the rabbits...is the story). he doesn't own but around 80ft of our shared property line but they damn sure spend more time on that 80ft line than anywhere else on their own land. I've heard him over there shooting what I imagine is a pistol from time to time. So...guess that is all out the window.
Anybody have a similar situation happen? If so, anyone know if the county overrides a city ordinance or vice versa?
And please don't give me a response to 'make peace' with this guy. AFAIK they're both retired, and want to move to the mountains. I certainly don't want to be the reason (with our great relationship) the door misses hitting him in the ass while he's hammering in his for sale sign. Up till now we've both tolerated our quirks/faults almost perfectly. Guess things done changed.
Here's some pics:
Street View
The big red rectangle is a lot that isn't for sale, and my neighbor neglected to buy it from the owner because the price is too high. The large rectangle is approximate lot lines for my property. The red arrow shows direction of fire towards 50 acre farm field.
Here's the big picture:
