Shooting on your property. (Athol: fit in, crime, neighborhood)

[DanoftheMountain]

I am wondering about laws concerning shooting on your own property. Obviously not in any city limits, but what about the counties in the panhandle? Is it common? How many acres might be necessary for your shooting range?

[lluvia]

Originally Posted by DanoftheMountain

I am wondering about laws concerning shooting on your own property. Obviously not in any city limits, but what about the counties in the panhandle? Is it common? How many acres might be necessary for your shooting range?

I would wager okay especially if someone was committing a crime like B&E.

[Cnynrat]

I'm not really sure what the laws are up here in the panhandle - I should probably look them up some time.

Shooting on your property is quite common in the rural parts of the area (i.e. outside city limits). There was a small shooting range on our place in Sagle when we bought it. The prior owner built a small shed to shoot from, and we can get out to about 80 yards. We have 20 acres, and enough rolling terrain that we are able to use a natural hillside as a backstop.

I have a friend who lives on about 7 acres down in Athol and he built a range on his place. His property is very flat, so he used his tractor to build up a berm to shoot into.

Obviously, safety is the most important consideration, more so than some arbitrary property size. That said, I think it may become more challenging to set up a safe range on properties smaller than 5 acres or so. Some of that will depend on what's around you.

Also, while it's not at all uncommon for us to hear shooting from neighboring properties, we don't often hear people shooting for hours on end. Part of the reason folks live here is for the peace and quiet, so be mindful of your neighbors as well.

Dave

[oregonwoodsmoke]

If you are considerate, and set up your range so it is well back-stopped and absolutely no chance of a bullet getting past your property line, and you have some decency about noise, it is unlikely that anyone would ever complain.

I've got a neighbor (not in Northern Idaho) who shoots a lot of something really big. Seriously, I don't know how he can afford that much ammo. But he only shoots in the middle of the day and stops after an hour. That's really different than a neighbor who goes out after work and blasts away for hours when the neighbors are trying to unwind from work and get the kids settled into bed.

It also matters how responsible you are. I don't worry about any of my neighbors who shoot because all of them are mature, responsible people, including the neighbor who walks around the neighborhood with a pistol strapped to his hip. If a neighbor was druggy or had loud fights with his wife all the time and did a lot of shooting, that would be worrisome.

My experience with living out in the country is that some yahoo is always moving in who thinks that he can do whatever he wants because he is no longer in the city. Those people are terrible neighbors and are actively disliked in the neighborhood.

That's right. It has nothing to do with what is legal or not, but if you want to fit into your new area and receive the sort of community feeling that the rest of your neighbors are getting from each other, you must have some consideration for those living around you. Most of your new neighbors live in the country because they prefer peace and quiet, so have a bit of consideration about the noise you are making. Just because you are out in the country does not mean that your noise is going to stop at your property line.

[banjomike]

Woodsmoke's right.
Shooting on a person's property isn't a big deal here legally at all; the laws are quite lax in general in regards to prohibition.

But neighbors and the public in general do have to be thought of by any shooter, and must be taken into account. You are free to shoot, but if your bullet hits a neighbor's cow, it's still your bullet and your responsibility. other incidents, like accidentally striking a passing car on a public road, can be worse.

The noise factor is a pretty big deal, for sure.

It really helps any newbie to go around and meet their neighbors, and get to know them before they begin practice shooting.

[Cnynrat]

I did a quick search of the Bonner County code for the word "firearms" and the only results that came back had to do with regulations of county run recreational areas and formal shooting ranges, so it seems there are no specific regulations that address shooting on private property.

There is a noise code that I suspect strictly speaking could be used to limit shooting on private property. It defines "objectionable noise" as noise over 60 dB at the property line (discharge of all firearms would be louder than that). Whether this could be used to regulate shooting on private property may be subject to some legal debate since state law only allows counties and cities to regulate discharge of firearms based on safety issues, so some might argue that noise is not a safety issue.

In any case, as I said it's quite common to shoot on your own property. As we all have noted you do need to think about the impact on your neighbor though.

Dave

[elousv]

Don't forget that in IDAHO, you can get a silencer by filling out a couple forms and paying the "tax".

[Shaner]

We shoot all the time on my buddies 10 acres right outside of town. Just be smart and shoot into a mountain side like we do or have some sort of back stop. Also make sure you talk to your neighbors and have good rapport with them. Dont want to be that ******* who is shooting all the time and pisses off the neighbors.

[Sagle Sam 2016]

Like Dave, we have 20 acres in Sagle and can blast away all we want because we are set up safely. Of course, we are not a-holes about it by blasting away all the time or at ridiculous hours. We hear shooting frequently though and celebrate the sounds of freedom.

[Sandpointian]

there are four types. Responsible gun owners. Yahoos. Accommodating non-gun owners. Gun haters.

The yahoos are yahoos in all aspects of life. They could care less about anyone else, whether it is gun use, noise, how they drive, how they deal with easements, etc. Best to avoid them, period.

The haters of guns are not interested in conversation. They do not care about anything other than their own perspective, regardless of whether it is makes sense. They are also best to avoid.

This leaves the conversation to responsible gun owners and those non-gun owners who are calm and reasonable. As long as both groups respect each other to the highest degree, we can coexist.

Shooting Power rifles requires quite a bit of forethought and research into the physics of ballistics and trajectories. I know many who are fantastically humble. But they tell me stories of the yahoos they have come across.

Bonner and Boundary County have all four types. It is important for anyone living in NID to get to know their neighbors and to assess which type they are with respect to firearms.

Sorry if I did not directly answer your post.

S.