Backyard Plinking Ct Legal?

[rise999]

Greetings all!



I live in Ct and for years I have used springers in my backyard for target shooting/plinking. 


I now have new neighbors who are not on the best of terms with me, so I am trying to find out if I am in the clear to continue this activity for when they see me and try to report me.


From what I gathered, the law in Ct is 500 feet to buildings when hunting. But you are fine to target shoot (which is all I plan to do) closer as long as you have a good backstop. My “range” is right next to a parking lot this neighbor just built for a business they own (maybe 25 feet away). 


My range is pointed towards almost an acre of woods that I own, and the parking lot on the neighboring property ends behind me and to the left. There are no buildings, cars, trails, or anything within 180 degrees of where I shoot.


That said, I am confident that my neighbor will try to report me even out of spite. I am hopeful that someone here is able to tell me if I’m legal to continue my plinking on my own property! (I feel that my neighbors parking lot which they built without permits should not prevent me from enjoying this form of recreation.) 

 

[dizzums]

get some shrubs and a privacy fence going or just rearrange things so they cant see it. if they question anything about what the noise is tell them to pis off ... and id be all over that sensitive little rear end to checking codes and laws on a business next to my property and slam them with anything you come up with .. be nice if you could make them have to completely remove their pavement or something lol ...

 

[ctshooter]

I'm in CT too and I've really tried to dig into the laws but am only able to find the same rules which relate to hunting.

I have found some stuff in laws that eludes to airguns being considered a dangerous weapon that cannot be carried openly.

Nowhere in state law can I find any further details. 

I think you'll have to dig into your town/city laws in regards to that (ie: Bridgeport law is they are completely illegal.) I am unable to find anything specific for my town so I try to keep things stealthy. I shoot towards the woods, but do have neighbors around, so I try to be extra vigilant and only when no one is around. I also don't shoot anything larger than .22.

I guess you could go to your local police station and ask, but I have concerns there as 1) they might not know either and blow bs up your butt and 2) I don't want to draw any attention to it either.

Summary - not sure, grey area. 

 

[qball]

Definitely go on the stealth mod, quiet PCP and quite targets plus hiding your activity. 

 

[MikeVV]

Rise -

Why ask here, unless you accidently find an officer from your exact area that frequents this site, the rest of the folks here are in no better position to answer your questions than...you are !

Have you...say, actually walked into the local police station, and pleaded your case ?

Maybe a picture or two of your yard, let them know about the new neighbor. Let them know you are shooting air guns, not actual fire arms.

Just like I did, they pulled a few pages of the local laws, and copied them for me to keep. Just get the info from the people that will...enforce said laws if the time comes..!

Mike

 

[ctshooter]

Definitely go on the stealth mod, quiet PCP and quite targets plus hiding your activity.

qball - hiding the target smack is harder than hiding the shot. My .177 is literally just the hammer smack at the gun - but when that pellet hits the paper the smack sounds like it echos through the neighborhood. And this with a rubber mulch backing - just that dang paper smack. I'm thinking of building some kind of cover for my target that muffles the smack sound out to the sides. 

 

[Lotus7]

Background noise helps.

Turn up the music!

 

[ctshooter]

Crank up the gas leaf blower, I guess.

 

[rise999]

Thank you for the relies!



I am definitely not trying to draw attention to this activity which is why I have not contacted the local PD. My town is pretty small and from what I can tell no law exists specifically from the town side of things. So I think anything I do related to this would be under state law.

 

[ctshooter]

Enjoy your shooting - if you do happen to find anything please post it up as it would be helpful to many here.

 

[ImpactX]

Depends. Are you in the country side or city? Pretty much if you are in the city limit, doesn't matter how big your yard is or your back stop. You can not shoot any gun, that includes air guns and bb guns and airsoft and paintball gun. You do, the cops can come and fine you and take your guns. 

Now, if you live in the country side, shoot all you want. The neighbors can complain and call the cops. They can't do anything.

 

[darylm]

If possible, move away from the People’s Republic of CT.

 

[AirShot]

When I lived in a small town some years back, I just ask the local sherriff to pay me a visit. After looking over my range he siad everything is legal according to the law, but neighbors could still complain. Yep I did get some new neighbors and yep they complained, when the sherriff came out, we all got together and discussed safety issues. All ended up accepting what the law specified and we got along fine after. Neighbors still didnt like me shooting but knew they were in no danger. Get the local law enforcement to approve your setup then your good to go. If you hide it you might not come out ahead...know for sure!!!!!

 

[elh0102]

You can probably do a search for discharging firearms within your city or county limits. In most places it's regulated at that level, not at the state level. I know that air rifles are not "firearms" for federal regulatory purposes, but many local jurisdictions specifically include them under the firearms regulations. And some subdivision covenants also prohibit it. I recently found out it is prohibited in my town, although I had never heard of it before. I have shot BB guns and air rifles in the back yard for over 50 years, and never heard of such a law. I haven't changed my habits, and the neighbors have no problem with it. I talked to everyone who might possibly see me in the yard, since these PCP air rifles can look intimidating to anyone not familiar with them. At the time, I didn't know it was against the law, and since finding out, I'm a little more stealthy about it, and no longer bring it up, unless asked. I'm sure the local police have no interest in looking for air rifle shooters. But, I'm also sure, if an officer happened to be riding by and saw me with one of these things, I'd be having a discussion with several of them within a few minutes! If it is against the law in your CT town, and you are not on good terms with your neighbor, that is a dilemma. I suppose I might play ignorant of the law, and be as quiet and invisible as possible with my shooting. 

 

[L.Leon]

If you can do so and it suits you, some sort of screening from said neighbor? This way you go about your business safely, and your neighbor? They won't be the wiser, low profile is best.

 

[qball]

Definitely go on the stealth mod, quiet PCP and quite targets plus hiding your activity.

qball - hiding the target smack is harder than hiding the shot. My .177 is literally just the hammer smack at the gun - but when that pellet hits the paper the smack sounds like it echos through the neighborhood. And this with a rubber mulch backing - just that dang paper smack. I'm thinking of building some kind of cover for my target that muffles the smack sound out to the sides.

yup! Had the same extract problem and why I moved to just single layer of paper towel and some dots with sharpie. Try it!!! 

 

[esingle]

Hello there have been a lot of good ideas : conceal your position, use a silent pellet trap (just S**Ks thought because shooting steel is fun), try to conceal your targets/ back stops as well (making it look like a natural part of your yard or landscape) one other idea is have some thing set up (a nail gun and a 1/2 made bench or other project or something like that ) as to have an excuse to mask any noise and an Answer for what that noise was if you do get a visit from local LE. Most LE tend to be pro gun pro civilian But you are seeing more and more true believers who do not understand that warn and admonish goes a long way and not everything is a federal crime. I wish you the best of luck because nothing is worse than having property , paying the enormous taxes, and not being able to do what you want on your property especially when no one is affected by your activities. Eric

 

[ChRiSiS]

As someone who lives in CT and has researched the question a lot I share your pain. There are no Connecticut wide laws which govern airgun use except for the regulations on hunting (and here you already know about the 500 ft limit) and the fact that using a .177 caliber pellet is allowed in State Forests. I am obviously excluding laws which relate to dangerous use of any potentially dangerous weapon or tool. For example, there are very clear laws relating to using a replica or pellet/bb gun in a robbery (treated like a “real” firearm) or threatening people (treated just as if it was a firearm).

There are however a variety of Town laws. For those who don’t know, CT has Counties, but generally it is run by Towns/Townships. Some towns/cities - Bridgeport comes to mind) have specific laws about airguns. This is the exception though. Most towns don’t care and don’t have any mention about airguns. This means, by the way, that their use, on your property and in a non-dangerous way, is not illegal. That’s not to say that some busybody or asshole might not call the police, but in most instances the cops, once they determine that you are not doing anything stupid or illegal will simply go away.

I would suggest that you look very carefully into your town’s ordinances to see if there is anything there. If you don’t see anything then you are probably OK. I would still use common sense, be careful, and be discreet whenever possible. For example, I live in a shoreline town and have a property which backs on to the Hammonasset river. There is a walking trail along the river and it is possible, especially during the winter, for people walking on the trail to see me standing on my deck shooting at my steel targets 25~40 yards away. Even though I am shooting in a safe direction, towards my woods and away from the river, I generally stop shooting for a little when I see people walking by. Why? Well, I don’t need to alarm some nervous Nellie and I don’t want to have to engage with some busybody about what I am doing on my property. I’m not worried about it, but sometimes a minimum of discretion goes a long way to a peaceful life.

By the way, on one side of my property is 50+ acres of Land Trust Property, heavily wooded, as are my 4 acres. When shooting my airguns long distance (50+ yards) I shoot away from the Land Trust boundary and into my own property. I NEVER shoot in a way that could have a pellet/slug travel outside my property boundary, even if its just woods. I would suggest you take this kind of care as well.

Good Luck. Let us know if you learn anything more.

Chris

 

[Rchammer]

I live in MA and have close neighbor. They complain when I shoot. I get along with them and want to keep the peace. I end up moving my shooting to nighttime.

 

[nobody1]

Try to make it a quiet as possible.

Shoot PCPs, multipump or CO2 air guns with a decent LDC.

Springers are much louder and an LDC does not work as well as on a PCP so avoid them.

Shoot from indoors through an open window to an outdoors target, this way nobody can see you and it greatly reduces the outdoor noise. 

Use a more silent target (paper for instance), with a backstop made of old clothes (T-shirts, etc). 

Shoot a lower power air gun, appropriate for the distance you have, usually 12 FPE should be enough up to 50 yards.