This has been an interesting thread and reminds me of my own situation dealing with a jackass neighbor who has taken exception to my backyard shooting.
I'm fortunate to live in a subdivision in an unincorporated area where houses are on widely spaced 3/4 acre lots with hundreds of yards of wild open space between streets. My back yard borders wide open space and my nearest neighbor behind me is over a half mile away. When I moved into my home the houses to either side of me were empty due to foreclosures so I enjoyed shooting any of my air rifles on my 50-yard range (including a .22 Sumatra) on a daily basis knowing I would not be disturbing anyone.
Fast forward a year -- both properties next door are sold and new neighbors moved in. I am always considerate and respectful of my neighbors, so without any provocation from them I purchased an LDC for the Sumatra (all my other rifles are moderated and very quiet) and adjusted my shooting times to occur only between 0900 and 1800. I always have used silent type pellet traps of one form or another and I only shoot in the direction of the vast open space behind me where a hill forms a natural backstop.
Within a couple of months of the new neighbors moving in, the local county sheriffs show up at the door to ask me if I had been shooting at one of their houses. Apparently this neighbor (a curmudgeonly retired couple) complained to the sheriffs office that I had put a hole through one of their vent pipes on top of their roof. I could never even imagine doing something like that. The friendly sheriff's deputy also informed me that this neighbor was in fear of his safety and that the noise from my shooting was a nuisance. So I gladly walked the deputy through by backyard range, showing the inherent safety of shooting direction, backstops, traps, etc., and then showed him my rifles (he was very impressed, as his knowledge of modern air rifles was Crosman 760/Daisy 880 type equipment). I shot a couple rounds through each of my air rifles to demonstrate how quiet my rifles were and even let him take a few shots. He had a big smile on his face as he told me I had nothing to worry about as I was not violating any ordinances and based on how quiet my air rifles were he judged my neighbor's complaint as baseless. All copacetic now right?
Wrong. Jackass then pursued complaining through our homeowners association, whose bylaws do not prohibit shooting air guns per se, but does have a provision for nuisance complaints. The HOA president is a friend and a co-worker and fortunately a very reasonable person. To be absolutely fair he performed due diligence with the complaint and came over to see my set-up (which I always welcome). He too was amazed at the power, precision, and quietness of modern air rifles and quickly determined that the HOA had no further role in this complaint. We had quite a lengthy discussion about air guns and his teenage sons shooting ground squirrels in the open spaces of the subdivision (perfectly legal). They were shooting with some very low-end springers, which triggered a thought in my mind about two very lonely (but capable -- professionally tuned) break barrel air rifles in my collection that have been totally neglected since my whole-hog dive into PCPs. Given that I had no further use for them, I decided to give them (including the scopes) to his sons as a gift. I must admit, my "charity" had the ulterior motive of sowing goodwill with the HOA in the hopes of deflecting any future frivolous complaints
In stark contrast, the neighbor on the other side is very cool. He's an airline pilot whom I talk flying stuff with whenever we're outside chatting. When I asked him about the noise from my air rifles, he said, "what noise?"
So I continue to enjoy air gunning in my back yard, secure in knowing I practice safety and give reasonable consideration and respect to all. Some people are just assholes and sometimes we have to live next door to them......the challenge is not to stoop to their level and compromise our character by returning hate for hate. I have reached out to Jackass a couple of times, but he avoids me. He even complained to the HOA that I trespassed on his property, when I took a parcel to his door that was delivered to me in error. I actually pray for him -- he's got to be one tortured soul to be the way he is. I especially pray for his wife....
