Rules and Laws for private ranges??

[Thegeek]

I've been given permission by the owners of a piece of land out in Henry Co. to setup a range. It has a Spiceland address, but is outside the town limits. I checked the Henry Co. government site and there are no ordinances listed that would prevent me from shooting. But, as we all know the law is layer upon layer and it's not always clear cut.

I've been searching on here and so far I've seen references to a 10 acre minimum, 200 feet from a road, and a couple other "rules" but nothing with references back to actual laws. Can someone point me in the right direction?

 

[KLB]

Any law you would have to worry about would be local to your county. You could try asking the Sheriff's office.

Make sure you have a good backstop when you do start shooting.

 

[Thegeek]

Think of Hickok45's range. The land profile is about the same. All downhill with thick woods behind it, and not a man made thing for well over a mile.

 

[KittySlayer]

How about a sign with some of your Range Rules. While you know how to setup and use the range safely you may not always be there and other users could use a reminder.

i.e. the landowner's relatives are in town for the weekend and go to the unsupervised range to shoot a little. A little safety reminder could prevent an injury.

 

[Leadeye]

Signs are a good idea, back in the 80s I was shooting NFA items at a private range with friends and you can imagine our astonishment when two people came over the berm while we were loading mags. They just wanted to see what the noise was.

 

[Thegeek]

The land owners are my dad and uncle. I'm the only authorized user.

I've emailed the Sheriff, so we'll see how that plays out.

 

[KLB]

Think of Hickok45's range. The land profile is about the same. All downhill with thick woods behind it, and not a man made thing for well over a mile.

Does the ground go up at some point, or is it all downhill?

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Why not just make an appointment with a land use attorney in New Castle? Call, book an hour and e-mail the questions you have. Cheap insurance.

The feds and NRA have some fantastic suggestions for ranges. I have linked before to the Minnesota DNR booklet on ranges which has photos that help.

Shooting downhill I'd want some gabions at the end and sides so projectiles don't flip out.

 

[Mgderf]

Some years back now I got into building AR15's.
I put together a couple for myself, then went nuts and built one to give to my brother, just because he didn't have one, but had been thinking about them.
I took it to his house to show it to him. He said he was impressed, until I told him it was his, then he was ecstatic!

Flash forward about 3 weeks, and I got a phone call out of the blue.
Brother installed a 50 yard range in his front yard!

He did nothing more than to stack railroad ties into a u-shape, then filled it with dirt.
The range drops in elevation, but only by a coupe of feet.
The back wall is only about 5 feet tall, but the berm in front of it is 6 feet thick at the base.

It is more than safe enough, given the outlying terrain.
He did not bother to ask any permission. It is private property, but there are neighbors.

Funny thing about the neighbors. Whenever my brother, or any of us really, start shooting, all the neighbors start shooting too.
No, not in our direction.

 

[Thegeek]

Why not just make an appointment with a land use attorney in New Castle? Call, book an hour and e-mail the questions you have. Cheap insurance.

The feds and NRA have some fantastic suggestions for ranges. I have linked before to the Minnesota DNR booklet on ranges which has photos that help.

Shooting downhill I'd want some gabions at the end and sides so projectiles don't flip out.

Because I didn't know such a thing existed. Would that be free?

No need for gabions. It's basically a miniature valley. All three sides are so steep, you can't walk up. The only way a round would get out is to go straight up. I'll have a bobcat steel something as my target. It's pretty much the ideal scenario.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Because I didn't know such a thing existed. Would that be free?

No, not free. TANSTAAFL and all. You want something with experience in real estate, zoning, bza, nuisance, maybe agriculture, a land use attorney.

You spend an hour and a few hundred bucks and you are set.

Further, there is always a need for gabions. Do you realize how often I get to use the word gabion? Extremely rare.