Shooting in private land in Adams?

**Pham27** · June 29th, 2013, 05:27 PM

Hey guys, I was just wondering on the legality of shooting on your own piece of land? I'm from VA, but frequently visit my relatives who give me permission to run the land. Will I get any LEOs knocking on my door, if I have a field day? This is all with proper backstop and safety precautions, of course. Any feedback would be helpful.
Thanks- Pham

**johnnyishootstuff** · June 29th, 2013, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by Pham27

Hey guys, I was just wondering on the legality of shooting on your own piece of land? I'm from VA, but frequently visit my relatives who give me permission to run the land. Will I get any LEOs knocking on my door, if I have a field day? This is all with proper backstop and safety precautions, of course. Any feedback would be helpful.
Thanks- Pham

How much land do they have? How much land do the neighbors have?

**Pham27** · June 29th, 2013, 08:41 PM

I don't have an exact number, I'd guess around 10 acres. The neighbors adjacent all have about the same, the one behind us has probably 30ish acres.

**glocke12** · June 30th, 2013, 06:36 AM

The amount of land you have doesn't have anything to do with it. You can have one acre and still probably shoot some calibers safely provided there is nothing behind you, you have a backstop, and you use common sense.

Check your local ordinances which can more than likely be found online...

If there is nothing that prohibits the discharge of firearms than you are probably good to go. One thing to be aware of is that many townships have ordinances that relate to both noise and nuisance's, so if you find out you have a neighbor that doesn't like you shooting they can use one of these to get you to stop.

In my township (Nockamixon), you cannot have any noise >55 decibels leave your property which is ridiculous as that is right around the volume of a person speaking in a normal voice. There is also a nuisance ordinance which is written loosely enough so that anything can be considered a nuisance.

**johnnyishootstuff** · June 30th, 2013, 06:47 AM

Originally Posted by glocke12

The amount of land you have doesn't have anything to do with it. You can have one acre and still probably shoot some calibers safely provided there is nothing behind you, you have a backstop, and you use common sense.

Check your local ordinances which can more than likely be found online...

If there is nothing that prohibits the discharge of firearms than you are probably good to go. One thing to be aware of is that many townships have ordinances that relate to both noise and nuisance's, so if you find out you have a neighbor that doesn't like you shooting they can use one of these to get you to stop.

In my township (Nockamixon), you cannot have any noise >55 decibels leave your property which is ridiculous as that is right around the volume of a person speaking in a normal voice. There is also a nuisance ordinance which is written loosely enough so that anything can be considered a nuisance.

The amount of land most certainly is a factor. Even you said so with the decibels leaving your property - more property less likely the the sound is going to raise suspicion.

Some people think 1/2 acre is darn near a farm, and you wouldn't want to start shooting in a cookie cutter soccer mom development.

As long as we're talking about ordinance, then you should mention zoning. Properties are zoned differently and different rules apply to each. If you're zoned as a farm, you can have livestock - yet dense residential zoning does not allow that.

**glocke12** · June 30th, 2013, 07:09 AM

Originally Posted by johnnyishootstuff

The amount of land most certainly is a factor. Even you said so with the decibels leaving your property - more property less likely the the sound is going to raise suspicion.

You don't need 10 or 20 acres of land to shoot some calibers safely. I wouldn't be shooting a high-powered rifle on the 5 acres I have, but I can safely shoot 22 rf, 9 mm, 45, and shotguns.

As far as the amount of decibels leaving your land, do you know how loud 55 dbs is? If I talked to you in a normal tone of voice that would be at or near 55 dbs. All powered lawn equipment is much louder than that.

Originally Posted by johnnyishootstuff

Some people think 1/2 acre is darn near a farm, and you wouldn't want to start shooting in a cookie cutter soccer mom development.

Obviously not and that is not what I was implying. But if you have one acre with empty fields beside and behind you as is the case with one of my neighbors, and other precautions are taken (i.e. backstop) there is no reason you cannot at least shoot 22 rf or even 9 mm).

Originally Posted by johnnyishootstuff

As long as we're talking about ordinance, then you should mention zoning. Properties are zoned differently and different rules apply to each. If you're zoned as a farm, you can have livestock - yet dense residential zoning does not allow that.

huh? he was asking about shooting, not raising cattle.

I have 5 acres where I am at, and shoot in my backyard once or twice a month for an hour or two at a time. There are no laws prohibiting firearm discharges where I am, so I am ok from that respect, but I am conscious of not pissing off the neighbors with it so only shoot at certain times of the day/week.

**Pham27** · June 30th, 2013, 06:43 PM

Thanks for the replies, guys! I'll be in Fairfields, so if anyone is in the area, please let me know of the ordinances. I'll let the neighbors know before I shoot. Being the 4th of July weekend, hopefully, they won't mind as much, as people will be shooting off a crap ton of fireworks anyways. I'll be shooting 22lr, 9x18, .30 carbine, and 7.62x54r(this one might run into some noise issues).

**robertlowery1970** · September 14th, 2014, 03:02 AM

I live in Adams County, Union Township but in a neighborhood on just under 1.5 acres. Its my understanding that the neighborhood leaves me unable to shoot even if it is safe. Does anyone know for sure?

thanks