Pellet gun legality in Philly Question

**pred** · July 5th, 2008, 08:38 AM

Okay folks, I am aware that no store can sell pellet guns or BB guns in Philly, The question is, Am I legally able to shoot my pellet rifle in my back yard in Philly? And if I am not legaly allowed, What would be the consequences if I got caught shooting it in my back yard?
I could use my stone house as a back stop, So I would be in essence shooting at my house, It is 40' wide in the back,
If I were to shoot from the back if the house, I have woods behing my house, followed by 100' of woods than another 100' of train tracks, And the houses on the other side of the tracks are elevated.
I would not be letting "minors" shoot, But it is fun just to plink at some paper when I cant get out to the range, And the occasional tin can.
Can someone please point me in the right direction or tell me what the laws say.
Thank you
Peter.

**ihunt49** · July 5th, 2008, 08:48 AM

I would just set up a target in the basement and shoot there. Out of sight, out of mind.

**PisnNapalm** · July 5th, 2008, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by pred

I could use my stone house as a back stop, So I would be in essence shooting at my house, It is 40' wide in the back,

I don't know what the exact laws are about bb guns in Philly, but... You should not use your house as a backstop. A ricochet can travel quite a distance and do damage. I use a large cardboard box and stuff it with newspapers. It captures the bb's inside of it.

I do know that bb guns are not allowed in Philly. What the penalty is... Can't help ya.

**JIMMYC308** · July 5th, 2008, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by ihunt49

I would just set up a target in the basement and shoot there. Out of sight, out of mind.

That's where I used to shoot when I lived in Philly. Except for the pidgeon or squirrel on the wire shot.

I used a bb/pellet trap on the far wall of my basement.

**knighthawk06699** · July 5th, 2008, 12:43 PM

If you combine Ihunts and Pisnapalms Ideas it sounds like it would be the perfect setup!!

**JP8** · July 6th, 2008, 05:13 AM

I know people in center city who shoot their BB guns in the basement. All Philly laws can be at: http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Pennsylvania/philadelphia_pa/thephiladelphiacode?fn=altmain-nf.htm$f=templates$3.0&vid=amlegal

hiladelphia_pa

**Philadelphia** · July 6th, 2008, 08:37 AM

I practice with a pellet gun (pistol) in my basement. Much less boring than dry fire practice. I also practice FoF/disarming/retention with friends in the basement using airsoft.

I was advised to set things up so that there was no possibility of a pellet escaping under any circumstances (including unlikely or even theoretically impossible circumstances, which is good advice no matter how you slice it). With the pellet guns I have, a pellet won't penetrate wood or concrete, so all I had to do was block the windows with materials that a pellet can't penetrate. Also, set up something as a backstop that doesn't cause ricochet (a pillow or big folded up thick cloths work really well).

Doing it in your yard would be a no go. I don't know exactly what would happen if you got caught (likely just told to stop at least the first time), but I'd imagine you'd definitely get some attention if one of the neighbors complained of a man shooting a rifle in the yard, pellet gun or not.

As far as setting up a range in the basement, smaller targets can surrogate for greater distances.

Here is a rifle target you can print out for free (just center it on the paper):

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