Shooting on land that you don't own but have permission

[Defendthis]

Ive only been shooting about a year now, so I'm new to pretty much every aspect, especially the law.

I live in the city, obviously I'm well aware you can't just walk into the woods and begin target practice. However, living in the city, theres no where for me to shoot my rifles that isn't 2 hours away or costs a lot of $$$.

So, I went online and found someone who was trying to sell their land. I contacted them and asked them for their authority to range on the land. He said he was a hunter etc. and he wouldn't mind this at all so long as I kept everything in order, he was a really nice guy - an old timer. So I go there and do my thing with out incident. So I decided to go back. Here i find out that they are building a commercial property 2 miles away and one of the workers saw my truck and heard shots so he alerted the police - whom came.

They were all in my face etc. I'm young, 24, so maybe he felt like i just walked into the woods and started shooting. Never the less, I explain to him that i have permission to shoot here from the current owner, and showed him text messages confirming my story.

He then said I can't just do that, as i don't own the land, even though everyone told me this would be ok. All in all, he just told me to leave, which I did.

My question is, was the cop wrong with regard to the law? Was i shooting lawfully in this scenario?. If not, could someone explain how i could shoot without having my own land?

Thanks fellas really appreciate the help!

[gghbi]

Without knowing the layout and topography, I would think as long as you had a safe backstop and permission to use the land as a range, there should not be a problem unless the local municipality has ordinances against discharging weapons which many do. I do know I have been in the same situation, but not in a place where the neighbors would complain. (More likely they would join in).

Sounds like you need to research the township that this land is in. I would also get the owner to send you a paper letter stating you have permission, as I think it has more weight than a text message. Might want to have a conversation with the owner to get an idea if he has suggestions on this. Maybe invite him to lunch or something like that and go over his understanding.

Glad you did not get more than a 'get out of here' the first time. It is possible you dodged a bullet so to speak, if there are local laws that you might have been inadvertently violating. Hope you get it worked out. Let us know what you find.

[danhr]

Welcome to PAFOA.

You should talk to a lawyer

[GunLawyer001]

Cops bluff all the time. Ask them to cite the state law or local ordinance that makes it unlawful to shoot on private land with the permission of the owner. If he says "disorderly conduct", then he's got nothing; that's what cops and DA's use when conduct isn't illegal but they don't want you doing it anyway. The courts keep smacking them down, but they do it anyway, because "you may beat the rap but you won't beat the ride".

That being said:

You have to watch that you aren't "hunting". The line between "hunting" and "target shooting in the woods with a rifle" is sometimes fuzzy.

If the owner is charging you money, then perhaps he needs to jump through the hoops of building a target range.

But if the owner can legally shoot there, then he can also allow you to shoot there as a favor.

Call the PD and ask for a citation of the statute that the officer was applying.