am i ok shooting in my back garden ?

[grayxx]

hi guys its my 1st time here, and im so pleased ive found this place, anyway its a long time since ive shot an air gun which was my webly tracker which i still own, but im thinking of buying a new AIR ARMS TX200 MK111 OR THE TX200 HC (which would you guys recommend) but im really wondering if ill be ok shooting in my back garden,AT TARGETS, which is about 20 meters in length, i used to have permission to shoot on a farm but that was 15 years ago.also im a bit concerned, are the laws going to change on airguns as i keep hearing people wanting to licence them? all help much appreciated.....

[goldfish]

As an airgun shooter, you must make sure that you know the law and keep within it. If

you don´t, you could find yourself in court facing charges with sanctions ranging from

heavy fines right up to life imprisonment. The following is a list of the laws by which you

must abide and you might be surprised at just how long it is.

• It is an offence to sell or make a gift of an air weapon to a person under seventeen

years of age.

• It is an offence for anyone under seventeen to carry an air weapon unless -

they are under the supervision of a person aged twenty one or more or

they are on private land and have permission from the occupier or

they are shooting as a member of an approved club or

they are shooting at a shooting gallery for miniature rifles.


• It is an offence for a person under seventeen shooting unsupervised on private land to allow any pellets to cross the boundaries of the property.

• It is an offence for any person, regardless of age, to be in possession of an air weapon in a public place without a reasonable excuse. A reasonable excuse might be carrying a gun to and from a target shooting club or to and from land on which you have permission to shoot. It would also include taking a gun to and from a gunsmith for repair or service or taking a new gun home from the dealer.

• It is an offence to trespass with an air weapon, be that in a building or on land.

• It is an offence to have an air weapon if you are a person prohibited from possessing a

firearm by section 21 of the 1968 Act. This section prohibits anyone who has been

sentenced to a custodial sentence of between three months and three years from

possessing an air weapon or other firearm for five years from the date of release.

Anyone sentenced to three years or more is prohibited for life.

• It is an offence to fire your gun within fifty feet (fifteen metres) of the centre of a public

road in such a way as to endanger or impede any road user.

• It is an offence to shoot protected wild birds or animals. When live quarry shooting,

it is your responsibility to make sure that you only shoot legal quarry.

• It is an offence to shoot pet animals. Besides being abhorrent to most people, this is, above all others, the offence that gives all air weapon shooters a bad name.

• It is an offence to have an air weapon with intent to damage property.

• It is an offence to have an air weapon with intent to endanger life.

[rusham]

As long as your shooting possition is 50 meters from the middle of the nearest public highway.

Try 50 feet.

[rusham]

Click on this.



GrayXX and Goldfish, welcome to the forum. If your planning on staying around, please fill in your profile and tell us a bit about yourselves. Click on user cp in the top left of the screen.

[grayxx]

thanx guys, public highway meaning any road?, which means i will have to go to the bottom of the garden and shoot towards the house because there is a road that lets the cars in and out of our street, bumber.

[Raygun]

You will get a bit more info from this site.

http://www.met.police.uk/firearms-en...s/airguns1.htm

ATB
Ray.

[jamie1]

thanx guys, public highway meaning any road?, which means i will have to go to the bottom of the garden and shoot towards the house because there is a road that lets the cars in and out of our street, bumber.

IIRC, includes footpaths and bridleways

[SNAKEBITE]

This really should have a sticky..
think how many times this question is asked every week...

I am suffering from "groundhog thread".

[rusham]

As an airgun shooter, you must make sure that you know the law and keep within it. If

you don´t, you could find yourself in court facing charges with sanctions ranging from

heavy fines right up to life imprisonment. The following is a list of the laws by which you

must abide and you might be surprised at just how long it is.

• It is an offence to sell or make a gift of an air weapon to a person under seventeen

years of age.

• It is an offence for anyone under seventeen to carry an air weapon unless -

they are under the supervision of a person aged twenty one or more or

they are on private land and have permission from the occupier or

they are shooting as a member of an approved club or

they are shooting at a shooting gallery for miniature rifles.


• It is an offence for a person under seventeen shooting unsupervised on private land to allow any pellets to cross the boundaries of the property.

• It is an offence for any person, regardless of age, to be in possession of an air weapon in a public place without a reasonable excuse. A reasonable excuse might be carrying a gun to and from a target shooting club or to and from land on which you have permission to shoot. It would also include taking a gun to and from a gunsmith for repair or service or taking a new gun home from the dealer.

• It is an offence to trespass with an air weapon, be that in a building or on land.

• It is an offence to have an air weapon if you are a person prohibited from possessing a

firearm by section 21 of the 1968 Act. This section prohibits anyone who has been

sentenced to a custodial sentence of between three months and three years from

possessing an air weapon or other firearm for five years from the date of release.

Anyone sentenced to three years or more is prohibited for life.

• It is an offence to fire your gun within fifty feet (fifteen metres) of the centre of a public

road in such a way as to endanger or impede any road user.

• It is an offence to shoot protected wild birds or animals. When live quarry shooting,

it is your responsibility to make sure that you only shoot legal quarry.

• It is an offence to shoot pet animals. Besides being abhorrent to most people, this is, above all others, the offence that gives all air weapon shooters a bad name.

• It is an offence to have an air weapon with intent to damage property.

• It is an offence to have an air weapon with intent to endanger life.

Wow, from 50 metres to the entire Airgun Law. Nice bit of editing mate

[Practice]

Having just researched this recently...

"It is an offence to fire an airgun within 50 feet of the centre of a public highway, IF BY DOING SO you cause any member of the public using that highway to be injured, interrupted or endangered. This applies even if you are on private property adjacent the highway."

So technically as long as you don't injure, interrupt or endanger anyone, it is not an offence - just make sure you take all necessary precautions so that you don't, otherwise...

[mike16]

goldfish is a cop.

[rusham]

goldfish is a cop.

Nope, his first post was a one liner saying 50 metres from a highway, then it was edited (cut and pasted) to the current version to save a little face perhaps.

Anyway, nothing wrong with that, always good to have a reminder of the rules.

Loads of newbies on here today, welcome one and all.