Can I shoot my air rifle in my garden

[Locksley]

Hi,

I live in the town.My house has a long garden.Can I shoot my air rifle for target practice?Not a lot but occasional plinking.I have the next house at about 80-100 yards behind my garden and there is back stop for the targets.Can anyone report me for shooting in a residential area?Do not want to break law or irritate others.Appreciate your help.Thanks.

Best-
Vikram

[ikarma70]

providing you ensure your pellets don't leave your property boundries and you have an adequate backstop then all is fine to plink away

[sniper22]

unless someone complains. asbo pending methinks.

[Weevie]

Ignore the ASBO comment.

Assuming you're not casuing excessive noise or noise at inappropriate times you'll be okay.

Just ensure you have a good (and quiet when hit) backstop and your pellets don't cross your boundaries you'll be fine.

Someone will probably post talking about 50 feet from any public highway. Ignore it, the offence is only complete if you endanger, iterrupt or alarm a member of the public on that highway. With your walls and being in your back garden you shouldn't have any problem with that.

Don't go out of your way to p|ss your neighbors off but don't forget it's your right to do what you like within the law within the boundaries of your own property.

[Dougie_fn12]

as long as its YOUR OWN property or you have the permission of whoever's property it is and you have a suitable backstop.and as said above...you wont go wrong.

[C3PO_1]

No problem shooting in your garden -- might be an idea just to have a nice word with the neighbours and let them know you'll be doing it -- don't do it every time you use the gun of course but just a general point about doing it. Not vital but good PR for you.

[SteveH]

Ignore the ASBO comment.
Someone will probably post talking about 50 feet from any public highway. Ignore it, the offence is only complete if you endanger, interrupt or alarm a member of the public on that highway. With your walls and being in your back garden you shouldn't have any problem with that.

Don't ignore the 50 foot rule at all.

You should not fire the gun from within 50ft of the centre of any road etc.

If you do and you even "alarm" someone - then you are committing and offence as Weevie says.

There is an excellent web site here <Click>


It contains the following snippet :-
It is also an offence to discharge a firearm, including an airgun, within 50 feet of the centre of any highway. This includes roads, bridle-paths or public footpaths. The offence is complete if a member of the public is injured, endangered or even just alarmed by the incident.

So - you can either follow the advice of the Met Police or you can ignore it as Weevie says.

[Jerry Cornelius]

I've always wondered about the 50 ft rule.

I plink in my garage on ocassion, with air pistols. Its within 50 ft of the road, but obviously no one in the right mind could be endangered, interrupted or alarmed. (the garage door is shut)

I think the same must go for back garden shooting. Is it even possible that someone on the pavement at the front of your house could be "alarmed" by you shooting in your back garden? Even Walter the Softie ought to be OK.

[rusham]

I've always wondered about the 50 ft rule.

I plink in my garage on ocassion, with air pistols. Its within 50 ft of the road, but obviously no one in the right mind could be endangered, interrupted or alarmed. (the garage door is shut)

I think the same must go for back garden shooting. Is it even possible that someone on the pavement at the front of your house could be "alarmed" by you shooting in your back garden? Even Walter the Softie ought to be OK.

According to some experts which includes certain ex celebrity television stuffed rabbits , the 50 ft rule only applies to vehicular roads and not paths, towpaths, bridleways, snickets etc and only if Joe public feels endangered and complains. This maybe the case, dependent on what interpretation of the rules and what website publishes their interpretation, however, my simple rule is stay ensure that you are 50ft away from any public access area where Mr, Mrs or Miss Public would feel endangered.

Oh, and what a man does in the privacy of his garage behind locked doors is none of our business

[Weevie]

Sorry, maybe I was a bit dismisive of the 50ft rule but people often post on here about it and only refer to the distance without mentioning the rest of the rule. That can mislead and could mean people missing out on being able to shoot in their garden.

There's enough restriction in this country without our adding imaginary constraints to it.

The important bit of the rule is:

The offence is complete if a member of the public is injured, endangered or even just alarmed by the incident

If you can avoid causing injury, endagerment or alarm to people on the highway you're less than 50 ft from then you should shoot.

[larrya]

Don't ignore the 50 foot rule at all.

You should not fire the gun from within 50ft of the centre of any road etc.

If you do and you even "alarm" someone - then you are committing and offence as Weevie says.

There is an excellent web site here <Click>


It contains the following snippet :-
It is also an offence to discharge a firearm, including an airgun, within 50 feet of the centre of any highway. This includes roads, bridle-paths or public footpaths. The offence is complete if a member of the public is injured, endangered or even just alarmed by the incident.

So - you can either follow the advice of the Met Police or you can ignore it as Weevie says.

The met would rather NO ONE has ANY kind of firearm. The Police in general also like to interpret firearms law to suit them selves. Public footpaths and bridleways are not highways
Have a look at
http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/news...s-Guidance.pdf Section 22.17. Which is a much better website (IMHO!)
Instance of Police applying their own rules was the letter my son got with his first SC.(at age 14) "Until his is 15 he must shoot with you". Wrong, anyone over the age of 21. "Between 15 & 18 he may not shoot on his own" Wrong he can shoot on his own at 15.
What gets me is that despite the Home Office publishing such good info for them to use, some Forces give out such BS

Larrya

[sniper22]

once again weevil see the link above and interpret the following "The offence is complete if a member of the public is injured, endangered or even just alarmed by the incident."

where i live on a large council estate (not a chav though) i and the local police would interpret this as if a next door neighbour complains they will act upon it.

as for ignoring the 50ft rule, why not ignore the lot and have 40ft/lb gun too off ticket.

[Acid House]

......oops ..

[sniper22]

Kettle, pot, black
The things that spring to mind

meaning what exactly?

libel is the word that springs to mind here - carry on mate.

[GS Rider]

I'd second the comment about having a word with your neighbours. It's not a legal necessity, but a quiet, friendly word of explanation is less hassle than a reported firearms incident. Maybe invite them to have a go, or see your set up.

Remember, to the layman, a gun is a gun, and they'd be quite entitled to be alarmed, in the absence of any more information. It could also be worth letting your local Plod know when you're shooting. They'll give you an incident number, which you can shout at the armed response team if they get called out.