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Neighbour shooting in garden.


southeastpete
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what he is doing is proberly completly legal ............having said that one of my neighbors went thro a shoot em up episode with an air rifle....and to be honest...everytime a shot was fired the hairs on the back of my neck stood up...........i bloody hated it....the fact that he is doing it in such a small space and surrounded by people shows he has poor knowledge of and air rifle and how dangerous the air weapons are now...he considers it to be a fairground toy....which it is not...........

 

luckerly my neighbor grew out of the shoot-em -up phase and after a few days it stopped....if it had persisted i think i would have contacted the council and let them deal with it...

 

im sorry but im not being very helpful...its a bad situation to be in.............hope you get sorted...

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what he is doing is proberly completly legal ............having said that one of my neighbors went thro a shoot em up episode with an air rifle....and to be honest...everytime a shot was fired the hairs on the back of my neck stood up...........i bloody hated it....the fact that he is doing it in such a small space and surrounded by people shows he has poor knowledge of and air rifle and how dangerous the air weapons are now...he considers it to be a fairground toy....which it is not...........

 

luckerly my neighbor grew out of the shoot-em -up phase and after a few days it stopped....if it had persisted i think i would have contacted the council and let them deal with it...

 

im sorry but im not being very helpful...its a bad situation to be in.............hope you get sorted...

Good post, like you say its not illegal..... but common sense is the issue not legality.... ,you can see why airguns get such a bad press with the attitude shown on this thread.How many of us would honestly be happy with there own kids put at even the smallest risk of getting shot by a brainless neighbour .....but then if its not illegal why worry it will all be fine.

Seriously though hope you get it sorted as ditchman says a bad situation to be in.

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To be honest now I've thought about it more, it's the first time I've been in the garden and they've done it. But then again what if I'm inside and they do it and something happens... and maybe it's a new rifle, and they will be out slot over summer. I might go talk to the neighbours behind see what they think.

 

Thanks for all your comments

Edited by southeastpete
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I've always shot in my gardens, except when I had a smaller garden with neighbours on three sides like your drawing shows, it may be legal what there doing but it's not a good idea and I wouldn't be happy about it.

 

I would certainly go round and ask what he was doing for a backstop, be friendly and helpful and see where it leads. Most people tend to think of air rifles as toys, but at the range your looking at a very serious injury could easily happen.

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Good advice above . thing is the range is largely irrelevant as an airgun pellet carries almost the same energy at 6 yds as it does at 20 .obviously there is a fall of of energy but interms of risk its the same .now when you get to around 50 yds plus .you think that it would be safer yes ? Cos ther is less energy in the pellet .incorrect the pellet is now more likley to rebound or deflect due to the lower velocity .

Again low powered guns .bb pistols etc are more likley to rebound of a plastic bottle or a ply sheet or a fence post .22 cal is more likey to do this than .177 .as they are slower and have more mass

The neighbour is obviously not taking his shooting saftey seriously enough and needs some good advice soon ...

 

Though as a shooting man your self i wouldnt be too quick to call the police .things like that can have a bad way of coming back to haunt you .depends on the neighbour ofcourse you know him best .

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The gentleman did say that he didn't know if he has a back stop if he has and the pellets don't leave his property then he is not braking any laws .The fact that someone smashed his window would be a separate issue . I would ask him if I could have a go of his rifle then you will be able to see if it is safe . This might start a buteful friendship . Just my opinion mind

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It sounds like he's lucky to have you as a neighbour. If that was to happen around my way the police would hear the words "firearm, children, built up area, broken window, anxious ". This would equate to, "Armed response, helicopter, size 11, door in, bend over".

And don't think I'm joking. Even kids with toy guns are viewed with worry.

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You should come and live in my Town, I have a Beds Police CID Officer as a neighbour on one side and a Teaching assistant on the other - to the right of her, and with 3 nice Trees in their garden live a retired couple that used to run a Post Office. The CID Officer couldn't give a Monkeys when I'm shooting and is happy to let her 8 year old son come and have a go while the Teaching Assistant keeps her hedge cut low enough for me to shoot Magpies from the trees next to her - a constant request from the ex PO couple.

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We've already fallen out lol so I won't be building them anything.

I'll have a polite word and say I'm worried about him using an air rifle while my daughter is in the garden, and he should be more safety aware as a pellet could easily go through a fence into another neighbours garden too.

Up to him what he does with that

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Build him a decent backstop.

 

This is not the subject to fall out over.

This.

 

Argos catalogues will stop any air rifle pellet (I've tested them with bird, buck and solid slug from a 12 bore and they stop it all!), they're free :innocent: and four gaffer taped together is a fair sized backstop for a rifle :good: Hang it on the intermediate fence and Roberts your Auntys husband.

Edited by Breastman
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I had 2 sheepish looking policemen knock at the door when I lived in London because my neighbour didn't like my son shooting his air rifle in the garden. We showed them the precautions we had taken regarding backstops etc. and they went back to tell the neighbour to mind his own business.

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my thoughts exactly. perfectly legal for him to do.

 

he's having fun with his grandson, participating in a perfectly legal activity, as long as no pellets leave his boundary of course.

he has as much right to do that in his garden as you do to enjoy time in your garden with your daughter playing in her sandpit.

Totally agree,

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I shoot air guns in my garden all the time,i built a back stop from inch pine,basically like a large box without a lid,i screwed it to the fence at the bottem of my garden its about 29 yards from were i shoot from,i use the cartridge boxes that hold 250 cartriges,stuff these with the travel books from my local agents,it keeps the noise down and also stops the ground getting full of lead,i feel its most important to be considerate of your neighbours,it only takes one accident to have life long implications.

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While it is perfectly legal to use an air rifle in ones back garden, subject to certain conditions. Legalities must be considered along side a lot of common sense.

 

I'm luckier than a lot of people in that I have 20 metres of space from front to back of the back garden (would like more but...). Neighbours to both sides only and very sturdy fences 6' high. The back fence (which is less sturdy) borders the railings of the adjacent cemetery, these railings are covered in a mesh of wire fence like stuff, there is a 1' gap between. On my side I have a backstop comprising 4 pavers, 2 side uprights a back upright and one on the ground they all sit on.

 

Tend not to get bouncers as I shoot straight on to the targets, if there were any 'flyers' the side uprights would stop them. Have to say it's unusual to get flyers which are more then a few mm off target. The back paver is covered in 3 layers of old carpet, mainly to reduce the impact noise but has the added benefit that the pellets get trapped in the 3 layers.

 

My neighbours are :- one is an 80 something lady who doesn't know I shoot and is partially deaf. The other knows I shoot but is not one bit phased, took care of a rat and a pigeon problem for him a few years ago so he's sweet.

 

However I do not shoot if either neighbour is in the garden either working or with visitors. I do not shoot if there are visitors in the cemetery or a funeral is in progress. doubtful they would even hear the gun (HW100 PCP) very quiet, it costs nothing to be considerate and respectful.

 

I don't shoot very often maybe twice a week to keep my eye in if I'm not out and about or at the range.

 

My system works, in 5-6 years there has not been a single comment let alone a complaint, mind you I do keep a low profile when shooting. Wait until Mrs SBL is out, lock the doors and side gate and shoot from the kitchen set back from the doorway. No one can see me. What the eye does not see I suppose.

 

I know others on the forum operate in a similar manner and good on them.

 

Southeast Pete, shame you have already fallen out with your man, sure you could have contrived to get a couple of the constructive posts to him even if only to ask his opinion of them, it may have given him ideas ,,,,,,, who knows.

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While it is perfectly legal to use an air rifle in ones back garden, subject to certain conditions. Legalities must be considered along side a lot of common sense.

 

I'm luckier than a lot of people in that I have 20 metres of space from front to back of the back garden (would like more but...). Neighbours to both sides only and very sturdy fences 6' high. The back fence (which is less sturdy) borders the railings of the adjacent cemetery, these railings are covered in a mesh of wire fence like stuff, there is a 1' gap between. On my side I have a backstop comprising 4 pavers, 2 side uprights a back upright and one on the ground they all sit on.

 

Tend not to get bouncers as I shoot straight on to the targets, if there were any 'flyers' the side uprights would stop them. Have to say it's unusual to get flyers which are more then a few mm off target. The back paver is covered in 3 layers of old carpet, mainly to reduce the impact noise but has the added benefit that the pellets get trapped in the 3 layers.

 

My neighbours are :- one is an 80 something lady who doesn't know I shoot and is partially deaf. The other knows I shoot but is not one bit phased, took care of a rat and a pigeon problem for him a few years ago so he's sweet.

 

However I do not shoot if either neighbour is in the garden either working or with visitors. I do not shoot if there are visitors in the cemetery or a funeral is in progress. doubtful they would even hear the gun (HW100 PCP) very quiet, it costs nothing to be considerate and respectful.

 

I don't shoot very often maybe twice a week to keep my eye in if I'm not out and about or at the range.

 

My system works, in 5-6 years there has not been a single comment let alone a complaint, mind you I do keep a low profile when shooting. Wait until Mrs SBL is out, lock the doors and side gate and shoot from the kitchen set back from the doorway. No one can see me. What the eye does not see I suppose.

 

I know others on the forum operate in a similar manner and good on them.

 

Southeast Pete, shame you have already fallen out with your man, sure you could have contrived to get a couple of the constructive posts to him even if only to ask his opinion of them, it may have given him ideas ,,,,,,, who knows.

Whilst a proper backstop is rule no 1,it's incredible the lengths we all go to(me included) to avoid detection, in what is a completely legal activity.
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It is legal yes, but I would have asked them to stop if my kids were outside, same as I wouldn't shoot in the garden if my neighbours were having a barbeque or pottering about, sounds like a small garden and shooting towards another just not sensible.

 

Both sides of me know I shoot but I do keep a low profile but this is simply as I don't want any hassle, even tho my kids shout bang whenever they see a squirrel 😊

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I used to shoot down my (125') garden with breeze blocks as a backstop, Our house is a semi detached, The other half that's attached was a nice lady that worked all day, The other side with the drives between was very old and never came in to her garden so I was OK yet someone kept phoning the police as the chopper used to make a beeline to ours and hover for a minute or two..

Rather than any kind of confrontation i'd take the gun in before the chopper cops got near, I collect airguns, I've around 150 which cost me around £15,000 over the years, Don't really want the police to take them away for testing as they get damaged and there's some quite rare ones. :unhappy:

I don't shoot now as we have new neighbours and both like to use their gardens :sad1:


John..

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Can you not have a word with your new neighbours, show them you have a good backstop and your not shooting towards them? Can't imagine they are always in the garden or could complain if your doing a couple of hours a week so long as everything's safe.

 

The fella above saying he puts up a flag if he's in the garden shooting sounds like a good idea.

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More to the point: where do you store 150 rifles?

Hi

 

I have around 37 pistols so it's around 113 rifles, They're locked in a boxroom, Trouble is that there's all sorts of **** on top of them so it takes me around an hour if the gun I want to get out is at the other end :unhappy:

 

 

John :)

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