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tony2
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i know you are not allowed to shoot with in 50 feet of the center of a public high way ,does this include public foot paths across farm land

as i have two that cross fields were i shoot and because i'm not sure always keep well away from them .

regards tony

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The law is this:

 

There is no specific offence of shooting from or over a footpath, right of way or near a building etc unless of course it could be shown you were committing the criminal offence of armed trespass for example,

 

Under Section 161 of the highways Act 1980 (England & Wales) it is an offence without lawful authority or excuse to discharge any firearm within 50 feet of the centre of the highway and in consequence of which the user of the highway is injured interrupted or endangered.

 

Footpaths over farmland etc DO count under this law.

 

David

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:good: friend of mine had the armed response turn up

when a woman was excercising her(right to roam) and

felt threatened when he came out of his hide with the gun,

No footpaths at all here just a mud track,he had to attend

the local station and give her a full written apology to get

out of it, and the police said they could have prosecuted him,on

the grounds she thought he was a threat. :blush:

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When shooting near anything that might fall into the category of 'highway' and I do include footpaths in this I have some large ORANGE signs that I put up warning people to be aware that shooting is in progress. :good:

 

Most 'walkers' are totally immune to what's going on around them and if you're hiden in a camo suit/hide they're unlikely to see you until you pop up and give 'em a fright. I've had drivers pull up and discuss with the passengers what the decoys are (we've been in a ditch right under their noses) and had people walk right into a decoy pattern before they have a clue what's going on. Horse riders are almost as bad. My other pet hate is dog walkers who let dogs run riot until they spot you then thjey fall over themselves to put the mutt on a lead. Like they don't know they're in the wrong! :blush:

 

Biggest problem (also at night) is walkers who don't keep to footpaths and when challenged give some right verbal about 'right to roam' as though it gives them total access. They should read the code. :good:

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The law is this:

 

There is no specific offence of shooting from or over a footpath, right of way or near a building etc unless of course it could be shown you were committing the criminal offence of armed trespass for example,

 

Under Section 161 of the highways Act 1980 (England & Wales) it is an offence without lawful authority or excuse to discharge any firearm within 50 feet of the centre of the highway and in consequence of which the user of the highway is injured interrupted or endangered.

 

Footpaths over farmland etc DO count under this law.

 

David

So, lawful authority being a SGC or FAC, and excuse being having the shooting rights either side of the footpath, it is perfectly legal to shoot on a footpath, yes? Can you elaborate on the legal definition of "interrupted or endangered" as to how the police or a court would interpret it?

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I too have had members of the bobble-hat brigade stand staring at decoys whilst I'm sitting motionless behind a hedge or in a ditch. I've also had people appear out of virtually nowhere and walk underneath/past high seats, unaware that I'm sitting up above in silence. It's scared me a few times.

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Having a cert is not 'lawful authority' in this instance , having permission both sides could be.

 

There is no strict case of interrupted or endangered - it would be enough for a person to say they felt endangered for example.

 

David

Ok, let's simplify it, is it or is it not legal to shoot from a footpath, if you have permission to shoot both sides of it? And if a BASC member was charged with this offence would the BASC defend them in court? Providing of course that nobody was injured?

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It's legal as long as you don't upset anyone. Simple really (on paper) but hard to know when not to shoot :blush:

How can you not upset an anti? They are already upset as soon as they see you, and somebody "feeling endangered" is about as ambiguous as it gets is it not? The obvious thing of course is not to shoot if there is anyone within 500 yards, but could they not still "feel endangered"?

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:good: friend of mine had the armed response turn up

when a woman was excercising her(right to roam) and

felt threatened when he came out of his hide with the gun,

No footpaths at all here just a mud track,he had to attend

the local station and give her a full written apology to get

out of it, and the police said they could have prosecuted him,on

the grounds she thought he was a threat. :blush:

 

He could have tried this :

 

Human Rights Act 1998

 

Protest on Private Land

 

The right to assembly generally only applies in public places. If you protest on private land without the permission of the occupier, you will be trespassing. Trespassing is not normally a criminal offence, but it is a tort (a civil wrong). This means that the occupier can sue the trespasser, or apply for a court order for possession, but the police cannot normally arrest someone merely because they are trespassing. However, recent changes in the law have created new criminal offences connected with trespass.

 

Aggravated Trespass

The offence of aggravated trespass is committed when a person trespasses on land when a lawful activity is taking place on that land or land nearby and he or she does anything intending to intimidate, obstruct or disrupt that activity.

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If you have permission to shoot on both sides of the footpath then you are within the law pretty well come what may if you are more than 50 feet from the middle of said footpath, the issue is when you are closer- and yes in this nanny state it would not surprise me if the anties tried this on - so beware.

 

Having said that the law works in your favour too, an anti could commit trespass or even aggravated trespass if they used a footpath to try and stop you shooting- e.g protesting on the footpath, continually walking up and down the footpath etc.

 

Harry as a policeman will probably confirm that IF the police are made aware that someone feels threatened by someone with a gun, all be it in the countryside, then the police will have to respond. Our overstretched and under resourced and hamstrung police have enough to do fighting real crime rather than wasting their time (not their fault) being called out by people who by act or ignorance object to shooting.

 

However, going back to the guy that had to give the apology - if the police threatened me with prosecution unless I did this or that I know what I would say - if there is sufficient evidence to prosecute then why threaten?

 

By the way, BASC will soon be publishing guidance for one shooters - how to deal with anties etc - it will be on the BASC web soon- I will let you know. Although this has been written by a team at BASC, including me, once it is up please let me know if you think we have missed anything.

 

Ta

 

D

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Under Section 161 of the highways Act 1980 (England & Wales) it is an offence without lawful authority or excuse to discharge any firearm within 50 feet of the centre of the highway and in consequence of which the user of the highway is injured interrupted or endangered.

 

Footpaths over farmland etc DO count under this law.

 

David

 

Footpaths are not considered highways under section 161 of the Highways act and are not covered by this law..

 

Here is a link from your own organisation to that effect http://www.basc.org.uk/media/rights_of_way1.pdf

 

However, it is an offence to disrupt somebody using a public right of way (including footpaths), but they 50 ft rule does not apply, which is where I think you may be getting confused.

 

HTH

 

ZB

Edited by Zapp Brannigan
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Just to confuse matters further. If the centre of the motorway is the central reservation and 3 lanes and the hard shoulder are 40ft. Add the enbankment and you can literally stand next to the motorway and be 50ft from the centre :good:

I am not suggesting anyone do this by the way.

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