Neighbor called the Law on me for shooting

[dave1949]

That's fine for them if they like it, but I have no idea when I would cut firewood if I wasn't allowed to make noise except weekdays and Saturday. I have a job, you know? Late afternoon and weekends are the free time I've got.

This whole thread makes me glad for my neighbors. We all have mowers, tractors, chainsaws, guns, and so forth. But we're far enough from each other that it's never bothered me in the least, or maybe I'm just a sound sleeper.

Well, in Germany you plan your noisy activities around the common good. For them, it means lawn mowing, car washing, noisy outdoor activities in general, and cutting up firewood in the more rural areas. They won't be shooting given the gun ownership laws.

Over time, you and your neighbors will probably have less open space around you. Think of all the members here who live in rural areas but not all that far from the neighbors. The Germans tend very much to live in tightly clustered communities. In most areas, you couldn't just buy an acre or two and build a house, they realize the limits to sprawl to a much greater degree than we do -- yet.

 

[sodamo]

I think it really comes down to respect.

I never run equipment before 7AM or after 9PM, even though others do. My generator is set for quiet time during those hours and will only run as emergency. someone mowing or weedwacking or whatever at 6AM might get my interest, make me wonder why, but I'd never call the cops on them for it.

All these laws, ordinances, etc should stay in the city with the people who want there lives controlled, neither belong in the country.
The move to a place then complain concept has always bothered me, where's the respect for who/what came first.

People who move to the country and then complain about the sounds of life. To me nothing is more annoying than all that din in a city, quiet it is NOT.

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[Buckgnarly]

Well, in Germany you plan your noisy activities around the common good. For them, it means lawn mowing, car washing, noisy outdoor activities in general, and cutting up firewood in the more rural areas. They won't be shooting given the gun ownership laws.

Over time, you and your neighbors will probably have less open space around you. Think of all the members here who live in rural areas but not all that far from the neighbors. The Germans tend very much to live in tightly clustered communities. In most areas, you couldn't just buy an acre or two and build a house, they realize the limits to sprawl to a much greater degree than we do -- yet.

How loud do you wash your cars!:laughing:

 

[Midniteoyl]

Electric polishers.. power washers... etc..

 

[Car Doc]

I know the things that aggravate me aggravate the cops also for the most part and I know almost all of them around here that I need to deal with. So when they have been called on me and it used to be frequently by my knucklehead neighbor they usually were seeing things my way and that usually I was acting in accordance with the law.

Where the trouble will arise out of this feuding is when the cops get tired of playing playground patrol and he said she said. I am just saying I been there done that and no matter how right a person is there is a point it is going to stop or someone will get a disorderly conduct charge that's not good and if you are anything like me LD1 it will be you. my .002

(and I wont go into the other things that happen when no one is looking)

 

[dave1949]

I think it really comes down to respect.

I never run equipment before 7AM or after 9PM, even though others do. My generator is set for quiet time during those hours and will only run as emergency. someone mowing or weedwacking or whatever at 6AM might get my interest, make me wonder why, but I'd never call the cops on them for it.

All these laws, ordinances, etc should stay in the city with the people who want there lives controlled, neither belong in the country.
The move to a place then complain concept has always bothered me, where's the respect for who/what came first.

People who move to the country and then complain about the sounds of life. To me nothing is more annoying than all that din in a city, quiet it is NOT.

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

The concept of noise pollution is a tough sell. :laughing:

What came first in the rural country areas; the peace and quiet of nature, or ???

Where does a person go to find quiet, if as you say by and large, it won't be found in a city?

So, I go to the country for relative quiet let's say. Do I need to own a square mile or more and live in the center of it, or should my neighbors be responsible for keeping their noise pollution to home as far as is practical? Whose property rights get priority?

It's a topic I ran into while volunteering on a committee to produce a wind turbine ordinance where turbine noise is one of the main complaints. Depending on the decibel level, the duration, the frequencies produced and the associated harmonics, noise can be bad for your health. The primary concern is when noise pollution limits the ability to sleep soundly, but daytime noise can also be detrimental.

To some degree, the ingrained idea that we can make all the noise we want is an artifact of settling a largely un-populated (or depopulated) country of good size. Things change.

 

[jinman]

The concept of noise pollution is a tough sell. :laughing:

Yes, it is. As taxpayers we are paying big bucks for super expensive walls to isolate people from road noise. Airports get harassed all the time by people who want to fly, but don't want the noise over their house conveniently close to the airport. Heck, some people don't even like it when they are miles from the airport under the high-altitude approach path. Some trains don't blow their horns at some crossings because it's more important to not pollute with noise than it is to save a life.

We already have 'right to no ugly' regulations in some places that dictate just how you set your trash on the curb. I'm afraid that one day somebody will complain that they have the right to not have visual pollution by looking at my wife's ugly husband and make her throw me out.

Overall, I agree with some degree of limits to shooting. I tolerate several of my neighbors who target practice frequently. They probably don't like the blatting sound of my little 2-cycle tiller getting after my garden early in the morning either. I have one neighbor who always complains about how poor he is and how he can't afford things like proper maintenance on his septic system. I just laugh at him because he can always afford to shoot up some ammo and buy another gun. Those things seem to be more important to him than the health of his wife and child. Of course, that's not to say all shooters are like that. I have several neighbors who shoot and they can afford it. Every day would be one thing, but once or twice a month on weekends is very tolerable. It doesn't hurt my health or well-being to be tolerant.

 

[dave1949]

Well, I don't live in Germany, Japan, BFE so I don't much care what they do; doesn't apply to me. I live in the country, but one person's "country living" is going to be different than someone elses. My closest neighbor is a quarter of a mile away. Living in town surrounded by lawnmowers, kids, dogs, constant traffic, I had no reasonable expectation of quiet and I see it no differently here, just different noises. I have a boatload of money ties up in property just so I can step out my back door ad fire off a few rounds hop on my ATV, drive my tractor. Where I live there are no noise ordinances, never have been. I was born a few miles from here and lived in and worked this county for thirteen years before retiring. I worked with and know the Sheriff, Chiefs of Police in surrounding towns as well as many of the surrounding farmers. We are all pretty much the same and do the same things, so my behavior is consistent with my surrounding so yeah I guess I have the right to make noise with my guns, Harley, tractor, fireworks etc. and I respect the rights of my neighbors to do the same.

You have the luxury, so to speak, of the space to feel that way. Those who don't need to rely on other methods, and some of them live here in the USA.

Given the desires and inconsistencies like Jim pointed out, it's not going to get an easier with 100 million more people coming in the next 30-40 years.

We won't care. :laughing:

 

[Car Doc]

18 years ago when I bought this shop I work out of I got 5 acres with it and its outside city limits and its perfectly legal to shoot as long as its day light. Anyway at that time I was shooting master level NRA action pistol open class and was shooting 6-10k rounds in practice a month.

With having to drive 30 miles one way to our gun club where barricades and moving target and 50yd practical and plate racks I got the idea why not just build one here?! The sheriff and the county had no legal issues with it as long as my backstop meet their criteria and I was insured I could have my private shooting range.

Yeah well after weighing it out I decided although I was legal and I could get insurance and I could build a adequate back stop it wasn't how I would want to be treated as a neighbor and long story short still drive 30 miles one way just to keep peace in my neighborhood.

 

[k0ua]

Look, it all boils down to this.. LD'1 neighbor did a chitty thing. He called the law, and filed a false police report. He reported LD1 as "shooting across the road". That is against the law in most if not all states. Sure is here in Missouri. LD1 Claims that he was 100 yards from the road and not shooting in that direction even. The neighbor did not like the noise and that is all it amounted too. If any bullets had hit the neighbors property he darn sure would have said that or tried to offer proof of that if he could. He wanted LD1 to be frightened and stop doing it now and in the future. He was trying to impose his will on LD1 and he tried to use law enforcement to do it. If I was the deputy that took the call, I would have have given Mr. Neighbor a stern warning about fileing false reports, If I had believed LD1's side of the story at all, as 300 foot from the road and an obvious backstop of the woodpile with recent bullet holes in it is a long way from "shooting across a highway or road." That is my take on the story at this time.

James K0UA