Neighbor called the Law on me for shooting

[clemsonfor]

Well if he was 400 yard away I sure don't see how it could have bothered him that much. If he was in his house with the windows closed (typical midwest summer high heat and humidity mode) I doubt he could hear the .22's and would have maybe just barely hear the 5 12 guage rounds and the few 9mm's. It sounds to me like the guy has a serious "weed" up something.

James K0UA

You are making my point. Choosing a lesser of evils: city life or country life, is not exactly what I think we ought to be doing. The idea that silence needs to be bought is a bit odd since relative silence is the natural state of things. How about we make noise expensive?

City or country we have arranged our lives to include noise pollution. I understand farming and logging noise, I have no issue with those types of noise sources. The farming is seasonal and forest land gets logged every ten years at the very most. I grew up in open farm land with a lot more tractors and equipment running than here in New England.

When it comes to someone endlessly riding a dirt bike around in circles spreading noise pollution for hours on end, for example, because they have a toy and nothing better to do with their time, I've come to realize that is idiotic, even though I was one of the idiots years ago. With a quieter exhaust muffler, there wouldn't be much to hear to begin with.

There is no real reason in many cases for sounds over about 35 dBa to leave our properties. That is about how loud a normal conversation is.

How can you say that there is no reason that nothing louder than 35dba should leave my property. I live in a town of say 100 people, i have less than 1 acre and have houses right next to me on each side but still country. there is no way to keep the sound of my lawnmower, weedeater, chainsaw ( i cut wood, i just bring it to my home from other areas), hedge cutters, a blower (when it works), my tractor (when its here instead of the farm), one of my boat motors when i am working on them, my atv when i am riding it in the yard, etc etc. I dont try to make excessive noises and dont cut wood at 6am or 10pm, i dont mow my grass at those times either???

Funny thing one of the "reasons" my neighbors hate me is that they said i run my stuff all the time and something else about it. I have no idea what that means?? I have a chainsaw that i cut long logs i bring back to the house with. This is no more than a week of time that maybe is only a few hours at most a day?? I mow my yard which i said, my property in whole is 3/4acre. I have in the past used the mower to pull a small yard trailer before i had an atv.. It always had a dead battery so i would jump it and let it idle as i rode around picking up sticks or distributing pine straw or picking branches up etc. I always idled it and were talking it takes an hour max to cut the yard i guess and i never am running the mower at idle for more than 30 mins?? Oh and i have used the tractor to move logs and pull up bushes, or when warming it up when i was replacing a radiator a few times to test for over heating and leakes. I start my tractor and do not cut it off untill finished, again no more than an hour a few times in 3 years!!!

So after then blow up and telling me about all this noise i make their son is "forced" ( i assume this) to ride his dirt bike around the yard. While there telling me this son is riding so close we cant even hear each other talking!!! haha. But from then on for like a year either the son was made to go run the bike or the dad got on the Kid sized bike and rode it around thier 5 acres that takes them like half a day to mow when they cut it all. But the funny thing is in my house you could barely hear that dirt bike, we had to have nothing on, like no AC or tv or not talking to just barely hear it. I think they were trying to "annoy" me. I dont care, one i had to concentrate to hear it another i dont care they ride a dirt bike... WE LIVE IN THE FREAKING COUNTRY!!!!

But like i said for like a year, if i went outside and cranked up the saw to cut one pice of kindleing down small then turned it off and split it up and went inside, i would then hear the dirt bike crank up, and run for 5 mins or more??? Or i get home wait till a bit cooler and then crank up my weedeater to start trimming i hear the same thing, i would just laugh.

 

[NoTrespassing]

When I read threads like this I thank God I bought land where I did. We're surrounded by heavily wooded land for about a 1/2 mile or more in all directions with 30-100 ft. deep ravines on all sides. We're only about 1 mile from town but there's no way the land around me will ever be developed in my lifetime or my son's for that matter. When I hear neighbors shooting I love it. It keeps the towns people from wandering through the woods. The only time we see trespassers is during morel season. Some people are willing to risk their lives for a free mushroom!

Kevin

 

[Midniteoyl]

When I read threads like this I thank God I bought land where I did. We're surrounded by heavily wooded land for about a 1/2 mile or more in all directions with 30-100 ft. deep ravines on all sides. We're only about 1 mile from town but there's no way the land around me will ever be developed in my lifetime or my son's for that matter. When I hear neighbors shooting I love it. It keeps the towns people from wandering through the woods. The only time we see trespassers is during morel season. Some people are willing to risk their lives for a free mushroom!

Kevin

Agreed.. I have one neighbor through the woods about 400 yards, but clear in all other directions. See no one (anymore) except the morel hunters.

 

[buickanddeere]

I am not familiar with the laws in your State but this may help. You can get a copy of the report from the Agency that filled it out. Some municipalities call it an "Offense Report". There is normally no charge. You will be able to obtain the Officer's name, but not his address or phone number. You may or may not be able to obtain the person's identity that filed the complaint. Yes, you are allowed to face your accusers, but this is usually done, if and when it goes to court. This method reduces the liability, just in case the party that was complained about decides to make a visit. Best wishes. BTW, Mollasses works better in a gas tank than Sugar.

A heavy dose of two stroke oil is even better. Causes phantom smoking for no obvious reason. Doesn't show in the fuel system. Causes repeated high priced trouble shooting
bills from the garage. Problem mysteriously goes away.Repeat as required

 

[buickanddeere]

A number of years ago, I was building a new fence on the back property line. The old guy that lived behind us never maintained anything and I was using the old fence to hold his weeds back as I built my new 6' cedar fence. He called the cops and said I was dumping trash on his property and trespassing. He never said anything to me. The cop came to my house and was ready to haul me in until he heard my side of the story, saw the property line markers and saw what I was doing. He was okay with it and when I asked him why the guy had not just walked over and asked me, he said the guy was a retired LEO from Las Vegas and thought I was a redneck with guns. He did not want to get shot (I never had a gun outside at that property (in town). Some people just need to do it there way no matter what...

Let's think about all the false and improper arrests that paranoid retired LEO made while he was active? How many needless criminal records, legal fees and jail time.

 

[charlz]

Noise pollution is noise pollution regardless of the source. The world is getting more cramped for space between people/farms/industries, and the noises they make, decade by decade.

We had a similar case of new homes surrounding a long-established shooting range in southern Maine. That's a tough issue in my mind, but it is created by more and more people with conflicting needs.

The bottom line for me, is there is no inherent right to spread pollution beyond one's property lines. Noise is just another type of pollution.

I think it's good to be thoughtful of others. I don't use my chainsaw on weekends, early mornings or evenings near some neighbors at one corner of my property. I can't stop the chainsaw noise, but I can make it less bothersome.

I agree with that and do the same. However, if you move into an area with pre-existing 'noise pollution' I think you pretty much give up your right to complain about it. For example I was stationed at Marine Corp Air Station El Toro in SoCal. As the area became more developed they built houses on the hilltops in the runway approach and departure paths. People would buy the houses and then start calling and complaining that planes were flying over their houses :confused2: Since I lived in the barracks on base I had little sympathy for them... I had no choice as to where I lived. You just learn to live with the noise, like keeping your thumb on the TV remote volume button when they are circling the base doing touch and go's UUUPPPPP, dooowwwnnn, UUUUPPPPP, dooowwwnnn

 

[Dr_Zinj]

"The puzzling part is he then asked for my ID. I asked why. Something about needing it for his report. Now that kinda irks me. You dont need my id. Im on my property, not doing anything wrong, and because I have an idiot neighbor, my id is now associated with a police report "

I'm no fan of the cops. I prefer to bury my own apprehensions in the compost heap. (No decomposing bodies in it at the moment.) However, the police want the ID of the person who they talked to as it is additional proof that they didn't just make the report up to get the complaintant off their backs. That may also do double duty as if the officer doesn't know you personally, he (or she) has no idea if you're the property owner, or someone tresspassing on your place with intent to do violence to you. Also, give them the right name. If you give them a wrong one, they can get you for identity theft, or that may be enough to provide suspicion that you've commited a crime; both mean you're going to spend some time in the crowbar hotel. If your ID is in the house, tell him it's there and you need to go get it if he wants to see it. Do NOT let him in your house without a warrant! There's just too many nitnoid nuisance laws that you can't help but break in your own home that they can bust you on.

All officers of the law are required to present their identification to you upon request. If you really want to be a PITA, make them wait while you call the police department to verify that the person in front of you actually is the officer of their department, and not some imposter with a fake ID card, uniform, and a false car. Also, you have the right to not answer any of that officer's questions; there usually are negative consequences for refusing, such as spending a night in jail until your lawyer can bail you out and give the department **** for false arrest (if you are in the right.)

Copy of the report shouldn't cost more than $5. If it does, make a complaint to your town selectmen.

Shotgun shells can be reloaded. Kind of a shame that .22 rimfires all you can do is recycle the brass.

If I remember correctly, any cannon with a bore greater than .50 cal requires a BATFE permit, just like you would with a fully automatic weapon. I think the same holds true with silencers.

Me, I like my beauty sleep as much as the next person, so I don't shoot before 9:00 AM, or after 8:00 PM. (Except during hunting season when a turkey or deer decides to be an early bird.)

As for your neighbors, plant some corn and get that propane cannon to scare the crows off. ;-)

Oh, and Boondox, loud pipes aren't as efficient at saving lives as wearing highly visible clothing. Joe CarDriver probably can't hear those loud pipes unless the windows are down or your in touching distance of the car. But he can **** sure see a fluorescent neon green, yellow, or orange jacket mounted on that Hog!

Clemsonfor, if you live on less than one acre of property, I'll be willing to bet you can hit more than one of your neighbor's houses with a thrown baseball. If you can, that means you don't live in the country. Sorry, in that case, you're either urban or suburban.

 

[patrick_g]

It is not too late. Get a copy of the report. Challenge it if it says you were drinking AND shooting. It is one thing if the neighbor claims you shot across the road and another if there are other credible witnesses. If the officer misunderstood the exactitude of your comments and wrote that you were drinking and shooting (combined) as opposed to shooting and then later drinking (separate legitimate and legal activities). Get on them and get it fixed.

Now as to the .22 ammo... It ain't nearly loud loud enough by a very wide margin. If it were me I would have invited the cop to take me over to the complainer so we could have a mutual understanding of what was going on. That opportunity is passed now but you could visit the folks and explain that what you are doing is completely legal and a completely normal and accepted behavior in your area and is likely to be repeated at random intervals. Reassure them you are very conscious of gun safety and they are not in any way endangered. As far as the noise goes, it is part and parcel of normal life in your area and if they don't like the neighborhood because of it then they should possibly consider moving elsewhere for their own peace of mind.

It is not incumbent on the "old time" residents to modify their behavior to comply with what newcomers may wish was the community's normal situation. I have seen this played out in various venues including folks moving near a feed lot (looked the house over when the wind was blowing from them to the lot) and then the first time they were down wind gagged on the stench, called the cops, their lawyer, and basically went ballistic. Ditto a pig farm, dairy, goat dairy, and a cow calf operation.

Newcomers from the city went ballistic during their first deer hunting season and again during first turkey season. Called the cops, hired a lawyer, looked for someone to sue to make everything the way they wish it was.

Maybe you need to shoot some magnum rifle rounds into exploding targets too.

Pat

Now, as regards .22 plinking. It is not nearly loud and obnoxious enough. I second the idea of switching to some fairly heavy duty 12 ga loads.

 

[1GB]

How can you say that there is no reason that nothing louder than 35dba should leave my property. I live in a town of say 100 people, i have less than 1 acre and have houses right next to me on each side ... I mow my yard which i said, my property in whole is 3/4acre. ... .. WE LIVE IN THE FREAKING COUNTRY!!!!

No, you don't live in the country. You live where it used to be country before a bunch of lots were subdivided and houses went up.

 

[Ted Summey]

I live in the middle of 250 acres and can still hear mowers, leaf blowers, weed wackers, etc. the 35 dba measure is an arbitrary number somebody pulled out of their a**. Conversation is way over 35.


Here is a passage from http://www.lni.wa.gov/wisha/noisebank/noisebasics.pdf

Noise is measured in units called “decibels”, abbreviated as “dB”. Noise levels can range from 1 dB (near silence) to 60 dB (quiet conversation) to 140 dB (a jet engine).
Scientific studies have shown that people exposed to noise levels of 85 decibels and above over 8 hours or longer will gradually lose their hearing over time. If you have to shout to be heard by another person 3 feet from you, the noise level is probably above 85 decibels. Remember, the louder the noise level and the longer the exposure, the greater the risk of hearing loss. Noise levels above 140 decibels will cause immediate hearing loss. But everyone should wear hearing protection all the time when working around noise levels above 115 decibels.