The Neighbor
Member
We live in a rural neighborhood in Central Virginia, everyone basically has 10 acres. Our new back neighbor has just put in a shooting range. Their acreage is pretty long and narrow with the cleared area of it beginning around 100 feet from and extending out to about 200 yards from our house and less that from another neighbor's house. We have kids aged 3, 5 and 7.
I have never fired or owned a gun and really know very little about them or safety in terms of range design (I support 2nd Amendment rights, including the belief that 'arms' is inclusive of far more than handheld weapons). The other neighbors have called local LE due to the proximity of their home to the range as well as the noise level (the Sheriff told the neighbor with the range that he called for backup prior to coming up to the house based on the warning sign posted on the driveway). The Sheriff told them that the range appears to be just at the distance required by zoning and that they might be able to do something based on noise (this neighbor is now keeping a log and has purchased a device to measure the noise). I share their safety concern at some level (to be fair, they are at the target end of the range). My wife is more concerned than I am and also works nights every few weeks while the new neighbor often shoots during weekday hours. I know that he shoots pistols, an AR15 and he told me that he had a 50 caliber out there one day. He also said that he wants to put in a tactical range as well (I have a faint idea of what I think that is).
At this point the 'range' is really just a newly mounded berm (not packed, maybe 8 to 12 ft high?) with a couple flat screen TVs lying against it, some targets attached to the trunks of trees and lots of stumps/logs mixed in with the dirt. The berm sits about 100 yards off of the back of our other neighbor's house with a about 20 degrees off the line of fire. There is a forested section (mostly loblolly pines) between the berm and the house. The neighbor with the range says that the trees would block any stray bullets from hitting their house. I have similar logic from my friends that hunt and it sounds reasonable but not necessarily proven.
Our house sits parallel to the line of fire (about 100 feet away, much of that lightly wooded) with our property line ending about where the berm is built. I am not worried about ricochet where we sit. My worry is more about one of the kids wandering over through the woods and popping out onto the range itself. My wife is very upset by the noise...I am struck by how intermittent it is. It seems like a session may last a couple hours but the number of shots is generally not that high but spread across the hour or two so you can't tell whether it is finished (Is that normal?).
Anyway, I seem to be the only near neighbor that is on speaking terms with him so my plan is to attempt to arrive at a workable solution. He volunteered that if anyone is bothered by the noise to let him know. At that point I mentioned that my wife sometimes sleeps during the day and we talked about whether we could let them know when and he could refrain from shooting. So I feel like they are not necessarily the 'screw you, I'll shoot when I like' type but they are definitely committed shooters (as is their right). He is a former Marine, former due to an injury in Iraq, so he likes having his range. He also told me that he has been trained in safe shooting (I assume by the USMC), but I do not think that is the same thing as range safety in terms of layout, design, materials, etc.
My point? I guess it is to see what advice I can get from other dedicated shooters on:
A- how to approach the whole topic of safety concerns in a way that will lead to productive action;
B- are there resources available (at very low or no cost) to help someone putting in a range to design it safely;
C - what can be done about noise?
My wife is talking about moving, apparently the other neighbor's wife is thinking the same. I feel like we're in the country and this is the flip side of the peace and quiet stereotype of country life. I also feel that going the route of what is legal and what is not will result in no winners. I've lived in an urban neighborhood where neighbors didn't get along and I think that as bad as things seem to people now they can get a lot worse, while still being in full compliance with the law.
I appreciate any advice you all can give on this.
I have never fired or owned a gun and really know very little about them or safety in terms of range design (I support 2nd Amendment rights, including the belief that 'arms' is inclusive of far more than handheld weapons). The other neighbors have called local LE due to the proximity of their home to the range as well as the noise level (the Sheriff told the neighbor with the range that he called for backup prior to coming up to the house based on the warning sign posted on the driveway). The Sheriff told them that the range appears to be just at the distance required by zoning and that they might be able to do something based on noise (this neighbor is now keeping a log and has purchased a device to measure the noise). I share their safety concern at some level (to be fair, they are at the target end of the range). My wife is more concerned than I am and also works nights every few weeks while the new neighbor often shoots during weekday hours. I know that he shoots pistols, an AR15 and he told me that he had a 50 caliber out there one day. He also said that he wants to put in a tactical range as well (I have a faint idea of what I think that is).
At this point the 'range' is really just a newly mounded berm (not packed, maybe 8 to 12 ft high?) with a couple flat screen TVs lying against it, some targets attached to the trunks of trees and lots of stumps/logs mixed in with the dirt. The berm sits about 100 yards off of the back of our other neighbor's house with a about 20 degrees off the line of fire. There is a forested section (mostly loblolly pines) between the berm and the house. The neighbor with the range says that the trees would block any stray bullets from hitting their house. I have similar logic from my friends that hunt and it sounds reasonable but not necessarily proven.
Our house sits parallel to the line of fire (about 100 feet away, much of that lightly wooded) with our property line ending about where the berm is built. I am not worried about ricochet where we sit. My worry is more about one of the kids wandering over through the woods and popping out onto the range itself. My wife is very upset by the noise...I am struck by how intermittent it is. It seems like a session may last a couple hours but the number of shots is generally not that high but spread across the hour or two so you can't tell whether it is finished (Is that normal?).
Anyway, I seem to be the only near neighbor that is on speaking terms with him so my plan is to attempt to arrive at a workable solution. He volunteered that if anyone is bothered by the noise to let him know. At that point I mentioned that my wife sometimes sleeps during the day and we talked about whether we could let them know when and he could refrain from shooting. So I feel like they are not necessarily the 'screw you, I'll shoot when I like' type but they are definitely committed shooters (as is their right). He is a former Marine, former due to an injury in Iraq, so he likes having his range. He also told me that he has been trained in safe shooting (I assume by the USMC), but I do not think that is the same thing as range safety in terms of layout, design, materials, etc.
My point? I guess it is to see what advice I can get from other dedicated shooters on:
A- how to approach the whole topic of safety concerns in a way that will lead to productive action;
B- are there resources available (at very low or no cost) to help someone putting in a range to design it safely;
C - what can be done about noise?
My wife is talking about moving, apparently the other neighbor's wife is thinking the same. I feel like we're in the country and this is the flip side of the peace and quiet stereotype of country life. I also feel that going the route of what is legal and what is not will result in no winners. I've lived in an urban neighborhood where neighbors didn't get along and I think that as bad as things seem to people now they can get a lot worse, while still being in full compliance with the law.
I appreciate any advice you all can give on this.