Police arrest target shooter

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Just to show that circumstances do matter.

A few years ago two men were target shooting on land owned by one of them. The police came, sirens blaring, forced them to the ground, and placed them under arrest. They were taken to jail and held overnight. Awful? Violation of this and that? Let's all jump in and back up these innocent victims of anti-gun cops.

Or maybe not so fast. These two clowns were firing a .44 Magnum, and had set up a backstop consisting of (ready for this?) a hay bale!

The bullets were blasting right through the hay bale and tearing through the walls of a nearby house, which was in plain sight but which the two geniuses had apparently not noticed was in the line of fire.

No one was injured or killed and the shooters got off on a plea of reckless endangerment, with a heavy fine and full restitution.

It is this kind of thing that makes me want to know the "rest of the story" before getting all irate in defense of "gun rights."

Jim
 
"Every one of those deputies should be fired, immediately."

And lawsuit? Can you say ... felony charges? There are several that come into play here. If the books were thrown at people like this it would diminish to extremely rare instances. After a successful criminal prosecution a civil suit is almost a slam dunk.

People that find themselves victims to this kind of thing need to do some legal research (it is actually quite straightforward). If the DA "declines" to prosecute your oppressor(s), you can take your case directly to a Grand Jury yourself.
 
I searched for a bit on the code but can't find it. I am almost sure it is on the law books somewhere for each State. My boss is an FFL and I will ask him in the morning.

Seriously though 2 acres?

640 acres is 1 mile x 1 mile. 2 acres is 300ft x 300ft. .22LR has a range of 1-1.5 miles!
 
Thanks for sharing. Just like the gestapo used to do not long ago.
The people involved need to be brought to justice.

Soon citizens will not be able to even protest anymore...
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/mar2012/prot-m03.shtml

6442d1331011414-us-congress-passes-authoritarian-anti-protest-law-priceofliberty.jpg
 
I live on 3.3 acres. Even if I could, I would not subject my neighbors to the noise of me shooting recreationally on my property. Mark
 
I lived in suburban Maryland not far from Annapolis in the 1960s. We lived in a very middle class neighborhood where most homes sat on what was probably about two acres on average. My father taught me to shoot in the back yard, as did others such as a friend (and his dad) who not infrequently shot an M1 carbine and a cap and ball revolver among others right behind the house.

I do not recall in about 6 years there ever even seeing a police car in the neighborhood. I am sure I did, as I am sure they must have had some business there once in awhile, and no doubt drove through at night. But no one ever called the police about "someone shooting" in their backyard.

I don't get all this paranoia, except that it is the result of a few decades of propaganda and programming. You can shoot on ten square feet of ground if you make sure you have the right back stop.
 
intercooler said:
I searched for a bit on the code but can't find it. I am almost sure it is on the law books somewhere for each State. My boss is an FFL and I will ask him in the morning.

Seriously though 2 acres?

640 acres is 1 mile x 1 mile. 2 acres is 300ft x 300ft. .22LR has a range of 1-1.5 miles!
Click to expand...
With a proper backstop the size of the land should not matter. I shoot on family owned farm land that is one square mile. However I always shoot int a berm.
 
Wow. We have some here with no regard to others safety or well being. It appears many just go for it without knowing the laws and or respecting them. You are fine until someone complains just like this Guy was. When that happens though its hard to feel totally bad.
 
Is it not true you have to have certain acres to hunt?
Click to expand...
Not in SD...as long as you aren't putting anyone in danger, theres no restrictions to shooting on private property outside of city limits
 
10 yards if you have a safe backstop. Even if he was guilty of nd [which the court said he wasn't ] they had no right to search his house. Your missing the whole point. His 4th amendment rights were violated his guns were seized and your worried about how much land he owns.
 
No I'm not worried. I posted the reasons and I follow the laws. I'm also considerate of others and wouldn't go blasting 10 yards away from a backstop if I had neighbors 100 yards away.
 
A safe distance? 3 inches, if the berm will stop the bullet. What can i say? An arbitrary distance of x ft makes no sense if it isn't based in safety. As long as one is not putting others in danger, there shouldn't be an issue. The noise my .22 makes is considerably less tan my nearest neighbor's Harley, so if he wants to discuss the noise issue, i'd be more than willing. That said, it isnt a problem with my neighbor, and overall, South Dakota is pretty gun-tolerant, and, last I checked, had the highest number of CCW permits per capita. Finding an anti-gunner around here is harder than finding a shooting buddy. All of that is neither here nor there though. Even if the man HAD negligently discharged a firearm (which it was revealed he did not, as the charge was dismissed due to lack of evidence) there was nothing in that action that eliminated his 4th amendment protections. Intercooler, I don't mean to misread your post, but its almost as if you are trying to somehow justify the actions of the police involved. There WAS no justification. Even if he had gone to his neighbor's house and beaten him bloody, there was nothing that justified the entering of the home, and far less justifying the gun case being opened. They outright fabricated their own version of the truth in order to validate the arrest. the arresat was WRONG....the detainment was wrong...the arrest unnjustified, and the search outright illegal. Regardless of this man's standing with his neighbors, his rights were violated on many different levels. Excusing this sort of behavior is a virtual guarantee it will continue, and likely become worse. You don't fix problems, espeically within a police force, by making excuses and token gestures. You do it with education and if needed discipline or even criminal charges. You said "you're just fine, til someone complains". I could care less if someone complains about my legal activity on my land that doesn't pose a danger to them in any way. A disgruntled neighbor is NOT an excuse for the Sheriff's department to completely disregard someone's civil rights, and I hope to nev er live in a world where it does serve as justification
 
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Dave you have a different setup understandibly. You own that bullet though up to its range of a mile plus.
 
The judge ruled there was NO EVIDENCE of ANY negligent discharge. My set-up is irrelevant, as HIS was deemed to be safe. My situation has no bearing, and was only mentioned as a response to your question about minimum requirements. I realize I own the bullets that leave my firearm. I wouldn't be in any position to own a gun if I was confused by that simple fact. The bullet may have a range of a mile plus..UNLESS there s a safe backstop. If there is, the hypothetical distance a bullet would travel is largely irrelevant in every way. if the backstop stops the bullet, the issue is eliminated, and as I've said before, the court found NO EVIDENCE to support a negligent discharge violation of any kind, meaning that everything following his original detainment was large a violation of his 4th amendment rights. The cops overreacted and lied to cover their backsides. Thats indefensible IMO.

By the way, SD DOES have a law restricting hunters...other than the landowner...from shooting within 550 of livestock, occupied buildings, homes, etc....However, that does NOT apply to target shootingf, which is more or less unregulated on private property
 
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Dave sounds like you are a lawyer or maybe should be one. I am not or do not want to be one and defending any actions in this.

Back to shooting at my designated and legal range.
 
Not a lawyer, but I graduated with a BA in criminal justice....that said, there isn't a whole lot of scholarly material here. The cops arrested someone on invalid charges the evidence didn't support, and violated his civil rights...and admitted to it (and then tried to justify it) on A/V recordings. It doesn't take a lawyer to see what happened here was wrong on many different levels. I wish this man all the luck in the world in his lawsuit. He was robbed and his rights trampled. The cops were wrong in their actions, and should pay in one way or another for their negligence in the line of duty
 
just an every day episode of a LEO's work scedule. These people must have been bullied at a younger age and then when they grow a little they see being a LEO can give them that power to bully. You see it more and more so it has to be something to it.
 
Tnboy every case is different? Do you know for a fact you are legal? Have you checked? The person doing the shooting is responsible. At least we hope!
 
640 acres is 1 mile x 1 mile. 2 acres is 300ft x 300ft. .22LR has a range of 1-1.5 miles!
Click to expand...

Do you realize how far up in the air you would have to aim to get that 22LR to go 1-1.5 miles? It would be about a 30 degree angle, as in trying to shoot birds out of the sky.

Try doing some long distance shooting some time and you'll see what tragectory does. I can shoot my 223 on the same plane as the target at 300 yards away and it'll hit the ground before it gets there, if it's flat, level ground between me and my target.

As for the officer mentioning cars in the back ground, from the view of the video, the only thing I saw was a hill side right behind the tree in which the target was propped up against. How far was the officer panning right or left before he saw cars. Also with them fabricating their stories to justify the actions, could you actually believe he saw cars? After watching their actions, I wouldn't believe a word they said.
 
Whew, don't think I've ever seen anyone so worried about whether someone else has enough land to be shooting, probably in states far from his own.
 
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