Well guys it happened to me....neighbor.

[ironcode]

There are nuissance laws that you might be breaking - so do consult a lawyer. Where I live, there are local laws that say one can't be causing noise that, at the boundaries of anybody else's property, exceeds a certain amount (in dB). If the complaining party measures at the boundaries of their property higher noise levels caused by you, they can legally force you to stop. (Oh, I wish I could enforce these against leaf-blowers... alas, probably not worth the hassle).

 

[John Parker]

You might even consider some of the ways to suppress sound from your weapons like TP rolls and baby bottle nipples.

This is a real gem.

 

[zminer]

The OP's neighbor sounds like a certain personality type, which a few people mentioned before. The shooting probably annoyed him this whole time, but he's the kind of guy who lets things fester and keeps them inside until he can't stand it anymore, or has an opportunity to make a statement. So, the UPS thing pushed him over the top, and the next time he had a chance, he lashed out, spewing out his angry spittle about lawyers and suing, where the normal response would have been a polite conversation. He's an angry, sad person, who isn't assertive enough to speak up when things bother him. In fact, that's why he's angry - he's angry at himself for not being a stronger person.

So what do you do?

MarineOne summed it up perfectly:

Speak with the local sherriff and county commissioners and ensure you're legal. Also speak with an attorney to make sure you're legal. Once you have all your ducks in a row, go have a friendly chat with him and bring a couple of beers along.

If he still wants to be a jerk, you've got your documentation and he can go pound sand.

If he wants to sue you, you've got your documentation and he can go pound sand when you counter-sue him and win.

The only thing I can think of to add is that you might start a paper trail. If this guy won't take the olive branch you offer, send him copies of all of the legal documents and statements you obtain, and send it registered mail, so you know that he received them. That way, you both know where you stand - he knows it's futile to sue, and you know that he knows it.

Do you have to go back to shooting once this is all over? No. If you don't want to shoot, you don't have to. But, I assume that you like to shoot, seeing as you went to the trouble of building a well-constructed range at your house. So while you shouldn't antagonize this guy (out of the general politeness due to everyone, even self-hating jerk neighbors), don't let this venomous guy keep you from doing something which is not disruptive and which is completely legal.

 

[youngda9]

The ex supervisor is just looking for someone new to supervise. Next time tell him where he can stick it. Don't worry about the crotchety old timer.

 

[22lr-shooter]

Unfortunately there are a lot of people like that. Your only obligations are to make sure you are legal to shoot there, and do it safely. Beyond that you have no obligation to "take a couple of beers and some food for talking to him"...may as well take soap and water and wash his cars for him

Be polite about the times you shoot and dont worry about him (after checking legalities of course).

We as gun owners have become so scared of "offending" somebody that no longer do laws have to be made against us...we just need a whiny neighbor to make us run and hide.

There is a huge difference in keep the peace with people and simply bowing down to their unreasonable wishes.

I get a kick out of some of the suggestions...."your neighbor does not like shooting?...Well pack up and move and buy thousands of dollars worth of other guns and silencers"...right.

 

[Beelzy]

Sound to me like it'stime for a Black Powder Cannon of considerable Caliber.

Or maybe a Neighborhood Shoot Off.

 

[waldonbuddy]

Thanks for the advise. After telling neighbors wife the second time that I didn't have her package and seeing her literally roll her eye's, I told her that my UPS box was still in the backyard waiting to be burned with some brush in a pile. She said no she didn't want to see it.
It was the same reply when her husband was mentioning which way the bullets might be going in our discussion yesterday, and I invited him to walk ten feet up my drive and he could see my range in at the end of my 500ft property line {targets are florescent orange}, he refused to see.
Yesterday, I didn't write everything he said, pretty much just the highlights. He did mentioned another neighbor where he used to live that shot dogs in the backyard near his house. He said he had to move since the police wouldn't do anything about it. Which now that I think about it he doesn't like guns period, which is the whole issue.
Also, having mentioned this it would probably pay me to go to the LEO's where he used to live and get a copy of the complaints he filed as well as his neighbors name, and talk to him as well {if he is still around}.
Thanks for all of the advice. I don't think anyone with my kind of problem should go over to the neighbor in question with beer, cookies, etc as that could bite you in the ass. Think about it. You go onto his land, you and he talk civil, and have a beer. You walk back home, and in a few minutes the LEO pull up in your yard and charge you with assault. Your neighbor called them just as you left, told the LEO you were came on to his property drunk and threaten him. The LEO do a breath test find out yep, you have in fact been drinking and there you go.
I am heading out to the county LEO to try and get something on paper today......thanks for all of the support/advice

 

[Mp7]

lotsa good advice.

+1 for making everything watertight - and then
try to go over to his place for a friendly beer
and peace offer.

Peace with neighbours is something very valuable.
You just seem to notice, when it´s not there....

 

[B yond]

I have a new neighbor that thinks he can play the electric guitar. He can't.

He tries to play it (loudly) during daytime hours. Around here the local laws allow you to make almost as much noise as you want during specific daytime hours. Legally there's nothing I can do to stop him.

You know what I'm NOT going to do about it? I'm not going to go over there and be a jerk to him. I'm not going to complain. I'm not going to call the police.

You know what I AM going to do? I'm going to purchase a decent pair of headphones and give them to him, politely asking if he could use them during the (2) hours when my child is supposed to be napping. It'll probably sound better to him than his cheapo amp does anyway.

It's usually better to be constructive. More flies with honey and all that jazz. Too bad your neighbor doesn't think the same way.

 

[mgregg85]

Your neighbor sounds like a real jerk. Probably a bad idea to antagonize him but I know I would start shooting as much as possible, thats just me.

At least you tried to be cool about it, I doubt anything you could have said would have made him happy.

 

[Owen Sparks]

Either shooting on private property is legal or it is not.
Enquirer with your local Sheriff's department.
If shooting IS legal where you live and you have a proper back stop, the ONLY recourse your neighbor has is a noise complaint. This will be really hard to justify in a rural area where people routinely run gas powered lawn mowers and chain saws.

 

[Warhawk83]

Quit tail tucking man, shoot like you have been shooting. Once a week for 20 minutes is NOT unreasonable. I have to listen to teenagers rap music at least that much EVERY day with my house reverberating. Your neighbor is just an ass.

 

[zxcvbob]

Thanks for the advise. After telling neighbors wife the second time that I didn't have her package and seeing her literally roll her eye's, I told her that my UPS box was still in the backyard waiting to be burned with some brush in a pile. She said no she didn't want to see it.
It was the same reply when her husband was mentioning which way the bullets might be going in our discussion yesterday, and I invited him to walk ten feet up my drive and he could see my range in at the end of my 500ft property line {targets are florescent orange}, he refused to see.

Well there you go. The real issue is, they (mostly the wife) are having too much fun blaming you for everything that's wrong with the world. That's why they won't even look at any exculpatory evidence. Make sure all your legal ducks are in a row, and ignore them.

 

[Vibe]

As for the lead issue....Snail Trap.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

There are good neighbors, and then there are stinkers. I live in an unzoned township in the middle of rural and suburban Ohio. We have no restrictions on shooting, or hunting, as long as we have an adequate backstop, and the "hours" are reasonable (usually daylight hours). I have had some neighbors take difference with my shooting (I like to tell them that I am an olympic class shooter, as I fire up hundreds of rounds once or twice a week, on occasion, with friends over doing the same). It is unfortunate to live next to an ACTIVE shooter, but it is legal here in Ohio to EXERCISE one's right to own guns AND shoot. As several have stated, KNOW your local laws, and if you are indeed permitted to shoot in your backyard, maybe come to some type of self imposed limit to one or two given days, certain hours, etc, that will make you less offensive, or maybe show that YOU are compromising by limiting yourself, and maybe they will figure out that THEY, too, can compromise and tolerate your shooting, or move to a quieter neighborhood. As some others have stated, mowing the lawn is just as annoying, lasts way longer, but people have come to accept that noise. My shooting of 100-200 rounds usually doesn't last more than two hours....it takes me longer to mow my lawn. I had the county sheriff's deputies standing in my backyard one day, as a riff with the neighbor resulted in his wife calling them to "shut me down". I knew the ordinances, and the deputies politely examined my backstop, and then told the complainants that I had every right to shoot, etc. It took two years before we neighbors got back to being polite and sociable again, but they don't mention the shooting anymore. I could not resist going out at 9:00AM on the Saturday after the Friday they had the deputies down, and rattle off some 500 S&W Magnums for effect. The sad part of that whole story is that I used to load ammo for that neighbor, and he used to come over and shoot. They just got a bug up their butts that because they had some "extra" people in their yard for the 4th of July weekend that I should cease and desist to accomodate their outside activities. I had waited for 5-6 hours for them to take a break, so I could go do my thing (which takes place 30 yards behind my house, and a good 70 yards distance from their house, and firing AWAY from the direction of their house.) Just know where you stand, and enjoy the privileges that YOU pay for to live where you do. There are thousands of people that would LOVE to be able to shoot on their own property!

 

[CoRoMo]

Posted by waldonbuddy (the OP)

I do feel that he had a right to enjoy his property...

I only shoot ONCE a week, and usually its three 15 round mags through my 9mm pistol. So how much time is that maybe 20 minutes a week.

In a way, it looks like you are giving him over ten thousand minutes per week to enjoy his place and you are only taking a mere 20 minutes to enjoy yours.

If we were all to give in to people who dislike the way we live, where would we all be?

 

[theotherwaldo]

Never give in when you are in the right.

Time to take up the bagpipes and play!

 

[waldonbuddy]

Well, a quick update. I did go, after my last post this morning I went down to the county LEO's and had a brief meeting with a deputy there.

He said there is NO law's, ordinances, etc, in the area where I live period. He said they get calls like this all of the time, and basically what most everyone here said which is "the guy sounds like a jerk".

I asked about the lead issue, and basically, just as someone here replied, there is no issue with that unless its an indoor range.

Too bad the guy turned out to be a jerk. A good/sad lesson is never to let your neighbor's know your business as I never did get close enough to this guy to give him any private information of any kind. I never suspected this guy to be the jerk that he was and maybe part of that was due to him being at work all day.

Another thing I didn't think about was that I was trained by an FBI agent with a Glock 22 {I still even have my weapons card} for my work, and I think I still have the certificate from when I worked at HS, which might help if this were to come to a head.
Make's me think how lucky in the 20 years I didn't give him anything to use against me {political views, etc}in a possible lawsuit

Oh, one last thing. To "thebookguy" your problem was the one I was referring to as being able to relate. I read your problem a few months ago, and thought "glad I don't have that problem"......lol.

Thanks again, like someone said we don't need to run hide if the law is on our side.

 

[CoRoMo]

Well then... where are you, and how many of us can use your range?!!?

 

[eatont9999]

If you are doing your shooting at reasonable times in the day, I don't see why he should even care. He sounds like one of those people you can never make happy. Next he'll want you to plant a certain kind of bush in front of your house. I don't know what your laws are, but look them up. Check into that school thing as well. Do what you want on your property as long as it is lawful.

 

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors// I would invite local LEO over to shoot. //

Also if you want to take the high ground. Perhaps put in a shooting stall (plywood between your neighbor and sound of shooting ) so most of the sound goes up and or forward . This will give the jerk less of a leg to stand on and appear like you are sensitive to his wishes.(Not that you should be or that I would be.) ////

If he persists you might suggest that there plenty of places to live where shooting is not allowed and give him some property listings . Or buy him some big band music to play loudly when you are shooting. ;- ).......

Good luck and keep your cool / sounds like you are doing everything correctly

 

[61chalk]

O.K. This is what I would do....You say its legal to shoot..I would invite the sheriff to come out an check out my range.....talk about guns an shooting....The sheriff tells you everything is legal an looks good. THEN you invite him an all his shooting buddies to come out on a Sat. an bring lots of guns an ammo!!!!!! THEN the nieghbors you get along with, you call them Sat. morning an tell them you an some Law enforcement friends are going to be doing some shooting an you just wanted to give them a heads up...BUT you don't call that anti nieghbor......SAT.....let the shooting begin!!!!! I would make it sound like WW3.......thats just the kind of prick I am.

 

[rondog]

OK, you're cool to shoot! Time to buy some more guns, really LOUD ones! I wish I could live in an area like that.

Years ago, we lived in Central New York, out in the country. While I didn't know any of the neighbors, our back yard faced a very dense woodland, backed up by a huge swamp. Once in awhile I'd pop off a few rounds at some targets off in the trees, and instead of complaints, I'd hear people on both sides of me start doing the same thing!

There was a little gunsmith shop in town, and one day I heard him "test firing" a Thompson SMG. I went to see *** was going on, and he said it belonged to the Sheriff's Dept., and they brought it to him once a year for a "tuneup".

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

He ranted and got it off his chest. You listened. Try not to let it bother you. If your personality allows you just go ahead and shoot but don't be self conscious about it. Try calling him ahead of time letting him know you are shooting.
He will understand that you are not inconsiderate even though there are differences.

 

[waldonbuddy]

I did ask the officer about advice on getting a certified range instructor to come and inspect my range, and sign off on it. The officer said that it wasn't possible because of the liabilities, example, if I injure myself, or someone else, then whoever inspected my range and cleared it as safe would be liable.

However, it would seem as though I could get some documentation from someone who is qualified to inspect my range and give their opinion without taking any liability upon themselves........

I also plan on video taping when everyone else shoots in the area {yep, there's more than me out here in the stick's shooting them gun's}, not to try to incriminate anyone, just prove Im not the only one shooting.