Is this a local legal question, or is there some general rule about discharging weapons in public? I know you can’t shoot regular firearms out in your yard within city limits, but a bb gun?
I have a mole issue, (animal, not face) and I think a silent shot air rifle is just the ticket to send some of these critters to neverland.
what’s the general answer? if those in power want to move this to IMHO, please do so.
Thank you!
Check your local laws including town. Where I live, it’s legal out in the county but in town, it’s illegal.
thanks. That’s what I figured, but I thought something that can be given to a kid for Christmas (you’ll shoot your eye out, kid!) might have different rules.
I’ll call the local township and see what they can tell me. I just have a feeling that it will be illegal, which is not what I want to hear. Mole-massacre poopers.
Everywhere I have lived, bb guns were common with the neighborhood kids. When I was about eleven we lived in a subdivision and I got my first bb gun. My father made me a “shooting trap”, essentially a large rectangular box set up on its side, with a cardboard insert running from the top outside edge to the bottom inside edge. The angle of the cardboard should trap the bb when shot into it.
You want to use it to eliminate pests. They are great for that, but just be sure you know what is behind your target. You don’t have much of a chance of your ammunition passing thru your target, but if you miss you could put a hole in something you didn’t intend to. “Remember kid, you’ll shoot your eye out!”.
Also, if you are using it for anti-critter, I would suggest using pellets instead of bb’s. These tend to do a much better job at dispatching fury woodland creatures than standard bb’s. If you haven’t purchased your gun yet I would suggest that you stay away from air cartridge fired guns like the typical Daisy and opt for a pump one like the Crossman. The guns (unless they have changed dramatically since I was a kid) that use a air cartridge for propellant usually lack the power of the manual pump guns. They are more convenient, but you want eliminate to kill your prey, not injure it so it will suffer. Good Luck.
Just noting how varied local laws are: In my county no shooting within 200yds of a building. Which means my whole neighborhood is off limits. But people still buy bb guns for their kids and let them roam the woods next to our house. (And occasionally even an adult.) Never mind the law or the rights of the property owners.
how do you expect to see them for a shot?
putting traps on their tunnels might be more effective.
Airguns are not firearms most such laws reference firearms specifically. That said, BB guns are illegal to discharge in some towns as well so you just have to research your specific location to know for sure. In my experience, they are legal to shoot in most locales even when firearms are not. They are legal to discharge outdoors in suburban Boston where firearms laws are strict.
I can’t say from a legal standpoint if they are legal in your area. But from a practical standpoint, as long as BB’s aren’t bouncing off your neighbors windows you’re not likely to run into any trouble.
And they don’t ricochet like BB’s do.
As another practical matter: let your neighbors know you are trying to eliminate pests not going all militia on them. Otherwise, they are going to be frantically calling 911 screaming about their neighbor with a gun and THINK OF THE CHILDREN! You have been warned.
This is the main thing. Anyone running around brandishing a firearm-looking thing in view of neighbours is going to get a visit from antsy police or the SWAT team. I heard of a case in Canada where someone’s door was kicked in and the whole armed search thing happened because someone thought they saw the guy in his pickup truck waving a rifle. (Turned out to be a steering wheel club lock). Could be worse, I see near Chicago someone got the SWAT team and thunderflashes set off for the crime of having no password on their wifi.
Also in Canada, to qualify as “not a firearm”, a BB-gun or air rifle or air pistol must be mechanically limited to under 500FPS - which is supposedly not enough to break skin, but you can still shoot your eye out. Above that, it is a firearm. Not sure what the rules are in various US states.
Plus, in the end there is still the option of criminal negligence, assualt, or possession of a dangerous weapon if you do something really stupid. Even a hockey stick or a ball-peen hammer qualify as dangerous weapons in the right circumstances.