Shooting on own property

[Gardien]

CPO, thanks for the intel. Keep us posted on how things go in Park Co.

Good luck. Let us know if you need any help breaking in the range.

[Bailey Guns]

Originally Posted by cpo

Currently we are looking in the Park County area. Hopefully finding unincorporated land with no HOA. I found a few 35 acre lots that are interesting.

Obviously my plans involve safe shooting practices...with either a natural backstop (land protrusion/mountainside/etc) or a purpose built berm.

Clearly there are two issues:

1. Legality.
2. Neighborly Etiquette.

From my perspective...even if I am clear on #1 I will always consider #2. IMHO, just because I am "legal" to do something doesn't mean I should.

Assuming no HOA covenants you're good to go in Park County. Regardless of your acreage as long as the projectile doesn't leave the boundries of your property and you're shooting safely, no problem.

I have 16 acres in ParkCo and love it. I shoot on my property frequently with the etiquette thing you mentioned always on my mind. I try to do it during the weekdays when most everyone is at work.

[Shifty]

I frequently shoot on my folks land in unincorporated Jefferson County. They have 40 acres and I shoot into a hillside. I always call the Sheriff's Department and let them know what time I will be shooting. This helps if a more distant neighbor hears the gunfire and calls it in. I also let all of the neighbors in close proximity know that I will be shooting keep the neighborly etiquette intact. No problems so far.

[rforgy]

Was at the local city council meeting last week and a discussion was going on between the mayor and the city manager and a couple council members regarding a call the local police got regarding gunshots.

Turns out it was in the county but none of them knew what the law really was regarding shooting in the county.

They never did find the shooter but it was decided it was just someone taking target practice and they were asking the manager what the law was regarding this. He had no clue, hope he took it upon himself to find out.

[CSB66]

I've not heard of any Colorado State statute against shooting on your property except where prohibited by city or township laws. You are responsible for any damage that might occur by any bullets that stray outside the boundaries of your property.

[cpo]

Some some information I was looking for...it gives me a place to start. This particular link discusses sound attenuation and helps me start to get a feel for how sound can/will travel, and some thoughts on how distance or obstacles can help attenuate that sound. My goal would be to see if I could get the sound heard by neighbors below conversational levels...giving (in my own assumption) better opportunity for having the shots not heard when they are inside their homes/cabins.

http://www.nssf.org/ranges/resources...7;20Management

Obviously I can't prevent all sound, but this information certainly helps me during planning phases...keeps me cognizant of distance from structures...placement with regard to my own property structures, etc...

[cpo]

Not sure if anyone else is still interested in this info...but I am still researching to get it out of my system. Not planning on building a public range, but still want to consider all the options. I ran across this interesting document about the Loveland Police Department outdoor range.

http://www.ci.loveland.co.us/Council...ge_History.pdf

What I found most interesting about this was:

The testing of various gunfire sound levels on the range and near residences, and the proposed plan to reduce the DB(a) levels at the residential area.

References to noise level laws (which seem to be applicable in like fashion in other counties)

The mitigation plan.

I won't recreate the document here...but here is an example of what I was looking for that I found on this doc:

.45 ACP Handgun, 1 Meter behind shooter, 6 shots: 104.7 dba

same gun at 500 yards: 78.6 dba

Interesting. Of course, terrain dependent.