Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 My wife and I are looking at recreational properties in rural East Tennessee. Does anyone know if TN has a law like Texas where you need a minimum of ten acres to shoot a gun in unincorporated areas? Im mindful of safety, backstops, politeness with noise and all, but was curious about this facet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 4 minutes ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said: My wife and I are looking at recreational properties in rural East Tennessee. Does anyone know if TN has a law like Texas where you need a minimum of ten acres to shoot a gun in unincorporated areas? Im mindful of safety, backstops, politeness with noise and all, but was curious about this facet. Get a hold of Blackwater he’ll probably know! He lives in Tennessee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 5 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said: Get a hold of Blackwater he’ll probably know! He lives in Tennessee. There’s a few Tennesseans who’ve lived here way longer than I have. Hoping they’ll chime in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imis Twohofon,SASS # 46646 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Probably just Local codes. I am not a lawyer. Imis 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 I would call Sheriffs offices in the counties you’re interested in. They could be a great help to you in this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 4 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said: Get a hold of Blackwater he’ll probably know! He lives in Tennessee. Thanks, Rye! Like Imis said, it’s generally governed by local codes. I used to test fire my firearms in my back yard and many of the local LEOs sometimes joined me. I live on what is nearly two acres and had three 55gal drums full of sand and oil dry that served as my targets. There was no problem until they built a Dollar General store over on the next street where the property met mine at the back corner, even though I am only about 500 feet from the school where Schoolmarm used to teach. Unfortunately, my next door neighbor’s thieving, drug addict kid got out in his back yard, shooting a crappy little nine mm pistol and he put two or three rounds onto the roof of the DG store. HELL! I was in Texas at Comin’AtCha’ when it happened! One of my deputy buddies came to the house and rousted Schoolmarm out of the bathtub to find out “who shot the dollar store” and sadly informed her that we shouldn’t be shooting in the back yard anymore! I still pop off a round or several from time to time, (you hear gunfire around here all the time because folks hunt in the nearby woods) so nobody makes any fuss about it. Matter of fact, I shot a dozen rounds of .45 Colt BP last Sunday afternoon. It mostly varies from county to county. As you’d expect, you can’t even fire a BB gun legally in some Tennessee counties/cities. First! Check with your potential neighbors before you settle on any property. They’re likely to be the ones doing any complaining. Next! Talk to local law enforcement, informally, and see if they know of any local ordinances prohibiting firearms use. Next! When you’ve covered those bases, quietly check with county/city codes in the area to see if there are any documented zoning restrictions on record. Finally! If your prospective property meets your needs and has the required clearances, follow any rules or specifications and seek the advice of local inspectors and follow that advice to the letter. Be sure to get everything mentioned here in writing wherever possible!! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kloehr Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 For Sevier county, private shooting on your personal unincorporated land is fine, just be safe. Same for Blount county, but did find a minimum acreage and setback requirement for an outdoor commercial range. So be aware a minimum requirement may be a commercial requirement. Within this state, requirements near Memphis and possibly near Nashville might be stricter than when very far away from those cities. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kloehr Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Now as to being sensitive to neighbors... One Saturday my lady and I decided to try a whole bunch of .38 Special and .357 Magnum rounds we had. It was a broad collection of different manufacturers, grains, and velocities. We did this in two revolvers, a snubby and a six inch. And we both tried all the ammo in both guns. And repeated some comparisons. Working our way up from light loads to heavier stuff. Then having favorites, we filled up speed loaders and made tin cans move up the hill. Well, my neighbor was apparently trying to take a nap. He showed up when we were cleaning up and he was a bit hot under the collar. He told me I interrupted his nap. I did not like his attitude and I probably did not help matters by telling him that I was raised to rest on Sunday. But the moral of this story is you can be legally right but still morally wrong. Be respectful of the community. We still shoot on the land but not like that one very memorable day. For that particular place, we did go a bit over the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 One thing I do when looking to buy a house that ticks off realtors, I knock on doors and ask questions and get to know the people I might be living near. I am completely open about my gun ownership, my hobbies and I tell them about myself as well. It doesn’t hurt to get the lay of the land and your possible neighbors. Legally you may be allowed to do something in a town or area, but like John said above, you could still be in the wrong or worse, end up in court. It happened to a guy in NC when I lived there. He had a personal shooting range for years, but a new neighbor moved in and sued him for noise. He won the case but it cost him a few grand and a lot of heartache. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tell Sackett SASS 18436 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 8 hours ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said: Does anyone know if TN has a law like Texas where you need a minimum of ten acres to shoot a gun in unincorporated areas? Where did you get a notion Texas had a law like that?? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 17 hours ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said: Does anyone know if TN has a law like Texas where you need a minimum of ten acres to shoot a gun in unincorporated areas? 8 hours ago, Tell Sackett SASS 18436 said: Where did you get a notion Texas had a law like that?? Some Texas counties have local ordinances against discharging firearms on parcels less than 10 acres in size. Typically this is geared to prohibiting hunting on less than 10 acres but some counties expand it to include any shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckshot Bear Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 (edited) Interesting thread, like how many rounds on a few acre plot with neighbors all around would you feel comfortable letting off? Is it legal to set up a shooting range and just shoot all day without expecting to p!ss off neighbors (gun friendly or not) with noise? P.s in my State its 5 acres for a rimfire and 40 acres for a centrefire.......but there's no chance of just banging away all day without expecting noise complaints. Edited January 16 by Buckshot Bear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Gator SASS #29736 Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 I live on 3.3 acres. My deputy neighbor commented that I could shoot on my property. But even if I built some pretty tall berms, one round over the top could land anywhere down the road. Mostly 2 to 10 acre parcels in my area. Plus I just wouldn't subject my neighbors to the noise. The most I would possibly consider is setting up to safely chrono a few rounds. I belong to two private clubs where I can have the use of a private shooting bay and set up what I want to shoot, steel, cardboard. That's where I shoot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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