Target Practice

[Guest Mbeck]

I live in madison county, and want to shoot at targets in my back yard. Where do I go to find out what the rules are for firing my weapon on my property?

 

 

At my parents house we just set up some targets and fire away, But they have several acres of land and live quite a ways from town.

 

A little background about my property. I live across the street from the city limits of Jackson, TN. The houses on the other side of the road from me are in The city limits, but my side of the road is not. I also live fairly close to a middle school. My next door neighbor is about 150 Yards. My property is just over half an acre.

 

 

I have had some trouble shooting at my place before. The City police showed up the one other time I was shooting with some friends. One of the cops tried to intimidate me by yelling at me and telling me that I wasn't supposed to be shooting here. It took me ten minuets to convince them that I didn't live in the city. I told them that I would stop shooting for the day if my neighbors were scared.. but that they didn't have to get all big and bad and try to scare me into stopping. If they had just come to me and asked me to stop because people were getting worried, I would have stopped. They made me sign a paper saying that they had responded to shots fired.

 

Looking back, I should have called the sheriff and had them tel the JPD to get off my property. If I do decide to shoot here, I will likely keep it to my 9mm. The only reason I want to be able to shoot on my property is that I can't afford a range membership, and I want to keep my skills sharp.