theycallmeingot Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 I'm not sure if this has been covered before. What are the legal issues with starting a small pistol match on privately owned property? Is a simple waiver enough? or are there other hoops that clubs go through before hosting something like this? Thanks for any advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skydiver Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Presumably, you've already answered the 2 basic questions: 1) Are you allowed to legally shoot on your own property? 2) Are you allowed to setup a range on your own property? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theycallmeingot Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 Yes and yes. Perhaps i was not thorough in my question. the legal concerns i have are of liability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlosa Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 there's probably always going to be some liability on the land owner and sponsor of such event. my guess would be it's more about insurance (and it's cost), than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 the legal concerns i have are of liability. Did you see Mythbusters firing a cannon through a California neighborhood? Talk about liability:) You sure want to make sure no bullets can possibly leave the range! Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootingchef Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 We use private land for our matches. we each sign a waiver for each match. the club uses the NRA backed insurance policy and the land owner should have a umbrella policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 We use private land for our matches. we each sign a waiver for each match. the club uses the NRA backed insurance policy and the land owner should have a umbrella policy. Yes. Also, are you running a "homespun" match or a sanctioned match? If you run a sacntioned match under a National organization with safety rules THEY publish, that affords another liability target should something bad happen. If it is "homespun" there is technically a much greater liability that you would assume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWFAN Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 the legal concerns i have are of liability. You sure want to make sure no bullets can possibly leave the range! Jack No range I've ever shot on can make that claim. Except some indoor ranges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skydiver Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 And even indoor ranges still worry about shots going out through the roof and landing in somebody else's property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeMartens Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 If you are charging a fee and making money from it you may have zoning issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theycallmeingot Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 thanks for the replies. by the sounds of it, i think it's going to be more trouble than i'm willing to dive into right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 thanks for the replies. by the sounds of it, i think it's going to be more trouble than i'm willing to dive into right now. There was a match in Leesburg, Fl for a few months - the owner put a ton of effort into it - was arguably The Best matches I've seen in five states - I guess someone must have given him local permission to shoot on his farm - he did a lot of bulldozing to create berms - but I did see a Lot of Cars going by on a fairly busy road just past the berms:(( They shut him down two years ago - huge loss to IPSC shooters in the area. Sounds like one problem you might have is that you obtain permission from somebody, and somebody else shuts you down a year later:(( Good luck, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Boudrie Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 If you ever want to sell the land, it could be an EPA cleanup site with the new owners having a claim to have it de-leaded at your expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I'm not a chemist, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night...However, how lead reacts with the soil is based on the pH of the soil. Some people might claim that lead is leaching into the ground water... Err... Their well water. I guess that explains why you can go to Civil War battlefields and still find musket balls still intact for the most part but with maybe a white oxidation coating. The Arnold Rifle and Pistol Club had an issue where somebody snitched the club out to the EPA or maybe just the Missouri Department of Conservation ????? So where the trap fields were there was a creek running through. The club placed ....IIRC... A large culvert pipe where the creek was. Then they took the dirt from the earthen berms separating the pistol bays and used that as fill to cover up the culvert pipe and to divert the creek water into the culvert pipe. Then the pistol bays gotten the concrete Lego block "berms". If there are any other ARPC members following along, feel free to correct me if I got any of the details wrong. I'd be curious to know if there ever was an accidental shooting at a match of some sort where a plaintiff tried suing USPSA??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Texas Granny Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 I'm not a chemist, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night...However, how lead reacts with the soil is based on the pH of the soil. Some people might claim that lead is leaching into the ground water... Err... Their well water. I guess that explains why you can go to Civil War battlefields and still find musket balls still intact for the most part but with maybe a white oxidation coating. The Arnold Rifle and Pistol Club had an issue where somebody snitched the club out to the EPA or maybe just the Missouri Department of Conservation ????? So where the trap fields were there was a creek running through. The club placed ....IIRC... A large culvert pipe where the creek was. Then they took the dirt from the earthen berms separating the pistol bays and used that as fill to cover up the culvert pipe and to divert the creek water into the culvert pipe. Then the pistol bays gotten the concrete Lego block "berms". If there are any other ARPC members following along, feel free to correct me if I got any of the details wrong. I'd be curious to know if there ever was an accidental shooting at a match of some sort where a plaintiff tried suing USPSA??? Some things off the top of my mind at the City Government Level. Who knows what you would have to sastify those at the State Level. Zoning issues Noise ordinances Site plans Tax issues if you charge money to shoot. Permits Insurance Environmental Lic. Parking issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMSI Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 WT Granny has a good list, with permits, site plans and licenses being more sub issues of zoning. zoning and insurance being the big 2. If you are going to do this regularly, you REALLY need to do some good politiking with the neighbors. Reagrdless of the letter of the law, if you PO the neighbors, you will likely have trouble. I am an attorney, and this advice is worth exactly what you paid for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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