What is the name of your state? Oklahoma
Well, here's the deal...
I live in a rural area of southern Oklahoma, and have a neighbor within a couple hundred feet of my brick home. We are not in a city, township, or any such thing, and it's about 6-8 miles to the nearest "city", which has a population of less than a thousand people.
My property is approx 208 ft W x 520 ft L (2 1/2 acres), I'm guessing the neighbor's is approx 160 W ft x 270 ft L (1 acre). They are located something like this:
^West^
----------------------
Paved county road
----------------------
|-------|------|
|-------|------| <-- his property
|-------|------|
|-------|
|-------| <-- my property (our houses are both near the county road above)
In the last month or so, my neighbor has been shooting high-powered rifles and large caliber handguns in his back yard (he reloads his own ammo), and the noise is almost deafening in my house, especially the bedroom. It actually makes me flinch most of the time at my computer in the den (the farthest point away), and I'm not all that jumpy. Sometimes he shoots it for an hour or more, and started one morning at 8:30 am.
He's shooting toward the east (away from my house and his), toward a pile of dirt and rocks that was bulldozed up when we moved here, right at his property line. So safety isn't really a problem.
I am also NOT "anti-gun", as I have several firearms myself. If the guy was just plinking with a low velocity .22 (or whatever), this wouldn't even be an issue.
I called the sheriff's office for info, and the deputy I spoke with said (somewhat sarcastically) "that man has every right to shoot a gun on his own property".
Oklahoma Law ( http://www2.lsb.state.ok.us/okstatutes/completetitles/os50.rtf ) protects against an UNLAWFUL activity which "Annoys, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, or safety of others". The problem seems to be that shooting is not "unlawful", but then I'm not a lawyer either.
I have not talked to the neighbor about this yet (only met him twice since he bought the place several months ago), I'd just like to know if I have any legal leverage before addressing the issue.
So what's your take on this? Was the deputy wrong in his response? Or am I just out of luck on getting peace and quiet during the daytime?
Thanks, Mac
Well, here's the deal...
I live in a rural area of southern Oklahoma, and have a neighbor within a couple hundred feet of my brick home. We are not in a city, township, or any such thing, and it's about 6-8 miles to the nearest "city", which has a population of less than a thousand people.
My property is approx 208 ft W x 520 ft L (2 1/2 acres), I'm guessing the neighbor's is approx 160 W ft x 270 ft L (1 acre). They are located something like this:
^West^
----------------------
Paved county road
----------------------
|-------|------|
|-------|------| <-- his property
|-------|------|
|-------|
|-------| <-- my property (our houses are both near the county road above)
In the last month or so, my neighbor has been shooting high-powered rifles and large caliber handguns in his back yard (he reloads his own ammo), and the noise is almost deafening in my house, especially the bedroom. It actually makes me flinch most of the time at my computer in the den (the farthest point away), and I'm not all that jumpy. Sometimes he shoots it for an hour or more, and started one morning at 8:30 am.
He's shooting toward the east (away from my house and his), toward a pile of dirt and rocks that was bulldozed up when we moved here, right at his property line. So safety isn't really a problem.
I am also NOT "anti-gun", as I have several firearms myself. If the guy was just plinking with a low velocity .22 (or whatever), this wouldn't even be an issue.
I called the sheriff's office for info, and the deputy I spoke with said (somewhat sarcastically) "that man has every right to shoot a gun on his own property".
Oklahoma Law ( http://www2.lsb.state.ok.us/okstatutes/completetitles/os50.rtf ) protects against an UNLAWFUL activity which "Annoys, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, or safety of others". The problem seems to be that shooting is not "unlawful", but then I'm not a lawyer either.
I have not talked to the neighbor about this yet (only met him twice since he bought the place several months ago), I'd just like to know if I have any legal leverage before addressing the issue.
So what's your take on this? Was the deputy wrong in his response? Or am I just out of luck on getting peace and quiet during the daytime?
Thanks, Mac