B-B guns are now restricted!?

[Mark Lea]

I was looking to buy my nephew (5th grader) the classic Red Ryder Daisy air rifle for his Christmas present. A friend told me they are now illegal to shoot within city limits. (Louisville, KY).
I grew up shooting one in my back yard, setting up targets with my buddies. Our backyard is plenty big for such a low-powered device, but, apparently you have to travel outside most cities or go to a gun range!
I think this is taking political correctness too far; I guess I will rethink what to buy my nephew this Christmas.

 

[Stengun]

Howdy,

I think this is taking political correctness too far;.

It doesn't have anything to do with PC. If that is a city ordinance in your town it's there for a reason. Usually has to do with vandalism.

A few years ago in the Little Rock/No. Little Rock area people were using hi-power air rifles to shoot the windows out of cars at the Mall. This was done to check for the alarms and to make it easier to get into the car.

You need to check your local ordinances to see if this is true or not. Another choice might be an air soft gun.

HTH

Paul

 

[Paul_of_TX]

I live in Houston and I'm not exactly sure if BB guns are illegal to shoot inside city limits but I think they might be. My boys have a Red Rider and they shoot it in our yard. I'm not too concerned with the law on BB guns as I have taught my boys how to be responsible with it. We keep it in our yard and the boys know to be sure of their target and what is behind it. This is a great tool for teaching responsibility, gun safety and situational awareness.

Here in Texas you are not allowed to have alcohol in the state camp grounds. You are also not allowed to shoot a BB gun in my city. I feel both of these laws are more as a secondary action by authorities that they can decide to enforce the law only when they need to. I take beer when we go camping and the park rangers have seen the beer cans when they stop at our camp site. It is not a problem because my family or my group is behaving and not causing any problems. Therefore there is no reason for them to be upset over the alcohol. When a park ranger has to respond to a noise complaint and he shows up to a campsite where beer cans are littered all over, people are being obnoxious and they just happened to turn the music off just before the ranger pulled up to their site; this is where the law comes in handy. It is difficult to say exactly how loud the music was before the ranger got to their campsite. In theory the obnoxious campers could argue all night about how they were not too loud or how it was some other campsite and they are being wrongly blamed for the noise. The alcohol is fairly straight forward on the other hand. It gives those who are tasked with keeping the peace a bit of leverage against those who choose to ignore the rules.

The same goes for the BB gun. If you are shooting in your yard and you are careful then there will not be any problems. If windows in the neighborhood begin to be shot out and the kids is seen carrying a Red Rider around with him them the police will chose to enforce the law about not firing BB guns inside city limits. If it was your kids then I would go ahead and get the Red Rider since you would be there to teach them and supervise the kid. Since it is a nephew it would all depend on the parents and the kid and also where they live; if they live in an apartment I would say find another gift.

 

[Jim_Macklin]

Depending on whee you live, the cities often have laws that cover BB guns, primarily to control little boys from shooting windows and pets. In Wichita, Kansas a BB gun must be carried wrapped in a blanked or in a case. All projectile devices can only be fired on a police approved range. There is nothing in te law that requires a range to be anything other than "safe."
Get your backyard approved as a range.
Or get the law changed.

 

[Mark Lea]

Thanks for the advice, fellows!
My yard's probably not able to be approved as a range though, only 3/4 acre. "B-B gun safe", but not gunpowder-projectile safe".
Hell, I've been target shooting with an air rifle in the yard for almost 50 years now, and just didn't realize I was breaking the law.
Safety first; even with low power air.
I wanted to teach my nephew gun safety with the Red Ryder being his intro into shooting sports. The way I learned back in the day.
And I believe Paul is right. As long as you're cool about things, the local LEO's would probably leave you alone.

BUT I'M JUST SAYING!,,,,,,,,,,,,,MY ORIGINAL POINT HERE TODAY,,,,,,,,,,,IS THAT I CAN'T LEGALLY SHOW MY NEPHEW HOW TO USE A RED RYDER IN OUR BACKYARD WITHOUT BREAKING A LOCAL ORDINANCE.
AND I THINK IT'S SAD.
And the police are only enforcing the law set forth. They are not to blame. It's all because of the 1% of us that abuse the use of devices such as Red Ryders, or their clones

and, thanks for listening.

 

[Geosan1030]

I live in Louisville and just went through the ordinances and couldn't find a current prohibition. Now, I found where there have been prohibitions in the past, but they do not appear to be current.

http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:louisville_ky_m

I searched for Air Gun and came up with Part 135.04. There is no prohibition. If you search the Metro government site for Air Gun, you find that there was or will be a Part 135.03 that restricts the use to real property controlled by an adult where the child has the permission of his legal guardian.

I found another document where 135.03 says the property must be licensed.

The link I've posted above is referenced by the the Metro Government as the reference for finding the Ordinance. If you look for Part 135.03, you'll find that it's RESERVED.

So, I suspect the restrictions are either coming or have been repealed, but they do not appear to be current.

I usually post links, but I'm on Tapatalk on my iPad and that's a PITA, in the best of circumstances.


By the way, I shoot just about every weekend with my 7 year old boy, and my 11 year old girl uses her bow on the 'range' I've set up.