I gotcha I mean I would do the same but I see all these videos where people burry them as bug out bunkers and lay 1 foot thick concrete on top without any kind of extra support bracing.... Thanks coolhand
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legalities of an underground 1 lane range on residential property.
- Thread starter hawk-eye
- Start date
Six pages of this thread, and not one single person mentions the applicable State law that applies to shooting ranges close to roads and streets (even little streets in a residential subdivision)?
It's not illegal under State law, but you should read and understand why. O.C.G.A. 16-11-103. It generally bans shooting from within 50 yards (150 feet) of a road, any public road, BUT as of July 1, 2014 there are new exceptions in it. Thanks to HB-60, we now have exceptions for "sport shooting ranges." Those kind of ranges could be fully private, for friends and family only. They could be inside or outdoors, but if they are outdoors and above ground, the firing line has to be out of sight from people passing by in vehicles.
When it comes to noise issues and complaints based on noise, the State does have a "Sport Shooting Range Protection Act" that gives some legal protection for established shooting ranges. Whatever noise ordinances or rules were in effect the day your range opened and was first used, those are the ones you have to follow. The County cannot tighten the rules and apply them to you later-- you're grandfathered-in under the old rules (if there are any). And if your neighbors have a beef with your range, they have only 1 year to bring that legal action against you. See O.C.G.A 41-1-9.
However, except as to the Sport Shooting Range law above, the general rule is that there is no preemption of local laws and ordinances and rules restricting how and where people shoot guns. Georgia's preemption law is about buying, selling, trading, carrying, etc. Not shooting. It says local governments can "reasonably limit or prohibit" the discharge of firearms. See O.C.G.A. 16-11-173.
If you want to buy a book about Georgia's gun and weapons laws, Dan4010 and I wrote it, and he can get you a copy. Several gun stores in the Atlanta area carry it, too.
It's not illegal under State law, but you should read and understand why. O.C.G.A. 16-11-103. It generally bans shooting from within 50 yards (150 feet) of a road, any public road, BUT as of July 1, 2014 there are new exceptions in it. Thanks to HB-60, we now have exceptions for "sport shooting ranges." Those kind of ranges could be fully private, for friends and family only. They could be inside or outdoors, but if they are outdoors and above ground, the firing line has to be out of sight from people passing by in vehicles.
When it comes to noise issues and complaints based on noise, the State does have a "Sport Shooting Range Protection Act" that gives some legal protection for established shooting ranges. Whatever noise ordinances or rules were in effect the day your range opened and was first used, those are the ones you have to follow. The County cannot tighten the rules and apply them to you later-- you're grandfathered-in under the old rules (if there are any). And if your neighbors have a beef with your range, they have only 1 year to bring that legal action against you. See O.C.G.A 41-1-9.
However, except as to the Sport Shooting Range law above, the general rule is that there is no preemption of local laws and ordinances and rules restricting how and where people shoot guns. Georgia's preemption law is about buying, selling, trading, carrying, etc. Not shooting. It says local governments can "reasonably limit or prohibit" the discharge of firearms. See O.C.G.A. 16-11-173.
If you want to buy a book about Georgia's gun and weapons laws, Dan4010 and I wrote it, and he can get you a copy. Several gun stores in the Atlanta area carry it, too.
LOL. You bury two containers, have a generator nearby. All is well until you buy a couple of packs of Sudafed and then the DEA raids your 'shelter' while you're shooting. I don't see this working out so well.
P.S. As to the physical features of this underground range, I think that it would not have to be buried very deep to deaden the sound, and to make it an awesome storm shelter. I predict that it will leak, however. Have a plan for both moisture control (continuous) and flood control / bailing/ sump pumping for those occasions when a lot of water comes in due to a leak or partial failure of the container.
80 feet sounds like enough distance for pistol shooting, rimfires, airguns, etc.
If you're ambitious, you could make a longer tube-like tunnel that extends to a distant target/ backstop room for rifle shooting.
That tunnel could also be an alternative entry/ exit point, and the target room could have its own hatch to access the outside.
As others have said, ventilation will be a big problem. Lead in the air is a real health hazard. Lead dust causes dain bramage, and leads to voting for Democrats and watching daytime talk shows on TV.
ONE LAST THING: All shooting ranges I've ever been to have bullet strikes on the walls and ceiling. These metal cargo containers have ribbed walls that stick out an inch or two at a 90-degree angle, don't they? That means if you shoot the wall, your bullet will likely penetrate it, not glance off. And if it DOES glance off, it could go in any direction, not with a smooth and predictable angle going toward the backstop.
Maybe instead of using shipping containers, you could have poured concrete walls with a smooth finish on the inside? Something that would make a bullet strike no big deal, and still sending that bullet toward the backstop?
80 feet sounds like enough distance for pistol shooting, rimfires, airguns, etc.
If you're ambitious, you could make a longer tube-like tunnel that extends to a distant target/ backstop room for rifle shooting.
That tunnel could also be an alternative entry/ exit point, and the target room could have its own hatch to access the outside.
As others have said, ventilation will be a big problem. Lead in the air is a real health hazard. Lead dust causes dain bramage, and leads to voting for Democrats and watching daytime talk shows on TV.
ONE LAST THING: All shooting ranges I've ever been to have bullet strikes on the walls and ceiling. These metal cargo containers have ribbed walls that stick out an inch or two at a 90-degree angle, don't they? That means if you shoot the wall, your bullet will likely penetrate it, not glance off. And if it DOES glance off, it could go in any direction, not with a smooth and predictable angle going toward the backstop.
Maybe instead of using shipping containers, you could have poured concrete walls with a smooth finish on the inside? Something that would make a bullet strike no big deal, and still sending that bullet toward the backstop?
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I thought the noise ordinance for Cobb county was a minimum of 5 acres idk if that would still apply for an underground one. Where is heavyD and cobalt to find out all the answers
Good video here!
I would like too see the range when it gets done.
I would like too see the range when it gets done.
I was hoping someone would address the legalities of the project I want to start. Thanks for your input. I will need to do some research on this aspect, but it will be a private range just for me. Being underground, I am not too worried about noise, just the legal hoops I need to jump through on the install such. I am in unincorporated cobb, but near a bunch of commercial and residential. that is why I wondered about the legal issues.
I built my range with a bobcat one afternoon,used the dirt from the lane for a berm.
Course I got 80 acres to shoot on.....
Course I got 80 acres to shoot on.....
I only wish I could have that much land to shoot on. I live in the 'burbs.
I've got 12 acres with a 300 yard rifle range.....right out my front door.
