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Newbee Here!

Bladesmith1

New member
Joined
Jun 13, 2012
Messages
1
Location
illinois
My name is Steve. I currently live in Springfield, Illinois. Otherwise known as the land of "NO GUNS". We moved here after I retired from the Marines because the wife's family is all here. I am moving around Augusta, Kentucky next month (July 2012). Moving to Kentucky feels like getting released from prison. I don't own any handguns here. It's too much trouble trying to figure out how to legally transport a gun. Each locality, city, county has their own gun laws. So if you want to go shooting in the next county, you might start out being legal in one county and end up being illegal in the next, and they are charging people with felonies!

I plan to buy a .45 auto the day after I get to Kentucky. I love a .45 for home defense. Load it with a hollow point and it won't go thru your house and into the next, but if you are forced to shoot someone, they won't be getting back up.

I am gonna retire and play on my forge. I make knives and such to sell at flee markets.

I will be in Bracken County Kentucky. Does anybody know if there are any laws against shooting on my own land? I want to set up a little private pistol range for the wife and maybe some friends.
 

09jisaac

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2011
Messages
1,692
Location
Louisa, Kentucky
First of all, it is illegal to sale a pistol across state lines. You will have to show proof of residency. You can get the firearm the day (or day after) you get your drivers license switched.

There is no law in Kentucky specifically saying it is illegal to discharge a firearm on private property. The only way I can see you running into problems is if your property is within a city's limits.

Lastly, if you are serious about firearms (I assume you are) then you did not move to the wrong state. Kentucky's laws are very straight forward and very relax (compared to much of the US, especially Illinois).

Welcome to the forums.
 

Curtis C

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Messages
85
Location
Irvine, Ky
welcome to kentucky, if your out in the county and not in the city limits there is not much they can say as long as your not being stupid about it. i might be wrong on this but i think you have to be a resident of the state for 6 months maybe i'm thinking of conceal carry permit. but yeah if your out in the country you can shoot to your hearts content.
 

langzaiguy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
916
Location
Central KY
I would imagine it would depend on your county's ordinances. Usually it is legal to shoot in the county, though. Doesn't hurt to check.
 

langzaiguy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
916
Location
Central KY
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you have to be a KY for 6 mo. before getting your CCDW. You may not have to be a resident that long before you take the course.

Update: KRS 237.110

(b) 1. Is a citizen of the United States who is a resident of this Commonwealth
and has been a resident for six (6) months or longer immediately
preceding the filing of the application;
 
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KYGlockster

Activist Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Messages
1,842
Location
Ashland, KY
Not so. Try it in Jefferson or Fayette Cos. and see what happens. Several of the more populous counties have ordinances prohibiting the discharge of firearms, even in the rural parts.

Gutshot, do you know of any previous cases that have challenged these county discharge ordinances? Seems to me these would be an infringement on our right to use arms.
 
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KYGlockster

Activist Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Messages
1,842
Location
Ashland, KY
I plan to buy a .45 auto the day after I get to Kentucky. I love a .45 for home defense. Load it with a hollow point and it won't go thru your house and into the next, but if you are forced to shoot someone, they won't be getting back up.

Don't be so sure of a one shot stop with any semi-automatic round, or most of the larger revolver rounds for that matter. Even hitting someone in the vitals with a high velocity rifle round is not a sure thing. I would recommend practicing as much as possible so you can deliver hits to the vitals as fast as possible.

As for gun laws, you are in the best state in the union. Enjoy and welcome to freedom!
 

langzaiguy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
916
Location
Central KY
The preemption statute does not cover the discharge of firearms. If you ask me, we have the God given right to keep and bear arms in the protection of life, liberty, and property. I would argue that we do not have the right to shoot in our backyards for the fun of it. (Though I wish I/we could.)

Edit: I think I should elaborate. I do think that you should be able to do whatever you want to do on your own property provided that it doesn't interfere with the rights of others. I don't think that the founders intended for the 2nd Amendment to protect sport shooting.
 
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langzaiguy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2009
Messages
916
Location
Central KY
Oh, I'm envious, FLB. I live in the city but in my backyard is a creek and beyond the creek is the county and is legal to shoot. Nevertheless, I may or may not shoot .22 shorts in my backyard.
 

KYGlockster

Activist Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Messages
1,842
Location
Ashland, KY
So the founders recognized our right to keep and bear arms but we are never to be allowed to practice and get proficient with those arms? I believe our founders would disagree with that. The mere fact that we have a right to own and carry these items should be enough to show we have the right to use them as well, otherwise what good does it do us to have them? To admire their beauty? The supreme court stated our right to keep and bear arms is enshrined for the use of hunting, target shooting, and self defense. To hunt or target shoot means we must shoot those firearms to sight in our hunting rifles, and target shooting is self explanatory. This is the grounds to challenge an ordinance banning the discharge of firearms in the county. I can understand an ordinance banning the discharge in a populated city, however outside of that city I can not see how these ordinances would pass muster. If the supreme court stated we can bear arms for sport, yet our local county government restricts our right to use our arms for sport, it seems to me they would be infringing on our ability to use our firearms.
 
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Curtis C

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Messages
85
Location
Irvine, Ky
by Fayette county i'm talking about people live out from the city with some acreage or farm or what not. where your neighbor is not right on top of you.
 

flb_78

Regular Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Messages
544
Location
Gravel Switch, KY
hehe...

In Texas, if you own 10 acres, at least 1000 feet from a building you do not own, and your bullets do not cross property lines, you can shoot inside city limits.

But this is Kentucky, so I digress.
 

Curtis C

Regular Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Messages
85
Location
Irvine, Ky
well i guess its a good thing i live in estill then, go to my dads out in the boonies and shoot to my hearts content.

but here are the laws for fayette county http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=11163

apparently lexington claims all of the county or i'm not reading it right,

Sec. 14-19. - Firearms, discharging within the urban county; penalty.

(a)
No person, except peace officers, military personnel and similar officers in the execution of their official duties, shall discharge any firearm within the urban county in the following places or circumstances, unless in lawful defense of person or property:
(1)
Within the urban service area boundary;
(2)
In close proximity to any building which, in addition to its ordinary meanings, includes any vehicle or aircraft; except that this prohibition shall not apply to the safe discharge of firearms with the consent of the owner of any such building; close proximity is presumed if such discharge would be considered as done "recklessly or wantonly," as defined in KRS 501.020;
(3)
On any real property without the consent of the owner thereof;
(4)
Within any urban county park, unless said park is posted otherwise by the director of parks and recreation. Such posting may be made only in areas which have been inspected for safety purposes by the department of public safety and for which a written permit has been obtained from the commissioner of public safety.
(b)
In the places and circumstances enumerated in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), the discharge of firearms while engaged in target shooting, skeet shooting and other sport or demonstration shooting, shall be permissible on premises which have been inspected for safety purposes by the department of public safety and for which a written permit has been obtained from the commissioner of public safety:
(1)
Such permit shall be granted on request to any private sporting club which has been in existence and operation at least ninety (90) days prior to the adoption of this section and which has complied with all regulations in effect prior to the date of this section.
(2)
Such permit shall be granted on proper application unless said commissioner, for reasons stated in writing, finds that the activity to be permitted would constitute a safety hazard.
(3)
There shall be no charge for such permit.
(4)
Subsequent to the issuance of a permit by the commissioner, if, for reasons stated in writing, the commissioner determines that any activity of the permit holder constitutes a safety hazard, said permit may be suspended by the commissioner. Any denial of application for a permit or any suspension of a permit shall be reviewed by the urban county council within seven (7) days of said denial or suspension.
(5)
The word "firearms" as used in this subsection shall include rifles, shotguns and handguns, but not fully automatic weapons of any type.
(c)
Any person who violates this section shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each offense.
(Ord. No. 46-76, § 1, 3-18-76; Ord. No. 323-88, § 1, 12-15-88)
 
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KYGlockster

Activist Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Messages
1,842
Location
Ashland, KY
No one made any assumptions on what the founding fathers thought. All the People in the US have rights, not just gun owners. Others have a right to live without their peace and tranquility being disturbed. They have the right to be safe and secure in their homes without some knucklehead shooting, dangerously, ten feet from their house. The federal Court of Appeals said that Chicago's banning of all gun ranges and all practice in a large area, like Cook Co., was just the kind of infringement that the Constitution could not allow. The prohibiting of the discharge of firearms in confined, densely populated areas is not an infringement, its good sense. You have to remember that some of the more densely populated counties have few places outdoors where it would be safe or not a nuisance to allow shooting. People are entitled to the quiet enjoyment of their lives.

I agree. I also believe I have the right to do what I wish on my property between certain hours, being as I live in the county and not the city. If a city has an ordinance banning discharge then you can move into the county, however if the county also has an ordinance then what are you supposed to do? I believe these would not hold up in court. They have these ordinances however you can still fire your weapons if you are hunting, would that not also be considered violating someones right to live in peace? If we are going to let them destroy our ability to do as we wish on our property because someone down the street does not like the noise then what will stop them when they start shutting down all public and private gun ranges because of nuisance complaints (I know there is a staute that would prohibit this, but if they can take our right to shoot on our own property they could try to do so everywhere)? Maybe I get peace from shooting my firearms, does that mean someone who does not like the discharge of firearms is more important than myself? If the county is going to ban the discharge of firearms on PRIVATE property (like PRIVATE and PROPERTY mean anything anymore anyways) then they should be mandated to supply the county residents somewhere to fire their weapons FREE of charge. If I am forced to pay to fire my firearms at a range then that would seem to be a violation of the constitution as well, kinda like Obama Care mandates us to purchase health insurance, that is extremely unconstitutional. In my county there is only one range and you must pay to use it, so they could charge any price they would like and have a monopoly over the business if discharge was prohibited in my county (which it is not). I don't live in the city because I can't fire my firearms, and if someone in the county doesn't like the sound they can move to the city where they won't have to deal with it. We all have rights, and some are not more important than others. I have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and firing my firearms makes me happy, I haven't read where we have a right to quite. I don't like the sound of my neighbor's lawnmower, but there is nothing I can do about it, and I wouldn't if I could. It is his property and his right to mow his lawn with any mower he wishes, however if he started doing so at 1 in the morning I could see a problem.
 
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