Man builds gun range in yard, neighbors outraged

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Melanie Michael - WFLA Channel 8


http://i.imgur.com/fPb8MN4.jpg

ST PETERSBURG, FL (WFLA) -

The Lakewood Estates neighborhood is filled with families and children. On any given day, you'll see kids climbing trees and playing on swing sets.

That's why news of a residential gun range did not sit well with neighbors.

“I don't know if this idiot is going to start popping off rounds,” said Patrick Leary. “I'm furious.”

Moms and dads are extremely upset after their 21-year-old neighbor, Joseph Carannante, told them he built a homemade gun range.

“I don't want to hurt myself or any neighbors. I don't want to hurt anybody. I just want to use this as my enjoyment,” Carannante told News Channel 8. “I don't want to have to go to a gun range, when I can just go outside my door.”

Carannante wants to fire his 9mm in his St. Petersburg yard, which happens to be just feet away from children. According to St. Petersburg Police, legally he's allowed to do it.

“I wouldn't have done all this if I didn't know the reaction,” Carannante told us, who claims he has all the proper paperwork for his weapon.

He says he will inform neighbors when he intends to fire his gun, which he hopes to do every other weekend.

Residents tell us that's not good enough.

Leary added, “You heard him say, I'll tell the neighbors when I'm getting ready to fire. What, do we gather our children and hide? Ridiculous. C'mon.”

Another parent, Kendra O'Connor, promises she will fight this every step of the way.

”I don't consider it responsible, I don't consider it reasonable. He's asking me to go inside my house, go to the other side of the house, as he's informing me he'll fire his weapon,” she said.

Neighbors tell 8 On Your Side they feel as though they're being held hostage by this 21-year-old, who they claim is putting everyone's lives at risk.

In fact, residents have enlisted the help of their neighbor, County Commissioner Ken Welch.

“Even to the most pro-gun person, to have a gun range in the middle of a residential neighborhood doesn't make any sense at all. I'm hoping we can get to some common ground and common sense,” Welch told 8 on your side Sunday night.

Welch has already made calls to the St. Petersburg Police Department and the city attorney. He plans to look into the issue.

“People don't want this near their homes,” he said.

Meanwhile, police admit they've been to Carannante's home and that he is obeying the law. They tell us they will “monitor the situation closely.”

[Goofy]

Pew pew

[DemonGeminiX]

Some moron tried to do this down the street from my house. I don't know what charges they threatened him with, but the cops put a stop to it after about 3 days of the entire neighborhood complaining.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I don't know the laws down there, but where I live, it's illegal to discharge a firearm in a residential area


11. Unlawful to knowingly or recklessly discharge a firearm, unless:

-- firing to defend self or others from "imminent use of deadly force" (AD)

-- firing within a lawful shooting gallery or shooting range

-- representatives of formal organizations firing blanks at official ceremonies or events.

[redred]

wonder if he'll shoot his mum and dad

[DemonGeminiX]

wonder if he'll shoot his mum and dad

:huh:

Well, there's a huge leap. What would make you think something like that?

[Noilly Pratt]

Geez...go to a gun range in a controlled environment.

A kid I knew was killed by a stray bullet many years ago. In N. Saskatchewan there are acres between properties, and somehow my friend was sitting on his fence and a bullet hit him from the neighbour's property - the farmer was shooting at some tin cans quite far away. He felt a pain (forgotten where he was hit...too many years ago) and then went to sleep that night...and never woke up.

Net result...1 kid that won't live beyond age 13, and one farmer who will never be the same...he turned to alcohol and his life went downhill. He didn't even know his stray bullet hit him until later. My bro was the cop that had to tell him AND the parents - it was a very small town.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

I don't know the laws down there, but where I live, it's illegal to discharge a firearm in a residential area

I thought that was the law here too, but on further inspection


246.3. (a) Except as otherwise authorized by law, any person who
willfully discharges a firearm in a grossly negligent manner which
could result in injury or death to a person is guilty of a public
offense and shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year, or by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of
Section 1170.
(b) Except as otherwise authorized by law, any person who
willfully discharges a BB device in a grossly negligent manner which
could result in injury or death to a person is guilty of a public
offense and shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not
exceeding one year.
(c) As used in this section, "BB device" means any instrument that
expels a projectile, such as a BB or a pellet, through the force of
air pressure, gas pressure, or spring action.

So, in reality, if I'm not grossly negligent (as this guy seems to be making sure he isnt) Its ok. Although, I would be calling the cops if my neighbor did the same

[redred]

:huh:

Well, there's a huge leap. What would make you think something like that?

http://www.tehfalloutshelter.com/showthread.php?68381-Toddler-accidentally-shot-mother-police-say

http://www.tehfalloutshelter.com/showthread.php?68342-US-boy-three-shoots-both-parents-in-New-Mexico


seems to be the new thing to do

[FBD]

I know someone who built an indoor one, cut a hole in the side of his foundation and put an appropriately sized pipe you'd be able to send a target down, and then at the other end of it, a "box" for receiving the bullets. Gets to shoot in his basement, out the side of the house, underground, into an underground receptacle. Its only 50 feet but that's what you get at plenty of ranges unless they're outdoor.

[Hal-9000]

It's idiotic....maybe on a farm... and even then, the environment should be examined by law enforcement to ensure safety protocols


if I was his neighbor I'd be opening up a can of wiffle ball bat whoopass all over the twerp :x

[PorkChopSandwiches]

the environment should be examined by law enforcement to ensure safety protocols


You love you some government intervention

[Hal-9000]

You love you some government intervention

Sure, in cases like this. Allowing the average idiot to own a gun is one thing...allowing them to build home gun ranges (to the best of their ability) is downright lunacy

[FBD]

Its not like setting up a proper backstop is entirely a difficult task. I mean I'd rather it were covered in dirt or something to help prevent any ricochets, but the way these people are acting its like the guy applied for a permit to shoot his gun straight up in the air full auto :lol:

[Loser]

Geez...go to a gun range in a controlled environment.



:lmao: Nearly shit myself laughing there.

Most gun ranges let anyone shoot, proper training or not, and I wouldn't step foot in one if you paid me, and I was covered head to toe in ballistic kevlar.

Most cities have laws against unlawful discharge in a residential area.

If you want to shoot, join a club, with private ranges, that only allow TRAINED individuals step foot on it, and even then watch yourself because most people are idiots.

Most police officers are "trained" and how many of them shoot themselves each year with negligent dicharges. ;)

[Loser]

Its not like setting up a proper backstop is entirely a difficult task. I mean I'd rather it were covered in dirt or something to help prevent any ricochets, but the way these people are acting its like the guy applied for a permit to shoot his gun straight up in the air full auto :lol:

Proper backstop or not, it's reckless. Even without ricochets or errant misses.

The lead exposure itself is hazardous.

[Pony]

Its not like setting up a proper backstop is entirely a difficult task. I mean I'd rather it were covered in dirt or something to help prevent any ricochets, but the way these people are acting its like the guy applied for a permit to shoot his gun straight up in the air full auto :lol:

I sure hope you don't consider the above pic a proper backstop.

[FBD]

no I dont :lol:

[redred]

That's good then :lol:

[PorkChopSandwiches]

:tup:

http://i.imgur.com/yasjc1p.jpg

[FBD]

I may be crazy but I aint stupid :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Karl de Vries - FOX News


A Florida man has holstered his plan to erect a gun range in his backyard – mere feet from the play areas of children – after his neighbors protested the proposal.

Joseph Carannante, 21, used wooden pallets, cinder blocks and dirt to build a roughly four-foot-tall backstop at which he could fire his Springfield XD-S 9 mm pistol in the backyard of his St. Petersburg house. He said the two jobs that he works take up 16 hours of his day, and he can’t afford the roughly $20 it costs to go to a local gun range.

He agreed to tear down the structure, which he built over the weekend, on Wednesday after a local hospital and a radio host separately arranged free, year-long passes to two local gun ranges.

Carannante told FoxNews.com on Wednesday that he was satisfied with the outcome, and said he never violated any laws.

“My intentions were never to instill fear in my neighbors. Never my intention at all,” said Carannante, who ultimately never fired on the target. “I was following the law. It’s a poorly written law, and I do believe it should be changed.”

Not surprisingly, neighbors – some of whose properties lie within 30 feet of Carannante’s backyard – were aghast when they caught wind of his plans. But when they complained to local law enforcement, they were told Carannante had every legal right to fire his weapon in his backyard, thanks to a 2011 state law that restricts local communities from enacting their own gun restrictions.

“The whole thing is covered by state statute, so we have to follow the law there,” said Yolanda Fernandez, a spokeswoman for the St. Petersburg police department. “It’s legal to fire in your backyard as long as you don’t do so in a reckless or negligent manner.”

She said that had Carannante fired his pistol, the department would have taken the case to the state attorney’s office, and would have considered whether he violated local noise ordinances.

Fernandez added: “We don’t think it’s a good idea in a residential neighborhood to set up a shooting range in your backyard.”

Kendra O’Connor, 47, who home-schools her four children next door to Carannante’s house in the Lakewood Estates neighborhood, said she was relieved upon learning that he had changed his mind. But she wants to see state law changed to prevent others from taking target practice in their backyards.

To that end, Democratic state Rep. Daryl Rouson, whose district includes St. Petersburg, told FoxNews.com that he has written a bill that would prohibit gun owners from firing weapons on their property, though he insists it would not infringe upon an owner’s right to bear arms.

As for whether Carannante can reconcile with his neighbors, he said he’s confident that things will eventually be smoothed over.

“There’s no bad blood in the neighborhood. We’ll have to work our way back up,” he said. “We just got to take it day by day for now.”

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Maybe his neighbors can throw him a $20 every once in awhile

[Noilly Pratt]

:lmao: Nearly shit myself laughing there.

Most gun ranges let anyone shoot, proper training or not, and I wouldn't step foot in one if you paid me, and I was covered head to toe in ballistic kevlar.

Most cities have laws against unlawful discharge in a residential area.

If you want to shoot, join a club, with private ranges, that only allow TRAINED individuals step foot on it, and even then watch yourself because most people are idiots.

Most police officers are "trained" and how many of them shoot themselves each year with negligent dicharges. ;)

My experience -- I've only ever been to Police ranges or private ranges with major controls...maybe we do it differently in Canada? Over the years I've known personally about 100 police officers and only 1 of them have had a "premature discharge". With weapons. :) He didn't last long. :) (as a police officer).

[FBD]

pea shooter :lol: