Meeting Notes 082316 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 Mr. Tesoro said that a constructed backstop is not needed for shooting at clay pigeons because the targets are up in the air. Mr. Tilley suggested that the first sentence be removed from paragraph (c), so that the requirement simply would be that shooters not “discharge a firearm carelessly or heedlessly in wanton disregard for the safety of others.” Mr. Tesoro agreed, and asked if the terms --careless, heedless and in wanton disregard --could be enforced. Mr. Roberts said that it would be up to the responding officer to determine whether a shooter is actingin those ways, whether someone’s life, health, or safety are put in danger by the actions of the shooter.Chief Deputy Sykes agreed. Ms. Conti said that if the Committee were interested in an enforceable standard for a constructed backstopthen it might consider the language from Section 7 (c) of the Mecklenberg County Firearms Ordinance which says that backstops should be “substantially in accordance with specifications promulgated by the National Rifle Association or any equivalent nationally recognizedfirearms safety organization for the type and caliber of firearms being fired…”. People have taken issue with the County putting excessive particulars into ordinance, she said, but if we simply reference the NRA’s specifications then we would have an authoritative standard. Mr. Hunnell said that the NRA’s guidelines are for ranges. He offered to share those guidelines.Ms. Conti said that she did not need to see the guidelines. In reply to a question from Mr. Hunnell, Officer Orr suggested that paragraph (g) (1) be revised so that there would be no backstop requirement for hunting at all. We already have prohibitions on negligent discharge for hunters in state statute, he said. Mr. Hunnell recalled that Ms. Conti had suggested in an earlier meeting that the state hunting laws be used as a reference for the County’s firearms safetyordinance. Ms. Conti said she was interested specifically in the state hunting law’s Sunday limitation. State hunting law prohibits hunting with a firearm between 9:30 am and 12:30 pm on Sundays, she explained, and prohibits hunting all day on Sunday with a firearm within 500 yards of certain structures. If that makes sense for hunting with a firearm on Sunday, then maybe that makessense for using a firearmfor any purpose on Sunday. Mr. Tesoro asked the group to consider the language in Section 10 (H) of the Harnett County Firearms Discharge Ordinance, which says that it is unlawful for any person to discharge a firearm “Without a backstop or other method of containment that will adequately contain the projectile to the property upon which it was discharged.” A person shooting at clay pigeons with a shotgun or BB’s well within, say, a 30-acre parcel would be in compliance because those projectiles would fall within those 30-acres. Ms. Conti said that the distance travelled by a projectile depends on the caliber of the projectile. Mr. Hunnell said that beyond caliber the potential for a projectile to cross a property boundary also dependsupon the direction the firearm