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Posted: 2/3/2024 9:08:02 AM EDT
I'm just a few years away from being able to retire, and I'm looking around for land to build my forever home. I want it to be within an hour of a big airport and hospital, and I've mostly been looking here in Texas but my girlfriend is from Chattanooga (and all her family is still there). So, I've started looking there, too.
One of the things that has been a major consideration for me is the ability to have my own little shooting range. I'd love to have a 500 yd rifle range, but I definitely want a little pistol range kinda like a scaled down version of what Hickock45 has. In Texas, there's a state law that prevents cities/counties from being able to restrict you from shooting on your own property if you have 10 acres in a county with a population under a million people, and if you have 50 acres in a county with a population over a million. I saw Tennessee's Range Protection Act, but does TN have anything like TX has that protects the right to shoot on your own property? The Range Protection Act has some "open to the public" language that makes at least some of it not apply to shooting on your own land. I know there's a good chance that I'll never need the protection of a law like this, but being able to shoot in my own backyard is one of my life's dreams and I don't want to buy/build my dream home and have those dreams shattered. |
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USA
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Posted: 2/3/2024 10:52:26 AM EDT
[#1]
In general do not live within any city limits.
A lot of what will dictate shooting on your own property is your neighbors, the fewer the better. Other than being within city limits, most likely legally there’s nothing they can do unless your range is unsafe. But what they can do is be a huge PITA. Just keep this in mind. |
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Posted: 2/3/2024 10:58:59 AM EDT
[#2]
Definitely read all of the laws in your area. To the T. For example, here in Davidson County, you can't shoot any guns lol... Obviously. But what people don't realize is, you can't shoot anything in Davidson County. You can't even shoot a BB gun in your backyard. Also, I know this isn't what you're asking, but you can't even shoot fireworks off legally in Davidson County even on July 4. Only if you have a license for that day. I guess my point is, there are a lot of things that people think would easily be legal and don't think about it, but then you realize they are illegal.
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TN, USA
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Posted: 2/3/2024 11:11:35 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Woodsman20]
[#3]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By carl1000: Definitely read all of the laws in your area. To the T. For example, here in Davidson County, you can't shoot any guns lol... Obviously. But what people don't realize is, you can't shoot anything in Davidson County. You can't even shoot a BB gun in your backyard. Also, I know this isn't what you're asking, but you can't even shoot fireworks off legally in Davidson County even on July 4. Only if you have a license for that day. I guess my point is, there are a lot of things that people think would easily be legal and don't think about it, but then you realize they are illegal. Definitely read all of the laws in your area. Good advice. Your comments are incorrect. You can not shoot in the urban services districts but in the general services district you can shoot during daylight hours. During daylight hours in the General services district the range is hot. Enjoy |
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Posted: 2/3/2024 5:21:01 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryThat's interesting to me in a couple of ways. Does that mean the city government and county government are combined in Nashville/Davidson County? That's weird, but also probably kinda efficient if the city encompasses more than 75% of the county. Never seen that before. The responses here make me think that there's no state law that protects shooting on your own property, and that I'll need to check county by county. Anyone in the Chattanooga area know what the laws are in Hamilton County? Or can point me to them? |
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Posted: 2/3/2024 7:02:59 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DaTrueDave: That's interesting to me in a couple of ways. Does that mean the city government and county government are combined in Nashville/Davidson County? That's weird, but also probably kinda efficient if the city encompasses more than 75% of the county. Never seen that before. The responses here make me think that there's no state law that protects shooting on your own property, and that I'll need to check county by county. Anyone in the Chattanooga area know what the laws are in Hamilton County? Or can point me to them? It is the Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County government otherwise known as "Metro". The chief law enforcement officer is the police chief that does not answer directly to the people via election. He serves at the pleasure of the metro city council and is over the metro police dept which has primary enforcement jurisdictionin all of Davidson county with the exception of several small city PDs that existed at the time of the formation metro. Metro-Davidson County does have a sheriff's dept with an elected sheriff but they are very limited in enforcement powers and primarily run the court and jail system. They also serve some court orders.This is the worst kind of metropolitan government. Metro Moore County-Lynchburg TN. has a Metro government where the chief law enforcement officer is the sheriff who answers to the people via election every four years. Lynchburg does not have a city police dept. This is imo the best kind of metro government. But to the shooting on your own land it will vary parcel by parcel even in the county where it is legal based on whether you have a safe place to shoot. In my case years ago I could shoot in my back yard because my bullets would impact on another property that I had permission to shoot on is a holler that runs down hill from my place. Well about 15 years ago the old man died and someone else got the land and when asked declined to give permission. So I was no longer legal to shoot there. As I didn't own or have permission. Now it is a totally moot point as the property has changed hands again and there is a house right behind me at the top of the other holler making that illegal to shoot in that direction. Fortunately I can shoot at my buddy's house within walking distance. Out in the county it's all dependent on whether you can safely shoot on your land or not. |
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Posted: 2/3/2024 10:57:33 PM EDT
[#6]
There is no law in TN against it, but there is a case to be made that moving somewhere to be with a girlfriend has risks that far exceed the benefits.
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Posted: 2/4/2024 12:08:51 AM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By xciapup: There is no law in TN against it, but there is a case to be made that moving somewhere to be with a girlfriend has risks that far exceed the benefits. Looks like there's no law like what I asked about, either. And I said I was looking for land to build my forever home when I retire in a year or two. I didn't say anything about moving to be with a girlfriend. But thanks? |
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Posted: 2/4/2024 12:11:28 AM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By bodybagger: Out in the county it's all dependent on whether you can safely shoot on your land or not. Those metro government things seem odd to me. Bummer that TN doesn't protect lawful shooting on your own land. The case-by-case is similar to California, which is not what I'm looking for. Thanks for the info, everyone! |
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Posted: 2/4/2024 10:48:51 AM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DaTrueDave: Those metro government things seem odd to me. Bummer that TN doesn't protect lawful shooting on your own land. The case-by-case is similar to California, which is not what I'm looking for. Thanks for the info, everyone! All of these houses are in the county. Should all of them have an absolute right to shoot on their property or should it be on a case by case determination? 
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Posted: 2/4/2024 12:30:27 PM EDT
[#10]
Just about all rural counties here you can shoot on your private property provided you have adequate backstop protection. I live in western Knox county outside the Knoxville city limits. We can shoot what we want, when we want. Most stop shooting at dusk as a courtesy to neighbors, if you have them.
Local guy has a black powder cannon he fires during the summer. If you are planning to look around Chattanooga, look one or 2 counties away each way. Most are very rural and don't care a bit. A coworker lives in Meigs County not far from the Watts Bar nuclear plant and we shoot there often with no one bothering us. |
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Posted: 2/4/2024 1:17:07 PM EDT
[Last Edit: USPguy]
[#11]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DaTrueDave: Looks like there's no law like what I asked about, either. And I said I was looking for land to build my forever home when I retire in a year or two. I didn't say anything about moving to be with a girlfriend. But thanks? Get a map. Draw a line from Chattanooga to Knoxville to Cookeville to Chattanooga. This is the best area to look for property. Technically, there's good places between the state line & Chattanooga & Knoxville as well. But you'd be further away from your airport, hospital, etc. Most laws regarding shooting are going to be county laws, not state. This seems to work pretty good, IMO. Now, if you want to live in Memphis, you can shoot every night.  I live in the very corner of TN, NC & GA. Very rural, which has pluses & minuses. While I hear gunfire at home, it's neighbors. Can't shoot at home anymore but they have larger tracts of property than I do. Feel free to IM or email me if you have questions. |
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Posted: 2/4/2024 1:20:03 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By DaTrueDave: Those metro government things seem odd to me. It passed back in 1964 or so. Quite controversial at the time. I think it's worked well. Only one school board, one police dept, one fire dept, one mayor, etc. |
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Posted: 2/4/2024 1:32:41 PM EDT
[#13]
Thanks for all the replies. It's clear that I need to check the city/county where I'm looking for land.
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By bodybagger: All of these houses are in the county. Should all of them have an absolute right to shoot on their property or should it be on a case by case determination? https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/139944/1000003032-3117890.jpg Those are obviously not 50 acre, or even 10 acre, lots. I'm not looking to set up a machine gun range in a residential neighborhood. I'm just looking to buy some land where I can shoot safely and where nobody can change the rules on me to prohibit me from shooting on my land years later. I thought I had provided enough context to make that clear, but I guess not. |
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Posted: 2/4/2024 3:42:05 PM EDT
[Last Edit: JPN]
[#14]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By USPguy: It passed back in 1964 or so. Quite controversial at the time. I think it's worked well. Only one school board, one police dept, one fire dept, one mayor, etc. They tried in 1958, but the voters rejected the idea, so Nashville started annexing more land to improve its tax base (they were going to get that tax money from the suburbs, one way or another). They tried again in 1962, and it passed, with the combined government being started in 1963. How well it has worked is a matter of opinion, considering things like the 'sidewalks everywhere' initiative that requires a sidewalk be part of the plan if you want a building permit, even if there is not another sidewalk anywhere near you. They just can't get it through their heads that there are still parts of Davidson county that are rural and don't get much benefit from the local government other than emergency services (and schools, if you consider metro schools to still be a benefit). |
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Posted: 2/4/2024 4:46:41 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By USPguy: Get a map. Draw a line from Chattanooga to Knoxville to Cookeville to Chattanooga. This is the best area to look for property. Technically, there's good places between the state line & Chattanooga & Knoxville as well. But you'd be further away from your airport, hospital, etc. Most laws regarding shooting are going to be county laws, not state. This seems to work pretty good, IMO. Now, if you want to live in Memphis, you can shoot every night. I live in the very corner of TN, NC & GA. Very rural, which has pluses & minuses. While I hear gunfire at home, it's neighbors. Can't shoot at home anymore but they have larger tracts of property than I do. Feel free to IM or email me if you have questions. Good advice Alternatively, while you have your map out, note that there are 6 generally parallel fairly major roads running NE to SW in that general area, centered on the Tennessee River. From W to E: U.S. 127, which continues as TN 28 from Dunlap, U.S. 27, TN 58, I-75, U.S 11, and U.S. 411. The counties that these run through are generally very rural, where a weekend without hearing gunshots is unusual, because everyone shoots in their backyard and nobody cares as long as you don't do anything stupid. Taking the midpoint (somewhere around Athens / Dayton / Charleston), you'll be well within an hour to a hospital (although the big hospitals and trauma centers are in Knoxville and Chattanooga), and a bit over an hour to the airports (TYS Knoxville, CHA Chattanooga). Distances are much less than in west TX: Knoxville to Chattanooga is a mere 2 hour drive. Topography along the river valley is obviously fairly flat, with the Smoky Mountains to the east and the Cumberland Plateau to the west, so you have your pick of terrain, and finding a piece of rural property appropriate for a range with a house on it is pretty easy. |
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Posted: 2/6/2024 5:21:58 PM EDT
[#16]
Chattanooga is in Hamilton county.
I live in the unincorporated part of the count and want to build small range. From my research the state of TN let’s the counties regulate shooting. I have not been able to find out what, if any, laws there are in Hamilton county related to shooting on private property. There doesn’t appear to be any online source of regulations. I have contacted the county sheriffs office, my county commissioner, the county mayors office and a couple other county offices and nobody had any idea about the actual laws. Plenty of speculation though. People shoot out in my area all the time and I’ve never heard of any issues with it. |
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Posted: 2/9/2024 6:44:12 PM EDT
[#17]
I have shot off my back deck, woods behind me but I live in a subdivision. Wilson county….its legal. For the sake of my neighbors though….i don’t really do it anymore, not that anyone complained.
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Posted: 2/14/2024 11:55:04 PM EDT
[#18]
It really does come down to what county you live in.
We live on ~50 acres and shoot constantly, up to 500 yards. Zero regulations against it in our county. There is a bridge, actually state owned, over the river not too far from my house, and a lot of times I will go outside late at night on the weekends and hear kids down there shooting. It’s probably not technically legal to shoot off of the bridge, but nobody seems to care. |
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Posted: 3/22/2024 12:58:16 PM EDT
[#19]
I live in a 2nd amendment sanctuary county, shoot whatever the fuck you want to whenever you want to do it. 2 hrs from Chatt, 2 hours from Knoxville and a little less than 2 hours to trashville.
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Posted: 3/22/2024 4:54:32 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Tn_Huntaholic: I live in a 2nd amendment sanctuary county, shoot whatever the fuck you want to whenever you want to do it. 2 hrs from Chatt, 2 hours from Knoxville and a little less than 2 hours to trashville. We're probably fairly close to each other based on those times. Warren county is also very "do your own thing, just don't be an idiot" in regards to shooting on your own property. So I built a range:  Attached FileBefore we bought our house my realtor (some here know him ;) ) made a very good suggestion...call the county Sheriff and ASK them about any county restrictions in addition to reading the laws. My requirements when we moved here were 1) No HOA, 2) No residential area with convenants that were agreed to by fact of purchase, 3) No government imposed restrictions on noise or hours. I'm respectful of my neighbors on my southern fence line and don't shoot stupid early or stupid late (though I would like to do a night shoot this year) and my #1 rule of ANYONE shooting on my range is, if you send one over the berm, you're done, permanently. Doesn't matter if there's nothing for a mile beyond my berm, if you don't have the muzzle and trigger discipline to not send rounds out unintended, you don't get to risk my property. |
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