Target Shooting on Private Property legal?

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Hey Guys,

I hope youse are well

I live in Victoria
And I just wanna clarify something
Regarding target shooting on private property
From what I understand, it is 100% legal.

However (of course) there are laws that ought to be followed

From what I understand, those laws are;
1) If there are more than 5x shooters participating in the event, and if the shooting goes for longer than 3x hours, the nearest police station has to be notified beforehand
2) You need to have a backstop within 20metres behind the target
3) You can't shoot if you're within 250metres of a dwelling
4) You can't shoot if you're within 100metres of a public road
5) The shooter needs to be stationary during the shooting
6) You can't shoot between sunset and sunrise
7) You can't advertise the event
8) There can't be any money involved in the shooting
9) You can't be under the influence of drugs and alcohol during the time of the said shooting

Is all of this correct?

Am I missing anything?

Is Target Shooting on Private Property definetely 100% legal if all those laws and regulations are followed to the T?

Thanks Lads

I look forward to hearing from youse

[bladeracer]

Hey Guys,

I hope youse are well

I live in Victoria
And I just wanna clarify something
Regarding target shooting on private property
From what I understand, it is 100% legal.

However (of course) there are laws that ought to be followed

From what I understand, those laws are;
1) If there are more than 5x shooters participating in the event, and if the shooting goes for longer than 3x hours, the nearest police station has to be notified beforehand
2) You need to have a backstop within 20metres behind the target
3) You can't shoot if you're within 250metres of a dwelling
4) You can't shoot if you're within 100metres of a public road
5) The shooter needs to be stationary during the shooting
6) You can't shoot between sunset and sunrise
7) You can't advertise the event
8) There can't be any money involved in the shooting
9) You can't be under the influence of drugs and alcohol during the time of the said shooting

Is all of this correct?

Am I missing anything?

Is Target Shooting on Private Property definetely 100% legal if all those laws and regulations are followed to the T?

Thanks Lads

I look forward to hearing from youse

This section of the regs only applies to what it describes, a group of more than five shooters, for more than three hours. Most commonly it applies to a bunch of shotgunners shooting clays. In Victoria you can shoot targets on private property, you can not build a permanent range, clean up your targets after you.

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Thanks BladeRacer

So if I'm just shooting by myself on private property in the country/bush

Do I still need to be 250metres away from the closest dwelling? As well as being 100metres away from the closest public road?

[sungazer]

I would it certainly helps. Otherwise let your neighbors exactly what you are doing where you are shooting from and where too. Otherwise they do have a right to be concerned if the start hearing gunshots.

[marksman]

Thanks BladeRacer

So if I'm just shooting by myself on private property in the country/bush

Do I still need to be 250metres away from the closest dwelling? As well as being 100metres away from the closest public road?

that is my understanding
a farmer friend lives next door to weekenders who set up a range and blast away all weekend, morning till night with centerfire and shotguns, his wife suffers from anxiety and cant stay on the farm as a result while it is happening, they have approached the weekenders as well as the police and there is nothing that can be done to stop them apparently
it is always a good idea to try and fIt in with the neighbours but you dont have to if you follow the rules

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Ah okay
That's good to know marksman
Thank you

Yeah I called SSAA this morning to double check

They told me that;
- As long as you're at least 250metres away from any dwellings
- As long as you're 100metres away from a public road
- As long as you've gotta back stop within 20metres behind the target
- As long as you're not promoting the event
- As long as there's no money involved

Then it's 100% legal to do target shooting in that manner on private property

That's awesome
It's always great to know where you stand in terms of the legalities of things
The last thing you'd wanna do is do the wrong things by accidents and have your firearms taken away

That's why I'm asking all those questions/starting all these threads

I wanna make sure that I understand it all and that I'm definetely always on the right side of the law

[sungazer]

My understanding is that those two rules apply to shooting on Private Property in a rural area as well. If more than 5 people ect ect you must call police and advise them Note the not more than 3 hrs as well..

However if you get permission you would be able to shoot closer to their dwelling if your not great buddies get it in writing.

[bladeracer]

Thanks BladeRacer

So if I'm just shooting by myself on private property in the country/bush

Do I still need to be 250metres away from the closest dwelling? As well as being 100metres away from the closest public road?

The 250m is to dwellings you do not have permission to shoot near.
You can NEVER shoot from, onto, across, or in the direction of a public road, path or track. I don't believe the 100m applies, but any time you endanger or cause fear to anybody - even if you don't know of their existence - you are liable to serious charges. If you don't need to shoot within sight or hearing of a road I would avoid it. If you do need to, be extremely vigilant about traffic, especially kids walking to school and such. For that reason I would limit your shooting to during school hours, and avoid school holidays. For example, we know that people do walk through one of our properties, despite our asking them not to.

Note that the part about shooting toward roads doesn't mention back stops or distances, although I've never heard of anybody being charged for shooting toward a road five klicks away, behind a hill.

As with our vehicular laws, doing everything legal does not exempt you from other charges, if you recklessly or negligently affect other people.

And one thing you do not want to live alongside is a neighbour that doesn't like you shooting, so stay on-side with them if at all possible.

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Thanks for your advices Bladeracer
They all make sense

I think I should be okay
My friend has a farm in the country
It's a pretty big piece of land
It's quite far away from all the other dwellings
It's quite far away from the public road
There's no public path or track or anything like that nearby
On his farm, he's gotta pretty big hill which I could easily use as the back stop

I think I should be 100% right doing target shooting on his farm

I've never seen anyone trespassing on his land
Neither has he
(As it's pretty remote)

I think I should be 100% right, safe and legal on his farm

I may even call the local police there to make sure it's safe and legal

[bladeracer]

Thanks for your advices Bladeracer
They all make sense

I think I should be okay
My friend has a farm in the country
It's a pretty big piece of land
It's quite far away from all the other dwellings
It's quite far away from the public road
There's no public path or track or anything like that nearby
On his farm, he's gotta pretty big hill which I could easily use as the back stop

I think I should be 100% right doing target shooting on his farm

I've never seen anyone trespassing on his land
Neither has he
(As it's pretty remote)

I think I should be 100% right, safe and legal on his farm

I may even call the local police there to make sure it's safe and legal

As long as it is zoned rural you'll have no trouble at all.
I wouldn't mention "target shooting" specifically, not all LEO's understand what shooting is about, just say you'll be practicing your field shooting for hunting.
I'm assuming you do have Hunting as one of your genuine reasons on your licence?

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Yes BladeRacer

I have a Cat A&B license

With "Target Shooting" & "Hunting" as my genuine reasons

And my friends farm is definetely classed as "rural"

So I should be okay yeah?

[bladeracer]

Yes BladeRacer

I have a Cat A&B license

With "Target Shooting" & "Hunting" as my genuine reasons

And my friends farm is definetely classed as "rural"

So I should be okay yeah?

Yep, why are you still here? You should be on the way to the property already
Bit bloody warm though down my way.

[TheFirearmEnthusiast]

Hahaha yes

It is bloody warm today

Like a bloody oven in it