a bill coming this year

[ChristCrusader]

A 25 yard zone (even while hunting) proposes an absolute mathematical measurement without regard to context or the presence or absence of any specific endangerment.

Were you target shooting on your own property, aiming away from the road, from behind a berm, building, wall, or other cover (maybe off of your back deck on the other side of the house), yet < 25 yards from the maintained portion of the road (and turns out there was an easement beside that too that extended the starting point of measurement?)?

How about instead, a law that prohibits any actual action that is endangering to anyone, no matter where it is, instead of creating another arbitrary zone that ends up prohibiting lawful, useful, good things along the way too, without regard to what's actually occurring and the context.

We could call it something like, the don't endanger anyone law.
or ~
§ 18.2-56.1. Reckless handling of firearms; reckless handling while hunting.
A. It shall be unlawful for any person to handle recklessly any firearm so as to endanger the life, limb or property of any person. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter4/section18.2-56.1/

 

[peter nap]

Thanks guys!
Just getting a feel of where the 2A community will be on this.

 

[hometheaterman]

I 100% do NOT support this. I've seen first hand the kind of issues this causes. We have some property in southern VA in a town where hunting with dogs is prominent. In the county our land is in, you just have to be across the ditch (no hunting ditch to ditch (aka across the road) obviously). However, in the neighboring county you have to be 100 yards from the road to discharge a rifle while hunting.

The issue that I've personally seen numerous times is that in the county without this requirement, people hop across the ditch and shoot at the deer as it comes out into the field. Thus shooting away from the road. In the neighboring county where you must be 100 yards from the road, people will walk to the other side of the field and wait for the deer to pop out. If surrounded by woods, they can no longer see either way down the road to see if anything is coming or not and when the animal does pop out they are shooting directly towards the road. I know you should expect people to have more common sense than this, but I've seen firsthand that most people don't. I'd much rather them be shooting away from the road than directly at a road when they usually can't even see what is coming.

While I'm sure shooting up and down the road does happen as shown in the video you reference and I'd love to be able to stop it, I just don't think this is the solution and I believe it is going to cause an extra safety issue.