Is shooting your airsoft gun in your backyard legal?

[mopic]

Yep, bang on. Most bylaws do not differentiate between firearms / pellet / airsoft.
Bylaw... don't do it.

[Brian McIlmoyle]

about "rural" areas as well... most areas are amalgamated to regional municipalities where the "urban" bylaws still apply.

it comes down to zoning then.. if an area is zoned agricultural or recreational you are good to discharge firearms.. if it is zoned residential or commercial you are not.

again a call to your local bylaw enforcement officer will clarify where you can and can't shoot things

[shiftsup]

Depending where you live in Cambridge, Ontario you might be ok. Or maybe not.

This was in today's Waterloo Region Record:

City fixes old bylaw that allows gunfire only in urban areas

http://news.therecord.com/News/Local/article/583511

[Crunchmeister]

Most cities have bylaws in place against discharging any gun, air or real, within city limits. This means the only place you can shoot is indoors at your house or at a prescribed location. So no, shooting in your back hard is NOT legal and will get you into serious trouble with the authorities.

[Ayashifx55]

Sha Do is right though. Asking about municipal or local police about the airsoft/paintball laws is a good idea, we all know all cities operate differently. If they say no you can't ... then whatever, play as much games as you can to compensate the cost of your gears and weapon ... I mean, buying a 500-1000$ gun and you can't shoot everyday is painful.

It's like financing / leasing a racing car but you have school every weekday in downtown ... parking there is too expensive so you have to take the bus. Then what? You paid so much for your car but you don't get to drive it as much as you could. That's seriously sad.

[Spinal]

hi there guys i was googling this exact topic so i decided to register, im almost 21, live in Toronto and i got a pellet gun for christmas as a gift.


since they aren't allowed to be discharged within city limits where are they allowed? is there like a shooting range or some kinda field you guys go target shooting at or something?

[pusangani]

check airgunforum.ca for information on pellet guns

[Spinal]

thx

[bpbcc1]

While I'm sure most try to help when it comes to this sort of thing I think when trying to quote a law or regulation you should do so with the reference for the actual law in question. For example By-laws for the City of Winnipeg to list a by -law 2890/81 which states it should be known as the Firearms By-law. It does say that you can not fire any firearm or other gun without the permission of the Chief of Police. You can take this two ways. 1. Airsoft guns are not firearms as stated in the firearms act in they fire under 500 FPS. One could say well they say any other kind of gun but I don't think that would apply as long as there are screw guns, glue guns or cap guns. 2. You could send a letter and tell the Chief that you are setting up a range in your backyard suitable for airsoft complete with a BB trap and list your range safety rules and blah blah. You would probably either get ignored or a short letter that says go for it. But that's here in Winnipeg. It may or may not be that way where you live. The point here is that a person from Winnipeg could say to you that there is a by-law here that says you can't fire any gun in your backyard and they'd be right but it would not apply to what you want to do. But then keep in mind that anyone can call up and complain about anything you do, its just a matter of weather anyone will care about what they claim. In the current climate of anyone downtown might be armed, that realistic looking AR in your backyard would warrent further investigation if reported but still might be legal.

[kthx]

Be careful to Google your city's bylaws.

In Milton, Ontario, technically it is part of the GTA now, or GTHA, where it is a bylaw that even airsoft pistols are illegal to be discharged.

Even if you ignore that bylaw, the local Milton bylaw outlaws discharge of "Firearms" which is hilariously defined as:

Originally Posted by Milton_ByLaw_1995

"Firearm" shall mean any type of gun or other firearms, air-guns, pellet guns, spring guns, cross-bows, long-bows, compound-bows or any class or type thereof, or anything that can be adapted for use as a firearm.

except of course within "prohibited areas" which is basically the rural areas, surrounding the cities. Then you can discharge them with specific precautions, not within 30M of a highway, or 150 ft or so from a house or something.

Canadian law seems so "pussy-like" to me. Not only can we not responsibly own and control firearms, we cant even fire a fricking airsoft gun that fires plastic...

Our law does not specify the firearms velocity or muzzle velocity. It just outright bans them all. SO retarted.

We need new government and re-written law, allowing us to do as we please as long as we are not hurting, killing, or causing shit. Of course with respecting property and ownership rights of others.

[AngelusNex]

you created an account to answer a 5 year old question....

[L473ncy]

SO???? A municipalities definition of firearm is pretty standard. They also have weird definitions for other things too.

By the way the way the bylaw is written technically a powder actuated tools (eg. Hilti gun) are a bylaw violation to use but I don't think a city bylaw officer will split hairs and fine you.