Is it legal to shoot in your own basement?

[NoLimePlease]

I found a old post that talks about people putting bullet traps in their basement. I am curious about the legality of such endeavors:

Anyone used a heavy duty bullet trap for testing, etc?
Anyone used a heavy duty bullet trap for testing, etc?

I have searched the forum for a answer to this, but haven't found anything yet. I did look up the City of Portland code-

Chapter 14a.60 reads:
A. It is unlawful for any person to discharge a firearm in the City or upon its boundaries.


B. This Section does not apply to:


2. A person discharging a firearm on a public or private shooting range, shooting gallery, or other area designed, built, and lawfully operating for the purpose of target shooting;​

So would this be completely legal, or just a really dumb idea?

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[STUKA]

Legal? Probably not,especially in Portland/Multnomah county.
I'd still do it,if youre careful,and don't get caught.There was a case recently of some guy in Salem or Eugene shooting in his yard,and had all his guns confiscated-but I've read that he was an idiot.
I shoot rats and targets with subsonic .22 in my urban backyard.
Nobody in the neighborhood knows (or cares?)
I'd say an insulated basement and a well prepared indoor range should be fine.
Might wanna pound some nails occasionally with the garage door open so people assume you work on stuff,and they will attribute pounding noises to that..

Just be careful,and stay on your neighbor's good side.
Make someone mad for whatever reason and they can screw you good.
Just my opinions..

 

[bolus]

Even if legal I would not do that just because of lead exposure risks.

 

[11Charlie]

Well in my humble opinion if its against the law I personally wouldn't do it. There are to many alternatives. Getting busted and loosing the means to protect your family all because you didn't want to drive to the range is not worth the risk.

 

[DB is Here]

Interesting....but I'd stay away from that.

 

[wired]

Its not legal to shoot indoors in city limits unless you are registered as a shooting range with all the zoning and ventilation stuff that goes along with that.
I dont have a basement now so I dont do it..

 

[Quartermaster]

Not legal. Next question.

 

[Chipperxd]

yeah that sounds like a bad idea even if it was legal.

 

[Capn Jack]

Stick to Pellet Guns in the basement, or garage.
No recoil...Better for training the wife and kids.

There are look-a-like pellet guns on the market that
match, virtually anything you own for weight and feel.

 

[Martini_Up]

OPSEC and be careful equals who cares about legality?

By the way, everything in this country is legal and lawful unless it's illegal or unlawful. Just saying.

 

[The Heretic]

Its not legal to shoot indoors in city limits unless you are registered as a shooting range with all the zoning and ventilation stuff that goes along with that.
I dont have a basement now so I dont do it..

This ^^

 

[Certaindeaf]

Even if legal, perhaps not advisable. lol

 

[Certaindeaf]

Its not legal to shoot indoors in city limits unless you are registered as a shooting range with all the zoning and ventilation stuff that goes along with that.
I dont have a basement now so I dont do it..

This is exactly why I lure all the bad guys outside. lol

 

[JamesG]

I have a single shot .22 that handles CP caps and BB caps and I will pop a few of them off in my basement once in a while. They make less noise than the high powered pellet gun I had.

 

[NoLimePlease]

2. A person discharging a firearm on a public or private shooting range, shooting gallery, or other area designed, built, and lawfully operating for the purpose of target shooting

Its not legal to shoot indoors in city limits unless you are registered as a shooting range with all the zoning and ventilation stuff that goes along with that.
I dont have a basement now so I dont do it..

So just for the sake of curiosity, does anyone know what's involved in doing the "lawfully operating private shooting range" idea? I imagine zoning would be a tricky part, but being "private" makes it seem more likely. Other than that? Hang a bunch of steel plates, sand bags, and ventilation and have the inspector sign off on it?

 

[PaulB47]

Most important thing is not the legality, but how well you get along with your neighbor. For CB caps, not even that. But yeah, lead exposure might be a thing.

 

[wired]

My neighbors really never complained when I did have a basement. Don't know why that is.



It all depends on your city code more so than the state code. That's going to be your biggest zoning hassle.

 

[2A2Dend]

Back in my days of music, our drummer had a room at his parents, above the barn. He put acoustical insulation on all the surfaces to deaden the hit. When he was all finished, his drumming was no louder than a radio where you and others could speak without getting consumed over it. I don't know regulations as/to making an indoor range for private use, but there's a LOT involved to get one passed commercially.

 

[NoLimePlease]

LOL as I was starting to get a little optimistic (how hard is a couple of permits, anyways?), I started looking around on the web for actual build ideas.
I'm thinking this is not as doable as I wanted to believe.
Air movement, HEPA filters, independent HVAC, Soundproofing, EPA inspections... Seems lead really is a big deal.
I just went from optimist to pessimist.

This is a funny read from another site:
<broken link removed>

 

[Certaindeaf]

So just for the sake of curiosity, does anyone know what's involved in doing the "lawfully operating private shooting range" idea? I imagine zoning would be a tricky part, but being "private" makes it seem more likely. Other than that? Hang a bunch of steel plates, sand bags, and ventilation and have the inspector sign off on it?

View attachment 326046

I wonder how many illegal grow ops burn houses down?
How does one even get licensed to grow dope in their house?