Portland Oregon Pellet Gun questions

[Brian Uppendahl]

Crap. First shot after moving, unpacking, 2 days on the road, etc. My sights are way off. Must have gotten pushed around a bit.

 

[think2survive]

As far as legality, I believe it's prohibited.

Title 14 Public Order and Police | The City of Portland, Oregon (http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?c=28178)

Look at the definitions and discharge of firearms. The definitions include firing a projectile using a spring or compressed air. Set up a pellet gun range and it should be legal.

Resurrecting an old thread, since I had the same question. I was glad you caught that section on definitions in Title 14 of the Portland city code, since when first reading the code I had assumed that "firearm" would have the same definition as in the (statewide) Oregon Revised Statutes, which says "Firearm means a weapon, by whatever name known, which is designed to expel a projectile by the action of powder." (ORS 166.210)

OK, so the Portland codes include air guns. So, the next part of the question: in Portland city code 14A.60.020 Discharge of a Firearm, it says the section does not apply to

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, what is sufficient to constitute a "private shooting range" or an area designed and built for the purpose of target shooting?

 

[STUKA]

When I lived in SE Portland, someone I knew had a pellet gun "range" set up in the back yard ( they also had campfires whenever they pleased)
Now that I've moved to urban clackamas county, someone I know uses a bolt action 22 with aguila subsonics in the yard on rats and beer cans, AND has a rooster (also "illegal", but he's quiet)
Nobody has said anything-I think it's just a matter of using prudence.
That being said, all of these things are "illegal" and you always want to make sure you don't irk off the neighbors.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

It is prohibited to discharge an air gun in Portland, including in your home. My mom and dad got a little visit by uniformed officers, while we were shooting pellet guns in our basement!

 

[1990Turbo]

It is prohibited to discharge an air gun in Portland, including in your home. My mom and dad got a little visit by uniformed officers, while we were shooting pellet guns in our basement!

Must have been some noisy pellet guns!

 

[1990Turbo]

I have a newer Benjamin Nitro Trail that has a built in suppressor. I think it is very quiet for a rating of 1400fps. I would say its quieter than hitting a nail with a hammer by far.

 

[tac]

It is prohibited to discharge an air gun in Portland, including in your home. My mom and dad got a little visit by uniformed officers, while we were shooting pellet guns in our basement!

Remind me not to relocate to Portland.

Here in yUK I shoot any kind of air-gun, rifle or pistol, in my own backyard, and nobody can say squat.

It's legal, y'see. And so are moderators on noisy air-rifles - no tax on them, BTW.
An anomaly here is that you can go into the airgun store and buy ANY moderator for your airgun without the tax that you guys have to stump up, or having any paperwork, and then find that, surprise, surprise, it also fits your .22 calibre rifle.

Sadly, using it on the .22 without it having been entered on your FAC [firearms certificate] is illegal.

You just KNOW it makes perfect sense....

tac

 

[etrain16]

Remind me not to relocate to Portland.

Here in yUK I shoot any kind of air-gun, rifle or pistol, in my own backyard, and nobody can say squat.

It's legal, y'see. And so are moderators on noisy air-rifles - no tax on them, BTW.
An anomaly here is that you can go into the airgun store and buy ANY moderator for your airgun without the tax that you guys have to stump up, or having any paperwork, and then find that, surprise, surprise, it also fits your .22 calibre rifle.

Sadly, using it on the .22 without it having been entered on your FAC [firearms certificate] is illegal.

You just KNOW it makes perfect sense....

tac

Yeah, discharging airguns is prohibited in many places all over the state of Oregon. Doesn't stop most folks from doing it though...

I'm glad to see the UK has us beat on at least that one point.

 

[jsparks747]

Despite this being an old thread I feel I should point out that an air rifle is not federally considered a firearm because it does not use an explosive material to propel a projectile through the air.

 

[Papa Jon]

Federal, state, county and city laws on what is or is not a firearm vary. Here in Portland a pellet/BB gun is prohibited to fire. I found out the hard way.

 

[jsparks747]

Federal, state, county and city laws on what is or is not a firearm vary. Here in Portland a pellet/BB gun is prohibited to fire. I found out the hard way.

Really? I have shot my air rifle within city limits many many times before and my BB gun. Never had a problem. Even with cops around.

 

[tac]

Really? I have shot my air rifle within city limits many many times before and my BB gun. Never had a problem. Even with cops around.

Deliver yourself at the law with immediacy! You are truly a very criminal person, of that there is no doubt.

Baddoer person!

tac, still thinking in Joual.

 

[jsparks747]

Deliver yourself at the law with immediacy! You are truly a very criminal person, of that there is no doubt.

Baddoer person!

tac, still thinking in Joual.

My Dad is a lawyer. I am probably on the Fed's Most Wanted list already!

 

[ThemGunsThough]

Dang... i wonder if its the same for Clackamas county. Darn woodpeckers keep waking me up early on the weekends.

 

[tac]

Dang... i wonder if its the same for Clackamas county. Darn woodpeckers keep waking me up early on the weekends.

c'mon over here. The only tree in the county, well, almost, has a buzzard in it. No woodpeckers.

No county in the British Isles has less trees than Cambridgeshire - Boring British Fact #103,778.

tac

 

[Papa Jon]

Years ago my boys were playing with a AR style BB gun in my back yard and the neighbors called the Fuzz. They came out and told us that it was a Portland City ordnance. We told them that they had borrowed the gun from friends down the street. The cop almost took the rifle but allowed me to return it. So I walked down the middle of the street with it on one arm in military style with him slowly following in his car You should be OK in Clackamas county but other areas like Beavertown have there own laws. Check first or be stealthy. Portland SUCKS

 

[DirectDrive]

Remind me not to relocate to Portland.

Here in yUK I shoot any kind of air-gun, rifle or pistol, in my own backyard, and nobody can say squat.

It's legal, y'see. And so are moderators on noisy air-rifles - no tax on them, BTW.
An anomaly here is that you can go into the airgun store and buy ANY moderator for your airgun without the tax that you guys have to stump up, or having any paperwork, and then find that, surprise, surprise, it also fits your .22 calibre rifle.

Sadly, using it on the .22 without it having been entered on your FAC [firearms certificate] is illegal.

You just KNOW it makes perfect sense....

tac

Considering your firearms laws, this small accommodation might be to keep the peasants from revolting.

 

[teflon6string]

For me, it's sort of relative.

The quieter I'm trying to be (like in my yard), the noisier my pellet guns seem to get. Crosman 1377 (probably 500 fps) and Crosman 2100 (probably 600 fps). On my Moldnomah County property with houses nearby, I cannot imagine that a .22 could be much louder. Of course, no one on my street probably knows what a pellet gun sounds like anyway.

Now you've got me curious. I'll have to compare the next time I go shoot. Something tells me a suppressed 10/22 with SV or subsonic ammo will win the stealth contest.

 

[Papa Jon]

I bought the Gamo Bone Collector 1300 fps with the section that looks like a supresser on the end thinking it would be quiet but not so. My 22's with Aquila Colbri is much quieter. All you hear is the hammer hit and a slight wooooosh. Also bought a Rugar break barrel I thought would be quiet but the spring noise is way louder than I like. Pistol is a POS.

 

[Horatius]

I bought the Gamo Bone Collector 1300 fps with the section that looks like a supresser on the end thinking it would be quiet but not so. My 22's with Aquila Colbri is much quieter. All you hear is the hammer hit and a slight wooooosh. Also bought a Rugar break barrel I thought would be quiet but the spring noise is way louder than I like. Pistol is a POS.

that thing that looks like a suppressor really is a suppressor, took mine off once and it definitely made a big difference. with a scope my .177 break barrel is a small game ending machine. at supersonic speeds with pellets, what happens if you miss should be your priority in town in my humble opinion!