US State With Public Lands That Allow Shooting?

Question

A few years ago I was out in Los Alamos and did a little off-roading on jeep trail that were on public lands. I saw some ad-hoc shooting ranges guys had set up. One of them was an upside-down abandoned car. Another was a realtor sign used to post the paper targets. Others were just tin cans laid out on the ground.

You just don't see this in Illinois. What states allow this sort of informal shooting? What type of land is it allowed on? Is this allowed in the deserts and badlands of the west in general or where do you have to look in order to find out where this is OK to do? Or is it not OK to do and they get away with it because the lands are remote?

Answer 1

I am guessing that the people that did set those up and didnt clean up where doing it "illegal" most trail and pub use areas are not going to allow target shooting unless it is an area set aside for target shooting Rules will be posted i guarantee ya. check online. what happens when people do that sort of thing will get the place closed to carrying firearms. Signs will say NO FIREARMS Allowed. any National Park with shooting ranges will be posted and listed. Check out http://www.wheretoshoot.org/
and check out the state's DNR website look for the shooting range icon shoot safe and shoot til they stop!

Answer 2

Have you READ the gun laws in Illinois?
Except for ranges, there is practically nowhere legal outdoors to shoot a gun - unless you are hunting.

It has to be really rural, and your own property or with the owners permission.

I grew up in Illinois. Luckily, I knew a guy that had an isolated junkyard (no shooting at the cars), and my uncle was a farmer with a bunch of land. And, 30 years ago, nobody much cared.

I lived in St. Louis and Chicago, and visited my parents and my Sister - who lived in Missouri and would go over there an shoot.

I happened to move back to Missouri - right across the river from my old home town, and friends are very happy to get over here so that they can shoot.

So your answers are - most do except Illinois (and I'm sure that IL state law overides BLM and other government lands).

Depends on your state, in Missouri you can'd do it out of moving vehicle, and some larger towns frown on it, but about anywhere else - as long as it's safe to do so is fine.

To find a spot - find somewhere likely, and just ask around - somebody'll tell you whose land it is. Go to the owner (if it's a person) and ask if it's OK, if not, ask where. It's mainly word or mouth.

Yeah - sometimes the last one too.
I had a .22 bullet trap in my basement in Chicago. From outside, it just sounded like someone hammering.

As far as cleaning up afterwards, that's just common sense courtesy...

I doubt it anyone hauled a car out there just to shoot at. Besides, everyone knows that you're supposed to sight your rifle in using the deer figures painted on the crossing warning signs. ;)

Answer 3

Illinois is controlled by Nazi Kommandant Daley and his SS troopers. He's as anti-gun as bill & hill. Most National forrests are open for hunting in season and target shooting and plinking are OK in safely done. The western deserts are wide open; find a secluded spot and fire away. Nobody thinks anything bad about guns in the real world. The real world doesn't include Illinois, Maryland, the Peoples Republik of Kalifornya, Hawaii, and a very few other states where the politicians are scared of armed citizens, but coddle armed criminals.

Answer 4

Well, you can shoot on any National Forest land as long as you are shooting into a backstop of some sort (hillside, etc.) and I think you have to be 100 feet from any roadway.

There's a lot of BLM land around that area too and you can use BLM land with similar restrictions unless it's posted.

Also in that area is tribal and BIA land. Tribal police do not cotton to you even being on their land at all (trust me on this!) and BIA lands..... I don't know.

National Parks I think have banned all firearms without special permit.

Check with the appropiate government agency, as rules may have changed and may be suspended during periods of high fire risk.

It's a shame that shooters left a mess like that. What they did, that is leave trash, I'm sure is a violation. Like Off-Roaders using public lands, a few bad apples really spoil it for the rest of us that respect our use of lands and strive to leave things cleaner than when we got there.

Out in the vast expanse of the Chihuahuan desert, you pretty much have the place to yourself if you don't count the jackrabbits and coyotes.

Answer 5

In Nebraska, you must locate public land that allows target shooting in our Hunting Handbook that is published every year with the rules and regulations as well as all public hunting ground. Target shooting is allowed on private land, however, target shooting with high-powered rifles is discouraged unless at a shooting range with a backstop for the spent bullets.

Answer 6

Alabama has several "public shooting ranges". There are two near my home. One is in a National Forrest and the other is on public land.

Answer 7

They have places like that set up in Colordao. Some are just as trashy as you described, some are nice. Anywhere not withing 100 yards of a trail or lake or picnic table is fair game for in a natl or state park here.

Answer 8

Though the chances of injuring someone are remote, they still exist. For safety sake, always shoot in an area designed for it. Whether it be public or private.

Answer 9

In Virginia we can shoot in certain places in the National Forest all year, and in all of the National Forests in hunting seasons.

Answer 10

Arkansas allows hunting on national forest and state park property.

And we hunt the heck out of it.

Miketyson26