having a pretty difficult issue with my neighbors..need advice

hello im not sure if this is the right spot to post this but i figured it was my best shot as from what ive read this fits here

so first to start off with the problem before i explain the whole story i live on over 4 acres of land in montana and live a good distance from town(rural no covenants) and i have set up a shooting range on my land (i shoot into a 60 foot hillside with no houses behind my property at all) and i have one direct neighbor who recently moved in from canada(i like Canadians i realy do) and he seems to have a problem with me shooting on my land...the first time he came rolling up my driveway after i had fired 3 rounds from my 12 gauges to test out my new choke tube and then had gone back in side to store my weapon,as i looked out side my front window i see a strange car driving over my bridge and up my drive way at aproximatly 40 mph(waaaaaay to fast for my liking) so i go out side to talk to him figuring it might be one of the neighbors wanting to know if im shooting safely.so this gentleman and his wife get out of there jeep and immediatly ask to see the land lord because they want to complain about my shooting i tell them i am the land lord and as far as i knew i was shooting legaly and safely and showed him my shooting set up and him him self even said what i was doing was safe and in no way a danger to his property or him in any way,he then proceeds to tell me his 18 year old son is highly offended by my gunfire and hes quite big and i woudlnt want to meet him( im 25 had just gotten a hair cut and shaved my beard so i might have looked young for some reason) so i ask him what his kids size has to do with the sound a gun makes and let him know that i would try to shoot earlyer in the day if i was going to and not as many rounds or as freequently he then proceeds to tell me im scaring away his deer and that he moved here from canada to see these deer and that he didnt move to THIS country and this state to hear gunshots all the time(had fired 3 rounds of bird shot) and he threatens to call the cops on me i tell him by all means call the police and they can tell you what im doing is legal and id apreciate it until they get here for you to get off my property as i was starting to feel very uncomfortable with the situation he then postured up before leaving with his wife looking quite embarassed.

so i decide to get a 22 pistol because i plan on shooting but dont want to be rude about it and i fire that a few times no issues i later purchassed a mosin nagant(loud as hell but i got a good deal on 1917 one made by remmington)and im in my back yard with tripple layer hearing protection and had been hearing most of my futher awway neighbors shooting for most of the day so i take aim and fire a round and then adjust the sights and fire a second round when im working the bolt to chamer a 3rd round i see a red dot on my chest that then turns into two dots so not being an idiot about what this means i asusme its the cops and rightfully so so i set my gun down nice and slow and keep my hands where they can see them and they approach search me ask me who i am and why im here i tell them my name and that im the home owner and the cop starts to scream that im not and they got a call about soem one tresspassing on this land shooting (the neighbor told them no one lived at my house and soem stranger was shooting back there a blatant lie as he had allready talked to me) and i start talking to them they complement me about my gun after thigns calmed down and they ran my name and figured out no one was being killed they told me one of my neighbors had called the cops and told them that no one was suposed to be living there so they had sent out 5 units in rural montana thinking it was gonna be a gunfight and found me holding my weapon and didnt shoot me(i know i was amazed too) so after the cops see my shooting set up and tell me its legal and advise me to shoot earlery( it was like 530 pm) i told them no problem and they told me i was doing nothing wrong and were sorry for alarming me.

so more time goes on and i havent shot in my yard since then(even though half the nighborhood shoots all day randomly or sets off what sounds like cannons or dynamite) i get a call on my phone at 1040pm tonight and its the police asking me to come out side and have a talk with them so i agree go out side and they tell me my neighbor has reporetd me for shooting again when i hadent been i showed them my guns and they were all clean and unfired (rifle was taken apart 3 days ago and is still in peices) every thing else is in my safe and even the cops are irritated by keeping getting called out here because its always to my house and im not doing anythign wrong or even shooting half the time my neighbors call them...long rant over

so what im trying to figure out is how i should deal with this with out this turning into some neighborhood fued that complements my otherwise peacefull existence and dispite how polite and frendly the police are i view every time they come to my land as a near death expirence and fear for my dog every time they show up and i just dont know the best way to handle this any help would be greatly appreciated and sorry for the spelling and whatnot been a long day

It's called a shotgun suppressor,
or a shotgun silencer.
They are availiable comercially,
and since the neighbor has already conceeded that
that shooting environment is safe, and noise is
the only issue; this seems like an obvious solution.

I hope ya'll become friends.


David Grouchy

and fyi i just have to say the cops i have had to deal with are by far the most professional i have ever had to deal with in my existence and thats the only reason im problay not more angry and frusterated them i am now

reply to post by davidgrouchy


supressors are legal out here but i dont know if i could mount one on my 1952 ithaca.....and id like to be firends i just dont know how to approach him or try to talk to him to explain how much it botheres me that even when im not doing anything i get the cops called when every one else gets to shoot all day long and from the cops own mouths they haven't been called out to any of the other houses i just want to try to come to an understanding but the guy seems to really not like that i live here and my age( my oppinion based on his attitude)

These ex colonials are not very bright. Like Australians and South Africans, Canadians have never developed sophistication, but you can help him. Show him around your property, explain that what you have set up is legal, and if you can provide the legal documentation supporting that, show them to him. Then, politely but firmly inform him, that if he keeps causing problems and making your enjoyment of your own land impossible, you will sue him for harassment, trespassing on your property as well as libel, since he lied about your residence on your land. Doesn't have to be aggressive, but strong.

Ignore your neighbors, keep doing what you are doing. The cops will get fed up with them

Your neighbor needs to realize a couple of things:

1. It's your property, and you are lawfully and safely exercising your rights as protected by the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

2. The police have been out twice, and have determined both times that number 1 above is true.

3. You are the owner of guns. Guns that go "boom" and put extra holes in things that torque you off.

/TOA

Personally I wouldn't do anything.

Actually that is a lie....I would be shooting more often

Eventually the Police will stop calling when your neighbour is constantly "crying wolf".

It will be his own fault when he actually needs the Police for a legitimate reason and they don't show.

I would offer the Police a cuppa whenever they called, and apologise prolifically for your neighbours waste of their time.

By the sound of it, they are on your side and that is one blessing to your situation.

For the record I'm not a shooter, I don't hold a firearms license and I certainly won't have guns in my house.

But at the same time I have no qualms with firearms if the person/s involved are responsible about it.

Meet him with the cops. Have the "three" of you sit down and discuss the issue. When your neighbor sees that YOU are bringing the cops into the picture, maybe he'll let up.

reply to post by Thwax

thank you for you reply very good advice!
yeah i plan on talking to him and he has seen my set up i think his problem is he dosent want the deer scared away(the deer are absolutly dumb where i live) and the deer basically live in my back yard and don't seem to mind the shooting as i dont shoot at them(screw poachers) and from what the police told me they told him as much.But he told me he didnt move to this country to hear gun shots and he came to Montana....where the average person owns 16 or more firearms just kinda baffles me.From meeting the other neighbors they all shoot and do so far less safely then i do so i hope i can get this resolved with out legal matters

the police are at least understanding they call me when ever there coming over to let me know so im not armed hwen they show up and so i can put my dog away which for me is a breath of fresh air as far as that goes so at least i know im not breaking any laws and that the police dont hate me so i got that much going for me

reply to post by OccamAssassin


yeah i gave the officer tonight some 9mm ammo that wouldnt feed in my gun but evidently works in his so they definaly know im trying to be polite and thats key.....lol yeah to be honest i was tempted to blast off half a can of mosin ammo but theres no point in being rude or unnecessarily offensive to the other few neighbors i actualy have so i think ill keep shooting less and if he keeps caling them on me with out me even using my guns they will get tired of him(hopefully) thank you for you reply its always nice to have options and im just trying to be liked by my neighbors(having once been a hooligan in my past)

An addendum to what I posted: invite your neighbor over to shoot with you. Show him how fun it is to live under the 2nd Amendment. Nothing relieves stress (to me) like shooting holes in things. Big holes. With loud guns.

/TOA

reply to post by The Old American


thank you also for your reply and it mirrors basicly what i have been told by the officers im thinking about either trying to talk to them tomrrow or sending them a polite letter or just waiting tell it happens again and asking if i can do anything about it charges wise but really just hoping it all blows over(its near the 4th here and if they dont like boomy things there gonna loose it out here)

reply to post by beezzer


thats a great idea i wish i had thought of that tonight have them wake him up have THEM explain it thank you i now have a plethora of options and more importantly the feeling that im not being unreasonable with them

First, you should get copies of all the state/county/city statutes and ordinances pertaining to your shooting and to what the noise rules are. Make sure you know them so you don’t get bit in rear end.

The officers should have gone and arrested them after the first false call, but if they keep it up start requesting that they go arrest them for making false calls. The police don’t like having their time wasted with crap like this, and will most likely take care of your problem for you. You can also have them officially trespassed off your land, and due to their threat of sending their son over, and almost getting you shot by the police, you might have a valid case for an injunction against them.

Next time you plan on shooting call up the cop shop and let them know beforehand.

It shouldn't take but a couple of times for them to tell him to quit wasting their time.

If you wanted to try to be accomodating, you might offer to schedule your shooting for when they aren't home.

Originally posted by Thwax
politely but firmly inform him, that if he keeps causing problems and making your enjoyment of your own land impossible, you will sue him for harassment, trespassing on your property as well as libel, since he lied about your residence on your land. Doesn't have to be aggressive, but strong.

This is the civil law route, but is also possibly viable.

Buy or build a large black powder cannon,
Set it off every day at the same time.

When the cops show up just tell them you were scaring off deer with it.

Since you are not the only one firing guns in the area visit your other neighbors and get them to sign a partition against your canadian neighbor bothering people about what they do on there own land.

I had this tried on me one time but none of my neighbors would sign the partition instead they called me to warn me about the a^^ h**l new neighbor.
In my case most of my neighbors had had moved to the area from the town next door just to get away from this type people.

reply to post by KilrathiLG


do all that and post your property asap.

let him know he is in the states, in a good way, of course.

he sounds like a bully from the get go.

his son? was that a threat?

this sounds like a movie script, bizarre, that he'd come roaring over at the sound of gun fire to confront you and after, make false claims to the police.

not doubting you but this dude is crossing some serious lines.

if you have a hunting lic, go over and offer him a hind quarter, a neighborly gesture, of course.

reply to post by ANNED


hehe i have always wanted a cannon....but i think the mosin will do fine and i got her sited in so i dont think ill be using that one tell the 4th.Of the 10 neighbors i have in a 3 mile radius ive met 6 of them counting the unfortunate one and all of them allready dont like this guy and say he complains about everything and all but him have worked on my house or ive helped them out(neighbors boat house was getting flooded so we all helped jack it up out of the water) so its not that i dont liek any of my neighbors or that most of my neighbors dont like me just this one gentleman they police seem almost as upset as i am as every time they come out here they come in 4 cars(and if i was responding to reports of shooting id problay bring frends too) so its not just one of there times being wasted and honestly thats like half the cops in our town and probably all of them at 1030ish at night ,my father has reccomended i put cameras up around the property including the shooting area so that if they complain again with out cause i can just show the police the tape and then i definitely have a case of harassment.