What Do You Guys Think Of This?

[bubbakaloosh]

I'll try and make this as short and understandable as possible.

I live in ontario canada..living in the suburbs so there isn't a lot of areas to target practice...ranges are hard to get into...never accepting people. If you wanna shoot in the woods...drive north 2 hours and find "crown land"

I have a fairly nice size boat that we have on lake ontario, only a 5 minute drive from my house..so i figure screw it...if i wanna take my .22 for target practice...just take it out on the lake and go about 5 miles out.

The town that I live in has a law that sais " no firearms shall be discharged within our town" however...there is no law that sais firearms can't be discharged on the lake and the lake doesnt come under my towns boundaries. i contacted every single branch of government other then the police. reason i didnt contact them is simple...they don't make laws..they only enforce them...if i tell them what i wanna do they will just harrass me.

Not a single person could tell me a law that sais i cant target practice on the lake..the ONLY law that there is on the lake that comes close to what i wanna do is " you cannot put waste into the lake" so the guy told me that bullets would fall into that category. but i would never get caught for that. because the people that enforce that stuff...dont go on lake ontario around where i live, their always up north.

Do you guys think as long as I'm safe and responsible...im fair game to be doing this?

 

[MikeD]

Interesting, I've never heard of this. How can you hold steady on a boat?

My gut says that if you got caught it would not be good, but I really don't know.

I can't offer advice one way or the other. Have you tried contacting a lawyer? They know the law better than law enforcement.

Per my experience, just about the time you think to yourself you will never see a game warden or police in an area is when they show up. LOL

 

[OhioArcher]

Here's the questions I have:

Are there any open seasons that would require you to have a hunting license? I know you're not hunting but the game wardens here take a dim view of firing guns during an open season. you can't prove you were not hunting.

What is your back stop? yes, 5 miles is a long way. But there was a person killed in CA years ago by someone target practicing offshore. .22's go a long way, even skipping like a rock.

What are your provisions should you inadvertently discharge a round thru your hull, engine or fuel tank? I know, that will never happen. Remember Murphy's Law...5 miles is a long way to swim.

As simple as your question seems, there are very complicated risks involved. Only you can determine if those risks are worth it. Good luck.

 

[bubbakaloosh]

Thanks for the replies guy. Not sure when our "open season" is....the only hunting I do is fishing. In the 15 years I've been fishing on lake ontario I've not once seen a game warden, they don't have any boats docked where I am either, their all in the little lakes up north.

As for a backstop...i plan to be shooting facing a large beach where there is no people and it has a 200 foot high cliff.

If i shoot through my hull somehow, my boat has 4 bilge pumps, more then enough to stop the boat from sinking from a .22lr hole.

I like the lawyer idea, however i feel that...if the federal government cant come up with any reasons why I cant shoot on the lake. And in our towns laws it sais " no firearm shall be discharged within 50 feet off shore and in towns boundaries. Ministry of enviorment cant come up with any reason why i cant. and the provincial government cant. I think im fair game.

 

[MikeD]

Another thought, shooting from a boat may be viewed the same as shooting from a car/truck/etc.

As a DNR officer (MI's version of a game warden) once explained to me when I asked a question about the legality of something....I'll ticket or arrest you for anything I think may be illegal and let the courts figure it out.

 

[bubbakaloosh]

Another thought, shooting from a boat may be viewed the same as shooting from a car/truck/etc.

As a DNR officer (MI's version of a game warden) once explained to me when I asked a question about the legality of something....I'll ticket or arrest you for anything I think may be illegal and let the courts figure it out.

hm very true. I just spoke to our marine unit police, guy sounded miserable and all he sais is " can't do it...criminal code" thanks for your help but i need more then that considering im looking at the code right now and it sais nothing lol

I'm going to speak to a lawyer on this one lol