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Scott Signs ‘Backyard Gun Range’, Eight Other Bills
February 25, 2016
Surrounded by a group of police chiefs, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a measure dubbed the “backyard range” bill, intended to restrict the recreational discharge of a firearm in certain residential areas.
The proposal was one of nine that Scott signed into law Wednesday.
The backyard range measure (SB 130) prohibits the recreational discharge of a firearm outdoors, including for target shooting or celebratory shooting, in primarily residential areas with a density of one or more dwelling units per acre. A violation would be a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The bill, which goes into effect immediately, was backed by the Florida Police Chiefs Association, the National Rifle Association and the Unified Sportsmen of Florida.
St. Augustine Beach Police Chief Robert Hardwick said the legislation will ensure “residential areas are better protected from people using firearms irresponsibly and unlawfully.”
A Senate staff analysis of the bill pointed to reports about people constructing gun ranges in their backyards, with neighbors being concerned for safety. Law enforcement officials complained that they were hamstrung because their lawyers found the state statute barring “recklessly or negligently” discharging a firearm to be “subjective and vague.”
Scott’s signature Wednesday comes nearly five years after the governor signed into law a measure that voided all local firearms restrictions.
The “backyard range” issue received heightened attention in June 2014 when the Comedy Channel’s “Colbert Report” did a satirical piece on a Big Pine Key resident who legally set up a makeshift side-yard shooting range using a state law, created in 1987, regarding shooting on private property.
Scott also signed a measure (SB 228) Wednesday that would remove aggravated assault from a list of offenses that lead to people being sentenced under the 10-20-Life mandatory-minimum sentencing law. Scott said he signed the bill because it was supported by the law enforcement community and “made sense.”
A third bill (SB 158) signed Wednesday would allow people with lifetime fishing or hunting licenses, or boater-safety identification cards, to have a symbol added to their driver licenses displaying that lifetime status. The addition of the symbol, when a driver’s license is issued or renewed, would come with a $1 fee.
Both of those measures go into effect on July 1.
Other bills signed Wednesday (SB 182) would extend several public-records exemptions involving financial “trade secret” information, while a related proposal (SB 180) would make theft of trade-secret financial information a third-degree felony. Those laws go into effect on Oct. 1.
Four other measures signed by Scott Wednesday (SB 1030, SB 1032, SB 1038 and SB 1040) involve technical changes to state statutes.
by Jim Turner, The News Service of Florida
Comments
11 Responses to “Scott Signs ‘Backyard Gun Range’, Eight Other Bills”
So what if the R1 neightborhood has lots of .75, but the neighbor in question who shoots at a hanging target pointing into the woods with very powerful guns, happens to live on a 1.38 acre lot. Would this rule apply to him? I live 2 lots away and some days they are shooting non-stop all day It is so loud I can’t sit outside and enjoy my brand new residence with a beautiful back yard.
Sorry Dan, I thought (incorrectly it seems) that 10-20-Life was another way of saying the 3 strikes law, wherein 3 serious felonies meant life in prison. Apologies if I was wrong.
I could never understand why the BATF has such a strong aversion to sonic suppressors?
A silencer equipped weapon, firing a subsonic velocity round would eliminate these noise complaints, regardless of acreage.
Silence is golden, hello.
Do any of you know the difference between assault and battery from reading the comments I think not also who brought up the strike rule Florida has never had that
Lewis T.,
An acre measures about 207 feet by 207 feet square.
Not a Snake Charmer,
The law applies to recreational or target shooting, I think it would still be OK to shoot a poisonous snake, unless you are doing it just for fun or target practice.
Grandma,
You should call the Sheriffs department if someone is shooting in the direction of your home.
The law will not affect most rural areas, as most rural homes are on more than one acre of land.
1. This in no way keeps us safer. How many people have been shot at these backyard gun ranges? Let us go after the illegal guns on the street.
2. With the 10 20 life being overturned, does this mean people that were sentenced to life imprisonment will get a reprieve of some sort?
On SB 228: So, is wailing away on somebody still a felony that you can get prison time for? If so, why remove it from 3 strikes? This would seem to promote violence. I’m guessing this is to relieve the overcrowding of prisons due to the preponderance of violent individuals inhabiting Florida, but I dunno. I’m with Concerned Citizen on this one.
Now what am I supposed to do when I see a poisonous snake close to the house?!
Does SB 130 prohibit my neighbor from firing in my direction 300 feet from my back door in Cottage Hill area of Cantonment as they currently do?
Well, how does one fine out if the density of where you live is more than one or more dwellings per acre?
SB 228 doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It removes a crime from the 10-20-LIFE sentencing law, but it remains a forcible felony to which lethal force can used to prevent or stop it from happening. It would seem to me that a crime so serious as to take your LIFE, should be punished by the law accordingly. Just sayin.