50 ft no shooting rule near public roads.
- Thread starter maxtich
- Start date
you need to read the full section of law
enfieldspares
Well-Known Member
It is not permitted if it causes "botheration" to persons using the highway. It it doesn't cause "botheration" then carry in. The exact wording is in the relevant law. If you think about it, most people in most of today's houses are built alongside a public road would otherwise never be able to shoot even an air rifle lawfully in their back gardens.
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
If you want to be safe then take from the edge of road rather than the centre. 50ft is a bit under 20 yards, so by the time you have a typical motorway verge and fence you are probably at the 50ft already.
I think you also need to consider that deer normally run after being shot. I have shot Roe that cleared a normal stock height fence after the shot then run another 30 to 40 yards before collapsing. I would think carefully about this before shooting something close to a boundary especially if it were to then run onto a highway in the face of oncoming traffic.
I think the law says if you cause danger, nuisance or annoyance by shooting within 50ft of a public highway.
So either be very careful not to, or stay well over 50 ft away I guess
So either be very careful not to, or stay well over 50 ft away I guess
maximus otter
Well-Known Member
No.
“If a person without lawful authority or excuse—
discharges any firearm or firework within 50 feet of the centre of such a highway,
and in consequence a user of the highway is injured, interrupted or endangered, that person is guilty of an offence…”
Highways (Amendment) Act 1986
An Act to amend the Highways Act 1980 so as to impose penalties in cases where a user of a highway is injured, interrupted or endangered in consequence of the lighting of a fire on the highway or elsewhere.
- So there are two parts to the offence:
1. Shooting within 50’ of the centre of the highway, AND;
2. Injuring, interrupting or endangering someone.
maximus otter
Smellydog
Well-Known Member
Interesting, so anyone with authority with an excuse can ignore itNo.
“If a person without lawful authority or excuse—
discharges any firearm or firework within 50 feet of the centre of such a highway,
and in consequence a user of the highway is injured, interrupted or endangered, that person is guilty of an offence…”
Highways (Amendment) Act 1986
An Act to amend the Highways Act 1980 so as to impose penalties in cases where a user of a highway is injured, interrupted or endangered in consequence of the lighting of a fire on the highway or elsewhere.www.legislation.gov.uk
- So there are two parts to the offence:
1. Shooting within 50’ of the centre of the highway, AND;
2. Injuring, interrupting or endangering someone.
maximus otter
I'd measure it at night, when the traffic has died down a touch.
Within 50' today, vegans and other far left road users are certainly still going to ring the two tier police anyway.
Just don't whare a backpack!
shakey jake
Well-Known Member
50 feet isnt that far. If you are really worried get a range finder and ping the central reservation.
For pigeon shooting I work off the centre of the road as people pass from both directions, I use 20+ paces if that is the place I what the hide to go.
50 feet exact will make no difference if you are deemed to causing alarm/distress/nuisance however that is never the case a
week before and after November 5th when the A-D-N rule is void lol
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I presume the legislation was written before the advent of dual carriageways or motorways.
The centre of a narrow country lane, or even old A class road, is somewhat different from a motorway centre line which is generally around the middle of the centre reserve (give or take - from my days on road design/construction).
I wouldn’t want to be visible shooting next to a busy road of any sorts, preferably behind a thick hedge or scrub.
Also certainly wouldn’t want any shot quarry ending up on the motorway side of the boundary fence - which would be illegal to collect.
The centre of a narrow country lane, or even old A class road, is somewhat different from a motorway centre line which is generally around the middle of the centre reserve (give or take - from my days on road design/construction).
I wouldn’t want to be visible shooting next to a busy road of any sorts, preferably behind a thick hedge or scrub.
Also certainly wouldn’t want any shot quarry ending up on the motorway side of the boundary fence - which would be illegal to collect.
(Edit: first paragraph removed due to brain fart!)
To give you a little bit of help, most single carriageway roads with a white line down the centre to separate vehicles travelling in opposite directions will be at least 5.5m wide, normal is 7.3m kerb to kerb. So assume minimum distance from centrefire of road to me 2.75m as a worst case. 50 feet is c.18.5m so deduct 2.75m & you only need to be 15.75m from the edge of the tarmac. That’s around 3.5x the length of a standard car parking space (4.8m).
Hope this gives you some quantification of the distances.
The important words are “centre of a highway” which is different from the centre of a carriageway.
The centre of a standard A class road is the middle of the surfacing.
On a dual carrigeway, take the A90 from Perth to Aberdeen, it is in the centre reserve.
It is still a highway (no direction mentioned) one of the carriageways is northbound, the other southbound.
it is critical to know what year the legislation was written and to identify what roads were in existence then.
It matters not how roads have developed over the years, as I said the important and lawful words are “centre of the highway”
As usual, our lawmakers have not kept up with the modern world.
Hollowlegs
Well-Known Member
Read somewhere it was to do with horse and carriage? So a very old law?
Several years ago police attended our game shoot and I was threatened by a policewoman that we were committing an offence by shooting within 50 metres of a highway and should move. I politely explained her error and requested that she should check her facts with the duty seargeant by radio which she did, got back in car and drove off witout a word.
Easy mistake to make I suppose.
Easy mistake to make I suppose.
It is permitted.
You can even shoot across public roads, if you want to. (But not with an air rifle).
It's a fairly normal thing to do, if you have land that's criss-crossed with unfenced roads. Deer on one side, you on the other, nobody coming, bang!
You are thinking of the law that makes it an offence to discharge a firearm within 50ft of the centre of the highway, if in doing so you negatively impact another road user.
Please read the law for the correct wordage. It is one of the most commonly misunderstood bits of firearms law.
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