50 ft no shooting rule near public roads.

lotuseater · Tuesday at 2:51 PM

'and' not 'or'

The single most important word in this section of the legislation is 'and', below, my bolding:

(b)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 and liable to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.”.

Lone wolf · Tuesday at 4:12 PM

VSS said:
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!

Thats interesting as ive never seen anything to say you can do that, it would make my life a hell of a lot easier on one permissions where I have a B road that cuts through it at the bottom in the low lands.

TringSaint · Tuesday at 4:23 PM

enfieldspares said:
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.

IIRC it’s 50ft from the centre of the highway, not the edge of the road and must cause the person reporting it bother, ie you let fly with a rifle and someone on their bike crashes as a result of the bang!

Cyres · Tuesday at 4:23 PM

Simple apply the law!
As long as you don't contravene the second part then it's perfectly OK. Many of us have lanes bisecting our perms. Just use discretion.
D

Kalahari · Tuesday at 5:44 PM

TringSaint said:
IIRC it’s 50ft from the centre of the highway, not the edge of the road and must cause the person reporting it bother, ie you let fly with a rifle and someone on their bike crashes as a result of the bang!

You mean cyclists don't come under AOLQ, oh dear! :coat:

David.

Smellydog · 2026-07-02T05:44:25+0100

Bo Diddley said:
They have all missed the point, though.
The law evolved as a ploy to thwart the activities of Richard Turpin, aka "Dick Turpin" the famous highwayman, his pair of flintlock pistols were completly useless beyond the 50' mark, especially for Dick as he was partially sighted, the joke being on him when he called his horse "Black Bess" as it was really a chestnut.
The authorities would stop at nothing to apprehend this braggart and common thief.
It even became a huge concern for King George II when Turpin fell in with the deer poaching gang who targeted the Royal Forest at Waltham. Turpin was caught and sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead, dead, dead (a short drop is not a kind way to be hanged.
So there you have it, my dear fellow, it's all Dick Turpin's fault, this 50' from the highway nonsense.

Didn't stop him though, like many whitewash laws in the UK. They don't prevent nothing other than mitigate the legislator.

Smellydog · 2026-07-02T05:48:23+0100

If a bang causes a road user to crash they should not be on the road.
If you have a horse that is not trained correctly it should not be on the road.
Road users should be more concerned about pot holes today than any bang.
" Yes officer, a loud bang caused my vehicle to lose control"
" Been drinking today sir"?

Bowland blades · 2026-07-02T10:29:47+0100

Don't get to into this , just use common sense

Mike1979 · 2026-07-02T11:57:33+0100

Bowland blades said:
Don't get to into this , just use common sense

The biggest issues is that common sense is not common and many of the responses on this site prove this. Also I dont think telling the police "well officer ..its common sense" is likely to cut it

Know the law and abide by it is much better advice.

cjm1066 · 2026-07-02T12:22:39+0100

Post no 9 answered this query.

Pete1774 · 2026-07-02T15:45:41+0100

maxtich said:
I know it’s NOT permitted ..but can anybody please explain it with a drawing ….exactly where the measurements start and end ..especially as one of my shoots boarders a Motorway going both ways traffic!

Copied from BASC a few years back:
In England & Wales it is an offence without lawful authority or reasonable excuse to
discharge any firearm within fifty feet of the centre of a highway which consists of
or comprises a carriageway, and in consequence a user of the carriageway is
injured, interrupted or endangered. [Section 161(2) of the Highways Act 1980 as
amended].
It is important to remember that the discharge of a firearm is not
prohibited in itself. It must also be proved that there was an injury, or that
someone’s passage was interrupted or interfered with e.g. they have been forced to
make a detour.
For the purposes of Section 161 (2) of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended), a
‘highway’ is restricted to a public right of way for the passage of vehicles and does
not include footpaths, cycle tracks or bridleways. Therefore the fifty feet rule
described above does not apply to rights of ways that cross private lands e.g.
footpaths

50 ft no shooting rule near public roads.

lotuseater

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Lone wolf

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TringSaint

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Cyres

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Kalahari

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Smellydog

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Smellydog

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Bowland blades

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Mike1979

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cjm1066

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Pete1774

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