St Pete man builds gun range in yard, neighbors outraged

[KansDem]

ST PETERSBURG, FL (WFLA) -
The Lakewood Estates neighborhood is filled with families and children. On any given day, you'll see kids climbing trees and playing on swing sets.

That's why news of a residential gun range did not sit well with neighbors.

“I don't know if this idiot is going to start popping off rounds,” said Patrick Leary. “I'm furious.”

Moms and dads are extremely upset after their 21-year-old neighbor, Joseph Carannate, told them he built a homemade gun range.

“I don't want to hurt myself or any neighbors. I don't want to hurt anybody. I just want to use this as my enjoyment,” Carannate told News Channel 8. “I don't want to have to go to a gun range, when I can just go outside my door.”

Carannate wants to fire his 9mm in his St. Petersburg yard, which happens to be just feet away from children. According to St. Petersburg Police, legally he's allowed to do it.

--more--
http://www.wfla.com/story/27997914/st-pete-man-builds-gun-range-in-yard-neighbors-outraged

[onethatcares]

1. oh hell yeah,

legally allowed to do it, but try to repair your own roof without a building permit and you will face a shitload of problems, 9mm bullets flying around, meh, no problem.

[RKP5637]

30. Exactly!!! They go after you for things like that, but then claim powerless for what this

idiotic character is doing.

[Hoyt]

2. That's why they call them "nuts."

[Downwinder]

3. Because of new state law,

cities and counties are scrambling to get their gun laws off the books

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/because-of-new-state-law-cities-and-counties-are-scrambling-to-get-their/1189074

[JHB]

4. Let me guess: Florida has no regulations about ranges

Last edited Mon Feb 2, 2015, 07:58 AM - Edit history (1)

Apparently he isn't required to have berms, no minimum distance to other property?

What's behind those bushes?

[tblue37]

9. "Benoni"? ("Behind"?). nt

[JHB]

14. Auto"correct" error. Edited to fix

Thanks for the heads-up.

[tblue37]

38. I have been fighting my autocorrect on my 7" tablet. I turned it off on my

desktop, because it was turning my writing into gibberish, but I haven't yet figured out how to turn it off on my little tablet--which I use most of the time, so I have had to become hyper vigilant about those things.

[kentauros]

84. The methods to turn off autothink are often buried

in the software because they don't want you to turn it off.

Look up your tablet on YouTube or just in a search and how to turn off autocorrect. I'm sure you'll find a step-by-step on how to do it

[tblue37]

94. Thanks. I SHOULD have thought of that. Why, just yesterday I goggled to find

a YouTube tutorial for a student who couldn't figure out how to hang indent bibliographical entries on a Mac Pages document, so I obviously know one can find such instructions for any device online. I don't know why it didn't occur to me for this problem.

BTW, why don't they want us to turn off autocorrect? Does our having it on benefit the companies somehow?

[kentauros]

96. I don't know why they do that,

other than that they likely consider it a good thing to always have on. They (the designers) created it and use it, so why wouldn't we love it? That's all I can figure out. Plus, from how I've observed the organization of just my little Android OS media player, many other things are pushed to the front for priority of use than something as ubiquitous as autocorrect.

No problem on helping jog your memory
Sometimes we're just "too close" to the problem to truly see the best resolutions. So we ask. And then we spend the rest of the day trying to figure out why we've got early onset dementia for such a simple answer

[Enthusiast]

5. I would think the noise level alone would be enough reason to shut this down.

This shit for brains guy should have been a bit more sensitive to the neighbors.

[avebury]

6. If the City and County won't deal

with this situation then all the neighbors should start filing for property tax reductions. If the City and County don't realize that this idiot is a danger to the neighbors they had better realize that he will also have a negative impact on the property values. People in that neighborhood would have a difficult time trying to sell their homes to get away from that nut.

In Maine it is illegal to fire a gun within a certain distance of a residence. I remember the story of a woman who was shot in her own backyard by a hunter. It is one thing to shoot a gun out of self defense, it is a whole other thing to shoot guns off recreationally in a wll populated neighborhood.

[MohRokTah]

27. City and County governments ARE PROHIBITED BY LAW to deal with it.

They used to have ordinances but an NRA sponsored bill put an end to that. City officials can now be fined $5,000 each for merely passing such ordinances by Florida law.

[samsingh]

101. the insanity of the nra is perverting reality

i guess someone can build a gun range pointing back at his backyard.

of course seeing him with guns might cause someone to be afraid and use a stand your ground rule.

[ejbr]

7. While I'm not prone to violence

Someone should send this ass a message in the form of a broken leg

[DeSwiss]

8. ''I just want to use this as my enjoyment,” Carannate told News Channel 8.''

- ....

K&R



Oh, and thanks for letting me know NOT to use UPS.........

[Cali_Democrat]

83. Great toon. nt

[Eleanors38]

103. Damn! Fired the whole outta-the-box cartridge! Must be a new model.

[LiberalElite]

10. Maybe if they don't have a gun

they should get one - he shoots at them (inadvertently) they shoot back - what's the problem? Wouldn't that be normal? Rights and all that! Why does the theme from High Noon run through my head?

[benz380]

11. Wait until 10 of his buddies show up with their guns and alcohol.

I live in the country and one of my nearby neighbors has a shooting range in his yard. He has a safe range and I shoot there sometimes, but when his buddies show up hootin' and hollerin' with their guns and alcohol, I pack up and go home. A bad combination.

[MrMickeysMom]

13. You can go home...

But, don't you get just a little concerned for dogs and kids who ARE home?

[benz380]

20. By 'neighbors' I mean about 1/4 mile from me. His range is a downward slope,

with sand piles and around 50 acres of woods behind that. No dogs or kids in area.

[FLPanhandle]

26. What?

50 acres of woods is the perfect place to find kids and dogs playing around.

[RKP5637]

35. When I was a kid we were always running and playing in the woods and with dogs running around too.

We also had paths in the woods and it was fun riding our bikes around in the woods. Also used to take a pup tent and just sleep out for the night.

[marions ghost]

64. No dogs or kids

...until one day they just happen to be exploring the woods...

Someone in my family in a rural area came out his door to get a bullet whistling just past his head-- from a neighbor who was just doing a little "target-shooting" down the road.

People get killed this way.

[MrMickeysMom]

80. Oh, no you don't...

You're not going to use that my own private common area of 50 acres, are you? I can tell you that nature walkers, kids and domestic animals are fair game to that area of the "downward slope".

FFS…

[Iris]

17. I would think the noise would be unnerving to neighbors.

[benz380]

21. Most of us are used to it. It upsets my dogs though. n/t

[Vinca]

24. We have a neighbor in back of us who occasionally makes life a living hell.

He's got 20 acres and seems to think it's just fine to terrorize the neighborhood with this racket. He doesn't just ping a few targets, he shoots high-powered weapons. Another abutting neighbor doesn't dare let her dogs out and the people who used to walk the entire length of the road up the hill for exercise stay away. Whenever I move (and it may be sooner than later), it will be to a town that has gun laws. Just writing about it makes my blood pressure rise.

[marions ghost]

67. My sympathies

People walk around in the woods with high powered rifles where I live too. Houses all around--30 on the road alone and others around in the area--but it is transitional burbs so the laws have not been changed. These people have no concern for neighbors and obviously no concern for the consequences if they were to accidentally shoot somebody. It's like they're playing chicken out there. I call em "shooters"--they are not hunters. This is insanity. And I do consider it domestic terrorism.

I am not in Florida BTW.

[KG]

12. 2A aside, it's clear that large segments of society should not be allowed anywhere near a gun.

[BrotherIvan]

85. Abundantly clear

That's the pro-control argument.

[MrMickeysMom]

15. Florida… The Wild, Wild East...

My BIL advised me (upon deciding to retire and return to Pinellas County) that THIS is what FL was turning into, starting with that fucked up defending yourself law.

I know from living in FL x 30 years that it wasn't always this crazy…

Well, it sure is NOW!

[DrDan]

25. sure good to know this gun-nutiness is restricted to Florida

common-sense reigns throughout the other 49

[MrMickeysMom]

78. Who said THAT?

You did.

[FLPanhandle]

28. I've been here a long time

It seems like 1/2 the crazy people in the country have migrated here in the last 30 years.

Some of us old locals can't recognize the place anymore.

[Nay]

39. I know what you mean. I'm a Florida native. The state used to have a great

education system, social services, etc. Now, when I go back, I can't believe what I see. I agree that half the crazy people in the country has moved there -- there's no doubt that millions of aging RW boomers moved there. Retirees have ALWAYS moved to FL, but they didn't used to be crazy. They were normal Pubs and Dems. Now, it's crazy house.

[MrMickeysMom]

79. I lived there from 65 to 95...

Ask me almost anything… I'll be able to chime in about what the potential was before the rise of the fascists again after Lawton Chiles administration.

[Iris]

16. This is the kind of society people want

You can't continuously turn away from school shootings and other acts of public violence and not expect this sort of thing.

[Orrex]

18. Those shipping palettes and bushes will definitely stop any stray rounds

Last edited Mon Feb 2, 2015, 11:10 AM - Edit history (1)

Perfectly safe.

[JHB]

44. ...as long as he's firing paintball guns.

[ManiacJoe]

86. Well, them and all that sand/dirt anyway.

[Orrex]

88. Sure, if he confines all of his fire to a 3 x 4 area.

Because bullets never ever go wide of their target under any circumstances.

[ManiacJoe]

89. Not without help anyway.

[Orrex]

93. "Help" being "anything that causes the barrel to move more than 7.5° in either direction"

Assuming a range of 20 feet, of course.

That's why you never hear about accidental firearm fatalities. I'm convinced.

[ManiacJoe]

100. Here is to hoping you just forgot the sarcasm tag.

Your math may or may not be correct, I am too lazy to check it. But you do have the right idea.

[jtuck004]

19. Homeowner's insurance company gonna be ecstatic. n/t

[brer cat]

81. I wondered about that myself.

Anyone know about the insurance aspect of this? A dog can cost dearly, why not guns?

[Vinca]

22. How on earth can this be allowed in a residential neighborhood????????

It's bad enough out in the country where I live. Forget the absolute misery the noise causes and remember bullets don't recognize property lines. It's more likely than not this moron is going to kill someone. Heaven forbid he should go to a commercial gun range somewhere.

[mac56]

23. Because.... FREEDOM!!!11!!1! LIBERTY!!!11!!1!

[KingCharlemagne]

29. America, fuck yeah! - nt

[TheCowsCameHome]

31. Very professionally done. What could possibly go wrong?

Too bad he lives near those self-centered NIMBYs.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

32. I am sooo glad I decided several years back that I would never be visiting Florida again.

It seems to be some shining Mecca for idiots any more. I pity the regular people who are stuck there, with so many of America's idiots deciding to move there for some sort of libertarian second amendment paradise.

[Javaman]

33. some people are just that stupid. nt

[Javaman]

34. I'm sure UPS is enjoying the free publicity. nt

[RKP5637]

36. Yeah, first thing I noticed! n/t

[LiberalFighter]

37. Neighbors should do a circle shooting range.

[MohRokTah]

41. Thanks for this post.

I love it when somebody demonstrates so aptly why I should simply put them on ignore.

Buh bye.

[Shamash]

43. I'm put on "ignore" for presenting facts. And this is supposed to reflect badly on -me-?

[dumbcat]

51. People who don't like your facts

don't have to listen to them. That's why we have "ignore."

[hack89]

57. You have to have the "right" facts.

shades of gray are not welcome to the discussion.

[dembotoz]

42. yah du has this thing about innocent folks getting shot

who woulda thunk

[MohRokTah]

47. Not to mention this si the first time something like this haas ever hit national news.

I've been following the guy who started the outcry in St. Pete on DailyKos.

And the thing that the gun nuts fail to recognize in this specific case is the new NRA sponsored law that fines municipalities $100K for regulations on this sort of thing and each member of the city council $5K which the municipality cannot defend them in court over. Not to mention automatic firing of council members of municipalities that regulate anything to do with guns.

[ManiacJoe]

87. This article is years past the "first to hit the notional news".

[Shamash]

49. Yep

Personally, I think the guy's backstop is substandard and as a gun owner I would not want something like that in my neighbor's back yard either. On the other hand, if it was more substantial, I'd ask if I could come over and use it myself.

However, my post was about DU gun control types swimming in luxurious obliviousness to a law that has been used in this way for years and reported on in Florida papers repeatedly. It is not like someone at DU noticed this going on under the radar and heroically brought it to public attention as the only state in the country where this is happening.

No, they just reposted someone else's link on it, and it will drop off their mayfly-like attention spans about as fast as the linked Georgia law did.

[JHB]

46. Do you think that is a safe range? Particularly in a residential neighborhood?

What is behind those bushes?

[Shamash]

52. I really do not know

I will wager that unlike everyone else here, I actually tried to find this guy's address on Google Maps and see what his property looks like compared to his neighbors. I don't think his backstop is big enough, but as for what is on the other side of it, I have not been able to find out. Maybe someone else can find out and post a response.

[JHB]

56. See my post below

There were a few places in that neighborhood that might have been backed up against a hill (hard to tell from a Google Maps view) but other reports put it in very close proximity to residences.

Including directly downrange.

He's an idiot who has no idea how easy it is for some little mistake to send a shot somewhere other than his little dirt mound.

[Politicalboi]

76. Even if he had nothing behind him

Why must his neighbors listen to his fucking precious going off all fucking day? All the neighbors can hope for is that ricochet stops this asshole. Oops!

[JHB]

53. To answer my question: houses

This is not a “back yard” gun range. It’s an amateur and reckless set-up in which a man has to stand in his front yard and fire toward his house (and therefore at the house behind him), at a pile of sand held together with an old wooden palette.

The pile of sand is 8? from a neighbor’s property where small children live and about 20? feet from the children’s bedroom windows.

http://crooksandliars.com/2015/02/florida-ammosexual-builds-homemade

Also, allegedly a treehouse:



It's not a gun range, it's a crime waiting to happen.

[Shamash]

54. Good job. Thank you!

[PotatoChip]

63. The guy is an idiot.

Holy crap!

I feel sorry for the neighbors.

[marions ghost]

68. Says it all

Good G-d.

[Matrosov]

98. It's not safe

Proper outdoor ranges tend to have larger sand berms behind the targets.

Even if he had a large, empty field behind the house, his backstop is so inadequate that he'd still endanger anyone who happened to be walking through the field.

Then again, these are the kind of people that get the laws changed. Just because shooting on your private property is legal doesn't mean it's a good ideas.

[DeSwiss]

50. I'm gonna beat the Christmas rush......

...and go on ahead and put you on Ignore now. Okay? And good luck with your undoubtedly long and illustrious career here at DU. However many hours that is.

So, until the next life.

- Arrivederci!

[TheCowsCameHome]

71. Is that your house behind those palm trees?

Heh. I didn't think so.

[Cobalt Violet]

45. I'd like to know how many of the neighbors voted Republican.

I only feel bad for those who did not. Those that did got what they voted for.

[Takket]

48. my first thought....

no way that is legal... then after reading the thread and seeing it IS legal... I'm just stunned.

you can't do much of anything on your own land anymore without a permit, but you can open a firing range????????????????????

who's property is on the other wide of those bushes? Whatever is on the other side of those bushes is basically unusable land now. are you going to sit there and drink a lemonade and trust that little wall to stop every bullet??????????????

[alarimer]

55. I thought it was illegal to discharge firearms in the city limits.

It is in most places.

Throw this guy UNDER the jail.

I see that I was mistaken. The NRA has a chokehold on politics.

The only thing I can say about idiots like this is that he will get what is coming to him, in the form of injury or death to someone he knows and loves because I am betting that, sooner or later, some kid will pick up some gun he has lying around and that will be that. I'd bet on it.

[JHB]

58. Even the NRA has guidelines against this setup

I'm sure the idiot who thinks he's always Deadeye Dick never bothered to check the NRA's sourcebook for planning and building ranges.
http://range.nra.org/sourcebook.aspx

[DFW]

59. After he "accidentally" kills his first neghborhood kid

Do the grieving parents have a right to "stand their ground" and do the same to him?

[marions ghost]

69. Nah

it was just an accident. Such a nice guy y'know.

[drm604]

60. If municipalities can't do anything about this, could the neighbors bring a civil suit against him?

Just wondering.

[benz380]

73. A farm with a shooting range in my area was taken to town board by neighbors. Changes made:

In its decision, the board issued the following rules:

Shooting is only allowed Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The range must be reviewed by certified range designers. No explosives are allowed.
No rifles over .22 caliber and no handguns larger than a .45 caliber are allowed.
The range must comply with county noise ordinances.

Read more at http://www.wral.com/debate-over-harnett-co-gun-range-stretches-into-second-night/13934031/#yIZG0EujyxEVW6rG.99

[drm604]

75. But that's in a different state.

The OP is about a case in Florida where it would be illegal for the board to issue such rules.

I'm talking about civil lawsuits, since local government is stupidly prevented from acting.

The real answer is to vote out the drooling morons who voted for the law and put some sensible people in office who will repeal it.

[benz380]

77. Someone up thread mentioned NC law. Nt

[Sheepshank]

61. CLEARLY...it's all been well though out.

apparently no chance of ricochet, no chance of a stray bullet, and those pallets are built to hold up and to safely contain numerous rounds. Because everyone wants target practice for the pelvic and legs are of an adult?

What could possibly go wrong?

do I need this?

[old guy]

62. 15 minutes of fame.

Proving, once again, that some people will do anything to show the rest of the world they exist.

[Matrosov]

65. That's not a gun range

that's a tragedy waiting to happen. The target has a backstop, but if he misses the target, the bullet is going to fly through the bushes or through the air and hit someone.

[Shamash]

70. I tend to agree

While a few head-in-sand types won't see this post because they just "ignored" me, the setup the guy has is not appropriate and IMHO not all that safe. It will certainly stop bullets, but it is not very wide nor tall.

And that sort of thing has lead to tragedy:

Stray bullet from shooting range may have killed Deltona man

Part of being a good gun owner is recognizing the potential for harm and taking adequate precautions in all aspects of use and possession. I'm sure this guy thinks he is being responsible and that he is a good shot and nothing will ever go astray, but I have a bigger backstop than that and my nearest neighbor is over a mile away.

[edhopper]

66. The good people of Florida

have to live with the repercussions of electing and re-electing right wing nuts to the State Legislature.
There is an easy remedy if they choose, based on the last election, they approve of this kind of lunacy.

[TheCowsCameHome]

72. It looks like a form for a do-it-yourself tombstone kit

Very nice, Joseph. After you shoot one of your neighbors it may come in handy.

[frylock]

74. give me convenience, or give me death

[donco]

82. I wonder what

his homeowners policy would jump to$$, with the added liability if someone gave them a heads up that he had a gun range in the back yard, just feet from children playing?

[onethatcares]

90. I wonder

how the homeowners insurance company would find out?

anyone know how to find out who the insurer is?

[B Calm]

91. Sounds like my neighbors.

[ileus]

92. He needs a plate rack.

[tblue37]

95. I find myself wondering whether his alarmed neighbors bother to vote, and if they do,

whether they vote Republican. Where do they think those crazy gun "freedom" laws come from?

[lame54]

97. Not exactly the Monolith from 2001...

there will be no evolution jump here

[cherokeeprogressive]

99. Fucking idiot. n/t

[madinmaryland]

102. Fucking Jackwagon needs to get a life and move out of his mother's basement.