Late last week Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a measure that bans informal backyard shooting ranges.
Specifically, guns can’t be fired in a residential area, i.e., one residential unit per acre. Doing so would be a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
While the law bans “target shooting or celebratory shooting,” residents would still be allowed to fire a weapon in self-defense.
A similar measure failed last year after the issue because highly publicized in Pinellas County.
State Rep. Darryl Rouson backed the measure after a young man set up a makeshift outdoor gun range at his dad’s Lakewood Estates home in South St. Pete. The backdrop was created of old wooden pallets and sand.
That impromptu range was just a few doors down from the home of Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch.
“I was literally looking at firing angles to see where my kids needed to be in the house to make sure we didn’t catch a stray bullet,” Welch said.
The man later removed the range after being given a free one-year membership to a Tampa gun range. But the act itself remained, until last week, ambiguously legal.
The bill’s passage paired with Scott’s signature and the death of the so-called campus carry bill that would have allowed college students with conceal carry permits to bring their guns on campus gives Welch hope.
“This is just a gun-crazy Legislature,” he said. “Those most dangerous proposals did not pass. I get some optimism from that, although I think every year will be a fight.”
