I don't know if you remember my entrance to INGO, but this was the question that brought me here. If your county has no ordinances regarding shooting in that area, the state does not specifically require a safe backstop. However, the person shooting is responsible for every bullet that leaves their property and any damage caused by those bullets.
In our case, our neighbor was convicted of criminal recklessness. A stipulation the judge made is that he is banned from shooting or allowing anyone else to shoot any firearms on his property for as long as he lives there. He also lost his LTCH due to the conviction resulting from improper use of a firearm. His friend that was shooting with him the day we called the DNR out because they were shooting and had my husband and another neighbor both trapped behind trees in our woods with bullets whizzing past their heads also was convicted of the same charge. They both had a year's probation.
We could have pursued a civil suit over the damages he did to our property, but chose not to because our main goal was to eliminate the unsafe shooting that was taking place.
Wow! I admire your soft-spoken-ness on an experience like that one. Can't imagine being trapped behind trees with bullets whizzing by. Scary stuff, but would be infuriating as well. Some people deserve what they get, as in your neighbor's case.
Yes. You need a backstop.
One summer day when I was a young teen, I was outside playing by my Grandma's detatched garage out in extreme NE Hendricks county. (2+ acre lots surrounded by huge farm fields) I would periodically hear a whizzing sound over my head. I would also hear gunshots from about a half mile away. Along with those sounds I would occasionally hear something rip through the bountiful old growth black walnut tree behind that garage.
Long story short, the guy on the next road was shooting behind his house toward our property. He was "being safe and shooting downward into the ground so that the bullets wouldnt leave his property." Nope. Many of them were skipping and sailing over my head about 30' up. (luckily) DUMBA**!
So yes, you MUST have a backstop of some kind, whether it is specified in ordinances or not.
While it I agree it is responsible to have a backstop and idiotic not to have one, it is NOT the law that you must. He asked if there was a law requiring one.
There ought to be a law, but unless the city or county has something in writing, it is not law. There are laws that define what happens if bullets enter someone else's property and cause damage or harm though.
I never said there was a law. Just that you NEED one. Law or not. SOMETHING needs to stop the bullets.
EDIT: Not everything that should be done to be responsible is dictated by law. Just sayin.
I agree! I just wanted to clarify that it wasn't the law since that was how the OP worded the question. I didn't know if he was seeking legal advice due to an issue.
Regardless of any statute or ordinances there may or may not be, you always have a legal duty to exercise reasonable care in any endeavor, shooting included. In addition to avoiding negligence, I would argue that you have a nearly absolute legal duty to keep the bullets on your own property unless you have express permission for them to be on someone else’s property.
Legal duties come from a few different places including the common law.
...though I am just furthering the discussion, not rendering legal advice.