Gun owners speak out against — and for — stricter outdoor shooting laws in Wake County
In late July, Shannon Hardy was grilling outside her home and bent over to pet her dogs when, suddenly, bullets whizzed by her and her partner, striking her neighbor’s fence.
Such incidents have become common for Knightdale area residents, according to Hardy and others who live in unincorporated eastern Wake County and who said they fear for their safety.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been told by both sheriff’s deputies and Knightdale police that they do not have enough to enforce what is happening to us,” Hardy told the Wake County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night. “They have implied .... that the (outdoor shooting) ordinance needs to be revisited.”
Hardy was one of a handful of affected residents who spoke in favor of Wake County updating its regulation of outdoor shooting in unincorporated areas. The rules have not been updated for 20 years, according to the county.
As the number of homes in the county has grown, so have complaints from residents in and near rural areas frequented by recreational shooters, said Tim Maloney, the Wake County planning director.
The Board of Commissioners spent over an hour listening to residents’ reactions to the first reading of proposed changes to the county’s outdoor shooting rules.
The majority of public comment came from more than a dozen men who said they were gun owners, including two representatives of gun rights groups, who oppose the proposed amendments. The amendments create arbitrary and cumbersome rules for gun owners who shoot outdoors, they said.
“After two years of record gun sales, gun owners need all available opportunities to safely and responsibly exercise their rights,” said Jordan Stein, a local director of Gun Owners of America, a gun rights lobby.
Local residents echoed Stein’s sentiment, saying tripling the minimum distance from 100 to 300 yards between a dwelling and a person shooting outdoors would be difficult and “unenforceable.” Needing property that large would potentially prohibit someone from recreational shooting.
While speakers against the changes acknowledged the safety concerns of Knightdale area residents, they argued that a countywide change was inappropriate.
‘Hundreds of rounds’
On the other side, residents in eastern Wake told the commissioners that they’ve been living in fear recently. Outdoor shooting near their homes has resulted in loud barrages of gunfire that have sent bullets into their homes, fences and yards, they said.
“We’re talking about hundreds of rounds,” said Hardy, the Knightdale area resident. ”Also, this is not recreational shooting. It’s not teaching someone how to shoot.”
Wake County sheriff’s deputies said they’ve received at least 128 complaints this year from residents who live near and in the Knightdale Station neighborhood regarding the gunfire, which has occurred during late hours of the night in some instances, according to residents.
Denise Durant, who said she is a gun owner, said she and her small children are afraid to go outside when the hear gunshots.
“Our home right now has a bullet in it,” Durant said.
The proposed changes, the county says, would help residents because there are ordinance enforcement concerns between the town of Knightdale and Wake County.
The ordinances are enforced by the Sheriff’s Office, which did not respond to emailed questions from The News & Observer about these issues.
The proposed changes to outdoor shooting rules
Here are the proposed ordinance amendments, as laid out by the county:
▪ Increase the minimum distance from a dwelling, public building or livestock in which a person may discharge a firearm from 100 yards to 300 yards.
▪ Require a backstop or other method of containment that adequately contains the projectile on the property from which it was discharged.
▪ Prohibit the discharge of a firearm beginning two hours after sunset until one hour before sunrise. There is currently no restriction on the time that a firearm may be discharged.
▪ Increase the maximum fine for a violation from $50 to the statutory limit of $500.
The commissioners agreed they need more time to review the amendments.
The board voted to table discussions ahead of a Tuesday, Sept. 13, public listening session at 6 p.m at Knightdale Town Hall located at 950 Steeple Square Court.
“I don’t want to drag this out, because these neighbors in Knightdale are in a very uncomfortable situatuion, said Commissioner Vickie Adamson
Wake County commissioners and staff, the Wake County sheriff, Knightdale Town Council members, the Knightdale police chief and N.C. Rep. James Roberson are expected to attend the listening session to answer questions and hear feedback.
On Sept. 19, the commissioners will consider adopting during a meeting at their meeting at 300 S. Salisbury St. in downtown Raleigh.
Residents will be able to speak for three minutes during the general public comment session that occurs around 2:30 p.m. during the meeting. Written comments can also be shared online between 9 a.m. and noon that day.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 8:18 AM.
