Can You Shoot on Your Property in Utah?

When creating firearm laws in any state, there needs to be a balance between preserving the residents’ rights to carry a weapon and protecting life. Finding this balance may be difficult and some states end up being strict in some areas and relaxed in others.

Utah is one of the states that has tried to keep flexible laws while allowing the residents to enjoy having firearms. Whether the laws are friendly or not depends on your perspective.

However, if you want to know whether you can shoot on your property, the information below may be of help.

Can You Shoot on Your Property in Utah?

Yes, you can shoot on your property in Utah provided you follow the distance regulations. This means that you can’t shoot within 600 feet of a building unless the owner grants you their permission.

This is all in an effort to protect those around from any stray bullets or harassment. Provided you follow the guidelines set out, you can enjoy your shooting experience within your property.

The top three things to pay attention to are:

• Hunting
• Recreational shooting
• Restrictions

Hunting on Your Land

You can hunt on your own land in Utah but you have to keep within the regulations stipulated for it to be legal. First of all, all hunters need to complete a basic program on hunting before they can buy a license or permit.

This is according to Utah Division of Wildlife. You need to look out for which lands have been leased out from the owners by the government for hunting.

However, most of them may only grant you access on foot. You also need to make sure that you have a permit for the animal that you are looking to hunt. Some permits for certain species are only limited to the landowners, lessees, and immediate family members.

Recreational Shooting on Your Land

When it comes to recreational shooting or target shooting, Utah has some laws of its own. According to the Bureau of Land Management website, some of them include:

• You must not shoot over a highway or road
• Keep in mind what lies beyond your target
• Use a great backstop to know where your shot is landing
• Exploding targets and prohibited
• Keep fire restrictions in mind
• Tracer rounds, plastic pellets, exploding rounds and steel core rounds are prohibited

Although most of these rules apply on the BLM shooting lands, keeping them in mind can help you preserve life and avoid causing injury to any person when practicing on your property.

Restrictions

Utah is one of the states that has very clear laws in some areas and quite vague ones in other scenarios. For instance, state laws have no stipulations on where you can shoot your gun but they are very clear about the situations in which you can’t. According to Kuer, they include:

• From your car
• Any road signs
• Any railroad equipment
• On any road
• Within a state building
• Within 600 feet of any building
• Any building where any domestic animals are kept
• With intent to intimidate or harass anyone

Other than that, you are also allowed to use your weapon on your property if doing so will prevent someone else or yourself from being seriously injured or dying.

Conclusion

Although Utah laws don’t prohibit shooting on your property, you need to make sure that you are further than 600 feet away from any building. Otherwise, you will be breaking the law and will be liable for prosecution.

This means that you may need a big property to enjoy shooting without any problems. As a property owner, you can allow hunting on your grounds or take part as well provided you all have licenses and permits for the animals in season.