Bow / Firearm “No Discharge” Laws

[alabjr]

I was wondering if anyone knows of what towns in NJ do NOT have a no discharge law? I feel like that list has to be shorter than trying to list the towns that DO have a no discharge law.

I’ve looked this up on other forums and the “best” advice I can find is to look up the ordinances for each town. Right, because who doesn’t want to waste a few hundred hours of their life researching local laws for almost 600 municipalities?

[hammer4reel]

21 minutes ago, alabjr said:

I was wondering if anyone knows of what towns in NJ do NOT have a no discharge law? I feel like that list has to be shorter than trying to list the towns that DO have a no discharge law.

I’ve looked this up on other forums and the “best” advice I can find is to look up the ordinances for each town. Right, because who doesn’t want to waste a few hundred hours of their life researching local laws for almost 600 municipalities?

Why look up 600 just look up the ones you actually  have access to ?

[alabjr]

5 minutes ago, hammer4reel said:

Why look up 600 just look up the ones you actually  have access to ?

I don’t have access to ANY at the moment, lol other than my own home (no discharge law here and in every town in the area that I know of) and public hunting lands. I’m asking out of curiosity and for the hypothetical chance that when we do decide to move, maybe we would stay in NJ (though not likely... we will probably move down south) if we were able to exercise that freedom on our property. 
 

maybe I should ask this way: WHO HERE LIVES IN A TOWN WHERE THEY CAN LEGALLY SHOOT EITHER A BOW OR GUN, OR BOTH ON THEIR OWN PROPERTY? WHAT’S THE NAME OF THE TOWN? DO YOU NEED TO HAVE A MINIMUM AMOUNT OF LAND FOR IT TO BE LEGAL?

[mazzgolf]

EITHER a bow or gun? Discharge laws normally are against firearm discharge (though I'm sure some do not allow shooting bows either, but I would guess those are less common).

My town has a firearm discharge ordinance, but last I checked said nothing about archery (that's why when I got permission on a piece of land near my house years ago, I was only archery hunting - because the discharge laws did not allow firearm hunting).

Oh, and if I remember right, the prohibition was against shooting firearms within 1,500 feet of a building - and in my town, that effectively eliminates every square inch of the township  

Edited June 16, 2021 by mazzgolf

[nickmarch]

In NJ there is a bill to amend the NJ Constitution to preserve the right to hunt fish and trap.

https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/ACR/14_I1.HTM

It will be a miracle but is possible!

[bushden]

1 hour ago, alabjr said:

I was wondering if anyone knows of what towns in NJ do NOT have a no discharge law? I feel like that list has to be shorter than trying to list the towns that DO have a no discharge law.

I’ve looked this up on other forums and the “best” advice I can find is to look up the ordinances for each town. Right, because who doesn’t want to waste a few hundred hours of their life researching local laws for almost 600 municipalities?

I would not think there is a data base anywhere in NJ that lists by municipality which prohibits discharge and which allows discharge. I usually stop by a PD in the municipality I am interested and ask.

[tuny]

don't take peoples word on it, get a copy of the ordinance and read it for yourself. If it talks about banning or regulating hunting the ordinance is not valid only the legislature can control hunting.

[mazzgolf]

5 minutes ago, tuny said:

don't take peoples word on it, get a copy of the ordinance and read it for yourself.

+1. And, if you can hunt legally there, do not be afraid to print out a copy of the ordinance, carry it with you, and show it to whoever might question you about it (including the police).

[alabjr]

so a few things:

-I’m in Union county, and all the laws I’ve looked up here and in surrounding counties/towns include bow and arrow in their no discharge laws. So no, I’m not even able to bowfish in the river behind my house that runs through county-owned property... trust me, I’ve looked into it...
-and by the way, I’m not even just talking about for the purpose of hunting with bow and/or gun within the timeframes of those seasons. I would just love to be able to legally take out my crossbow or Daisy Powerline 880 and shoot at a target, or bust a couple of clays with a shotgun on my own land behind my house without breaking the law in doing so (of course I know I would need to own a decent amount of property to comply with shooting far enough from structures, etc.). 

so I ask again... Can anyone name even one town in NJ that does not have a no discharge law? I don’t know of ANY offhand and my purpose in posting this is to at least have even a handful of guys say “hey yeah I live in BLANK township and I shoot on my property all the time because there’s no ordinance preventing it.” 
then OF COURSE I would follow up by looking up the actual laws in “BLANK” township to confirm. But right now, I personally am not aware of a single municipality in the entire state where that’s the case. Hence my post... and hoping you guys can give me a few towns to look into.

[nickmarch]

20 minutes ago, alabjr said:

I’m not even able to bowfish in the river behind my house that runs through county-owned property... trust me, I’ve looked into it...

Look at federal law.  Tidal water are governed by Federal law.  

I grew up in Maple Shade.  My parents house had 300' frontage on the p3nnsauken creek. Maple Shade has a no discharge law.  We hunted ducks and deer with a gun while on the creek.  They couldn't enforce the ordinance being that we were on tidal waters.  

Below is not the ordinance from Maple Shade it is from another town in another State that is honest.  Look up federal laws on tidal waters.

No person shall hunt with a firearm, fire or discharge a rifle, shotgun, or handgun within the limits of the City; but to the extent not otherwise prohibited by law, the provisions of this section shall not apply to the discharge of firearms, rifles, or shotguns:

By a person hunting migratory game over the tidal waters within the City

[alabjr]

44 minutes ago, Foggy Mountain said:

If you can’t shoot anything in your town move. There’s lots of towns that allow shooting, matter of fact I only know of one or two that don’t. None near me have restrictions 

I don’t know of a single town anywhere within a half hour of my house where you’re allowed to (if you’d like, I can literally rattle off a few dozen town names just off the top of my head that absolutely don’t allow shooting). Can you please name a few towns in your area that allow shooting so I have an idea of what area of the state you’re talking about? 

[Lunatic]

4 hours ago, alabjr said:

I was wondering if anyone knows of what towns in NJ do NOT have a no discharge law? I feel like that list has to be shorter than trying to list the towns that DO have a no discharge law.

I’ve looked this up on other forums and the “best” advice I can find is to look up the ordinances for each town. Right, because who doesn’t want to waste a few hundred hours of their life researching local laws for almost 600 municipalities?

Why do you need this info for 600 municipalities? If a town is of interest to you call the police department and you may get your answer quickly 

[nickmarch]

For the most part densely populated towns have discharge ordinances rural towns do not.  

Towns with and near WMA's and State Forests likely do not have discharge ordinances.

https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/hunting_publicland.htm

Edited June 16, 2021 by nickmarch

[mike033089]

North west jersey. Get out near the farms and water gap

[Gobblengrunt]

Are you looking to shoot or hunt?  There is a difference and many ordinances have exceptions.  There are plenty of towns west of union county that allow you to shoot.  There is a public archery range in union also