In article , JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Ernie Willson" wrote in message
m...

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Don Klipstein" wrote in message
...
In , Ernie Willson wrote:

A 22 cal "CB cap" would do the job quietly and efficiently. These are
more powerful than most air rifles and less powerful/noisy than a 22
short. They are pretty nearly silent. You are still discharging a
firearm though. In fact here in the police state of NJ shooting an air
gun is legally classified as discharging a firearm...go figure.
Use of an air gun is legally classified as use of a firearm?

Does that mean it is legal to use an air gun where it is legal to use
a "real gun" in NJ? And illegal to use an air gun in place of a "real
gun" to be used illegally?

Does this only mean that use of an air gun to commit a crime makes the
crime a "gun crime", or is it worse?

Meanwhile, it appears to me that in at least most of the 50 States
shooting of varmints and for that matter "plinking" with "real guns" is
not prohibited nor badly regulated by state law. And it appears to me
that prohibitions on discharging firearms in general are municipal laws
and not state ones.

- Don Klipstein )

Here, it's a local law, and for good reason. Even in the most spacious of
neighborhoods, houses are still 100-200 feet apart. Anyone who thinks of
plinking varmints in such an environment is a moron. That's why it's so
much fun to read threads like this one. Morons are entertaining, at least
until they shoot a neighbor, which eventually they will. The
preponderance of stupid hunting accidents is proof of this fact.

Disclaimers:
- I own guns.
- I don't hunt, but I know some perfectly safe & smart hunters.

So far as I can see, the only "moron" to check into this thread is someone
who ASSumes that everyone else lives in a place as crowded as where he
lives.

For all you know MKIRSCH1 could live in Death Valley.

EJ in NJ

I'm not about to go back and check, but in previous incarnations of this
discussion, others have opined that they probably wouldn't hit their
neighbor. If it's being discussed, it's a risk. How far can a .22 fly, in
your opinion?

.22 comes in BB, CB, Short, Long, Long Rifle, Winchester Magnum, WRF,
and Remington Special, and I do not know that this list of versions of .22
is exhaustive. The LR / "Long Rifle" is said by the Wiki article on that
round to be the most-used ammunition in USA, with high usage for target
practice. Despite that round having "rifle" being part of its name, there
are handguns that use it.

Kinetic energies of ".22" range from 20 to 324 foot-pounds, and muzzle
velocities range from 560 to 2200 feet per second
(and some slower CBs fly as slow as 350 feet per second, amounting to
7.93 foot-pounds of kinetic energy at noted 29 grain bullet weight)
according to Wiki articles on these greatly-various ".22" rounds.

.22 short is noted to have muzzle velocity anywhere from 560 to
slightly over 1,710 feet per second, usually close to 1,100.

If I am not erring with advanced-highschool or freshman-college physics,
1100 feet per second fired 45 degrees above horizontal means landing about
3.58 miles away if there is no air resistance. I would rather think that
ricochets can go maybe half a mile, and that errant shots can go half a
mile before running into something that stops or ricochets them. Maybe
somewhat less for .22 short, BB and CB, along with more for faster and
heavier rounds.
I would not fire a .30-06 if a person or a house is downrange from me by
up to a mile and 1/4-1/2 degree off-course to target. (I would rather
think at least half a degree, probably "chicken out" at a degree of arc or
less - unless reincarnated into a warfare scenario.)
I would also not fire most .22 rounds at varmints unless I had certainty
that the bullet would hit the target and stop there.
As a result, I would rather attack varmints with "BB guns" at range
close enough to reliably hit target, or by electrical means.

Thankfully, I live in an apartment complex, where I have little need to
attack small 4-legged varmints with anything much beyond mousetraps.

- Don Klipstein )