Yep, true. The police were called on me in Metairie, Louisiana for shooting the pellet gun.
But in Anderson, South Carolina, when I was 14 or so, you could walk around all day with a rifle on your shoulder and fire any weapon at all pretty much anywhere, and no one would even blink an eye. Average distance between houses was well over a mile.
I just double-checked the statutes for my city. They are not banned, but there is an ordinance regarding "missiles" - includes snowballs, BBs, arrows, etc... It addresses damaging property or endangering folks, but there is no ban on pellet/BB guns.