Raleigh varmint hunter spooks neighbors

Associated Press via Fishwrap ^ | 8/5/05 | staff

[B4Ranch]

Do you still have the Sheridan?

[Servant of the 9]

Bee Weddington, who lives in the neighborhood. "I hate the squirrels, too, but I don't like guns. I'm not one of those crusaders, but there's always a chance you could harm some animal who's a pet, or a person, or a child."

Then move back north where you belong.

SO9

[Oatka]

Yep. In my experience the spread is so wide as to be useless unless you are standing directly over the snake or whatever.

What makes it worse is that it usually is shot in a rifle and the rifling scatters the shot, leaving a hole in the middle where the target is, and leads the barrel something horrible. A good air rifle would be better - and quieter.

[TennCon]

"It certainly is far from rural," said Bee Weddington, who lives in the neighborhood. "I hate the squirrels, too, but I don't like guns. I'm not one of those crusaders, but there's always a chance you could harm some animal who's a pet, or a person, or a child."

...if we can save just ONE child!

*snicker*

[TaxRelief]

1/2 liter coke bottle: works like a (muffled) charm.

[El Gato]

What is it like? A .22 cal shotgun shell?

Exactly. Best used in a .22 smooth bore, but usable in any .22. I did my first clay target shooting with a bolt action .22. I hit 4 of 5 targets at a "father son" outing. Which got me enough points for second place. The GIRL who got first just caught a whole passel of little fish. She had been, or was to be, I'm not sure of the exact timing, my "babysitter", although more like my cook, and game playing buddy, in the summers. She was also the daughter of my Dad's best friend. :) I really didn't ming that she beat me, I wouldn't' have wanted the prize she picked anyway, so I still got the "first pick" of the prizes I was interested in anyway. :)

I hadn't seen her for decades, but she came to my Dad's funeral, with her mother and sisters. Her Dad had passed away a few years prior.

[El Gato]

I've always wondered why a pistol firing that type of ammunition isn't considered a short barreled shotgun.

If it was a smooth bore, it would be. I think there's something in the legal defintion of shotgun that speaks of intended for use as or designed to use, or it might even requir a smooth bore. Of course that brings up the question of why a shotgun with a rifled barrel isn't a destructive device.

[El Gato]

He is not using rat shot, he's using .22 bullets, probably shorts.

He might even be using "gallery loads". Essentially CB caps with frangible bullets. They have no powder, and are propelled by the primer only. The bullets are pressed lead dust, maybe with a binder of some sort, which disintegrate on contact with anything substantial, like sheet rock, Masonite, or a thin metal sheet, which is what the carnival games generally had.

[El Gato]

Short-barreled rifles and shotguns, cane guns and silencers were also thrown into the bill, almost as an afterthought.

Not as an afterthought at all. All were demonized as "gangster weapons", (sort of like "Assault Weapons" or "Saturday Night Specials" or Cop Killer bullets). Heck the sponsers of the legislation tried to get ordinary *handguns* included. The NRA, in one of it's first legislative lobbying efforts, and its first compromises, short circuited that, in return for allowing the first unconstitutional infringement of the RKBA at the federal level to pass without it's objection.

[RatSlayer]

No, but it will leave more lead deposits in the bore than shooting jacketed bullets (but less than shooting solid lead bullets), so it takes a little more work to clean the bore than normal.

[jern]

actually Wake County, NC was a red county in the last election

[Copernicus]

There is a part of me convinced some kind of Bellesilean (B)olshevik (S)lime is afoot here.

In 1959 the population of Raleigh had to be no more than 50,000-100,000 souls.

Maybe 60% of the population had phone service, there was no 911 and anyone, including teenagers,(the chiiiiildren) could buy rifles and ammunition at the local hardware store or by mail.

The only reason the City Council would pass an ordinance in 1959 restricting varmint control to permit only with ratshot would be to create a highly selectively enforced Jim Crow "tool" against CERTAIN people.

The police force itself could hardly have been more than 200 patrol officers if that.

Methinks I smell a clever attorney definition of the word "is" as in "Is you going to believe me or Is you going to find out the truth about this situation"?

Maybe the Pajama Patrol has some ideas about this?

Best regards,

[MarkL]

This fellow needs a good air rifle for his area. Almost no noise.

No kidding! And some air rifles will rival the power of a .22LR.

Many years ago, I had a friend who had a Crossman 1400 that shot .22 pellets, and later a Sheridan Blue Streak. Those were good to kill pigeons and rats out to nearly 50 feet! And I would hate to ever get hit with one of those pellets! You could put an eye out!

Mark

[Zeroisanumber]

Simple compromise: Buy a pellet gun.

[MarkL]

I bought a 22 cal Sheridan pump air rifle in about 1970 and my son and I were in the back yard shooting a target pinned to the fence. After a while a while my Red Neck neighbor yells from the other side of the fence that we were putting holes in his siding and that we should be shooting toward the "other" neighbor. That "Bee Bee" gun was shooting through a piece of 1/2 inch plywood and one inch fence boards...

As I posted earlier, those Sherridan 5mm (.20 cal) pellets are really powerful! They can rival a .22LR for short range power.

Mark

[ForGod'sSake]

Maybe the Pajama Patrol has some ideas about this?

Progress man, progress donchya know. Brought to us by......progressives!

He better watch his step or his property may become a candidate for eminent domain status, eh?

Here's an idea, he should convert his little piece of heaven into a shooting range. And invite his neighbors over for some "shots"???

FGS

[Varmint Al]

The Beeman R9 gets about 930 fps with the .177 caliber pellets and is very accurate. It would be good enough for ground squirrels where low noise level is important.

Good Hunting... from Varmint Al

[Copernicus]

In case anyone missed it there was followup commentary from the orginating newspaper:

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/story/2702217p-9139627c.html

This deserves some response. Maybe it should be crossposted across the country.

Best regards,

[Copernicus]

The text (excerpted):

Published: Aug 8, 2005

Modified: Aug 8, 2005 1:35 AM

Cease fire

Brookhaven may be one of Raleigh's most forested neighborhoods, but it is hardly the middle of nowhere. And squirrels may wreak havoc on pear trees, but that's hardly an excuse for homeowners to be permitted to gun them down. Who knew that in a major metropolitan area like Raleigh it was still possible to even get a permit to hunt pesky critters? Only nine of the special hunting permits are in force in Raleigh, thank goodness.

One of them belongs to Jason Williams who, by his own description, is a steely-eyed sharpshooter with a scope-mounted .22 caliber rifle. "I've fired four rounds, killed four squirrels and been visited by four police officers," he said.

................

It is past time for citified sharpshooters to hang up their guns. And for the city to immediately and forever cancel its permits for varmint-plugging.

Best regards,