Shooting On Your Own Land Within Houston City Limits?

[jason331]

Well, technically it's my grandmother's land. She lives in Greenwood Forest in northwestern Houston close to 1960 on about an acre and a half of wooded land. The land is next to a neighborhood (Greenwood Forest) but not part of it. The land is within the Houston city limits and definitely within Harris County.

The question is: Assuming I have my grandmother's permission, can I shoot on the land, into a dirt berm, for target practice? The potential shooting would be done during the day; most likely on a Saturday afternoon. Behind the berm, about 50 feet away, is a large concrete fence and a small industrial park. I would be potentially shooting small caliber handguns.

Thanks!

[Ed Hurtley]

Texas Penal Code § 42.12 prohibits the "reckless" discharge of a firearm within the city limits of any municipality with a population over 100,000; and at the same time allows cities to outright ban discharge within city limits.

I can find definitive evidence that discharge is banned in Austin, but Houston's city code is a nightmare to sort through. I found laws referring to MINORS discharging a firearm, but that's it. You *MAY* be safe, but I also found on a lawyer question-and-answer site a statement that discharging a firearm inside Houston is a Misdemeanor.

I know that some places put the word "reckless" in meaning to claim that the act is by definition reckless; but it also opens up to the claim that it therefore only bans actual recklessness. (For example, Portland, Oregon's anti-open-carry law that declares that it is reckless to have a loaded weapon. Yet somehow having a CHL makes it no longer reckless.)

[jason331]

I think I saw those same search results in my Googling as well. I found references both stating as long as it's not reckless that it's legal and contradictory references saying all firearm discharge is illegal.

I wonder how shooting ranges get around that...

[jason331]

I should also note I have a CHL and am certainly not a minor .

[Yrose]

It is against the law to shoot in the city limits of Houston.

[JSDinTexas]

I'll suggest, without confirming it, that it is illegal to shoot in any city limits in TX. And I know there are some counties that prohibit shooting on land less than 10 acres.

[amsgator]

Shooting on only 1.5 acres is asking for trouble.

[SeaRider]

I'll suggest, without confirming it, that it is illegal to shoot in any city limits in TX. And I know there are some counties that prohibit shooting on land less than 10 acres.

This is also my understanding.