County lobbyist will lobby for bill to keep stray bullets from target practice away from neighbors
Palm Beach County commissioners will lobby state legislators to approve a bill that would require target shooters to keep bullets within the confines of their properties. Should a stray bullet find its way onto a neighbor's property, the shooter could be prosecuted for a misdemeanor.
The commissioners on Tuesday, Dec. 19, instructed their full-time lobbyists to include support of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Katherine Waldron, D- Wellington, and Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, in the upcoming legislative session.
The commissioners reacted to an impassioned plea from Nicole Adams, who was recently injured when a stray bullet struck her in the back. She appeared at a commission meeting calling for support of the bill.
“They can’t hit a golf ball onto my property, but they can fire a bullet,” Adams said. “It makes no sense.”
Former Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill into law that allows target shooters to fire their guns on their properties in a low-density area. As long as the zoning restricts development to no more than one home per 1.25 acres, there are no restrictions.
Where Adams lives west of Lake Worth Beach near Heritage Farms, the lot sizes are large enough to permit the target shooting.
Commissioners call the bill a common-sense approach to protect property rights
Commissioner Michael Barnett, referring to a front-page article in The Palm Beach Post detailing the incident, called the bill a common-sense approach to protect property rights of people like Adams.
"I took a gun safety course, and I was taught that once you fire a bullet, you own it until it reaches its final destination. The bullet that goes up is going to come down."
'It is about safety:' Stray bullet bill gains support after injuries in South Florida
Commissioner Sara Baxter expressed concerns that the bill was "too open-ended," and noted that someone could be charged with a misdemeanor even if a stray bullet never struck anyone. All the bullet had to do was land onto the property of a neighbor, she said.
"This is no different that dumping garbage on someone else's lawn," Commissioner Gregg Weiss said. "If you can't keep your material on your property, then you are violating someone else's property rights. It is that simple to me."
Mayor Maria Sachs said the National Rifle Association should support the bill because it is about gun safety. Anyone who is not using their firearm in a safe manner should be prosecuted criminally, she added.
Adams heard the sound of stray bullets on Sunday, Sept. 10. She left her house to tend to horses in a nearby stall. That’s when she was shot in the back. The bullet had lost much of its velocity, causing her to sustain a graze wound.
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A migrant worker on Bedner’s Farm, west of Boynton Beach, was shot in the head in January with a stray bullet. He sustained a non-life-threatening injury.
When Adams complained to the owner of County Joe’s Nursery west of Lake Worth Beach near State Road 7, from which she suspects the bullets came, she said she said she was told: “Go f*** yourselves.”
Deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office instructed the shooters to fire at a berm to keep the bullets away from adjacent properties, but they acknowledged in their reports on the incident there is little they can do to enforce the recommendation based on current law.
The bill has the support of Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and Volusia County Sheriff Michael J. Chitwood.
Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: County lobbyist to support a bill to protect residents from stray bullets
