You can target shoot on your own property in New York, but only if you stay at least 500 feet from any occupied building, follow whatever your town or village adds on top of that, and use a firearm you’re lawfully permitted to use that way. Clear those three gates and backyard target practice is legal. Miss one and you’re looking at anything from a misdemeanor fine to felony charges.
The 500-Foot Rule Is the Starting Point
Environmental Conservation Law Section 11-0931 sets the statewide buffer. You cannot fire a gun within 500 feet of any occupied dwelling, school, playground, factory, or church, measured from where you’re shooting to the nearest protected structure.1New York State Senate. New York Environmental Conservation Law ENV 11-0931 The distance drops to 250 feet for crossbows and 150 feet for longbows, so the buffer tracks what you’re shooting.
There’s one carve-out that matters for backyard shooters. You can shoot closer than 500 feet to a dwelling if you own or lease the building, you’re an immediate family member of the owner, you work there, or the owner has given you explicit consent.1New York State Senate. New York Environmental Conservation Law ENV 11-0931 The exception only covers the specific dwelling whose owner consents. Your neighbor’s house across the road still counts against you unless that neighbor also agrees.
Two other pieces of the statute catch people off guard. You cannot fire a gun in any direction that would send the bullet over a public road, even partially. And “dwelling” reaches seasonal cabins and permanent hunting camps, so a parcel that looks remote on a map may still have protected buildings within the buffer.1New York State Senate. New York Environmental Conservation Law ENV 11-0931
Your Town or Village Can Make the Rules Tighter
Satisfying the state’s 500-foot requirement does not put you in the clear. New York has no law blocking cities, towns, and villages from imposing their own, stricter firearm discharge rules. Town Law Section 130 specifically authorizes certain towns to prohibit shooting where it would be hazardous to the public, and those local ordinances can go well beyond state law. Some municipalities push the distance out further, ban shooting on lots under a minimum acreage, or forbid discharge entirely within residential zones.
This is where most backyard shooters get caught. They read the state statute, confirm they have the acreage, and never open the town code. A Hudson Valley or Long Island municipality may have rules that look nothing like a rural Adirondack town. Call your town clerk or pull your municipality’s code before you fire a single round. If you live in an incorporated village, check with the village separately; villages often have their own discharge ordinances independent of the town around them.
Which Firearms You Can Use
Rifles and Shotguns
A legally owned rifle or shotgun is the simplest case. If you satisfy the 500-foot rule (or qualify for the owner-consent exception) and comply with local ordinances, state law does not add a separate permitting requirement for rifle or shotgun target practice on private land. You still have to own the firearm lawfully, but no extra license is needed to pull the trigger on your own property.
Handguns
Handguns are different. New York requires a license to possess any pistol or revolver under Penal Law Section 400.00, and that license can carry restrictions that limit where and how you can use the gun.2New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 400.00 – Licensing and Other Provisions Some counties issue “sportsman” or “target” permits that authorize use only at recognized ranges. An unrestricted carry permit allows broader use. If your permit is restricted, shooting in your yard without confirming your license covers that use can land you in real trouble. Read the conditions printed on your permit, and if the wording is ambiguous, call your county licensing office before you set up targets.
Penal Law Section 265.20 provides exemptions for pistol use at indoor and outdoor ranges operated by incorporated conservation or shooting organizations, but those exemptions attach to organized range facilities, not informal private setups.3New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 265.20 – Exemptions A holder of an unrestricted pistol license has far more flexibility to shoot on their own land than someone with a restricted license.
SAFE Act Limits
New York’s SAFE Act bans firearms defined as “assault weapons” and caps magazine capacity at ten rounds.4Gun Safety in NYS. Resources for Gun Owners Under New York law, an assault weapon includes any semiautomatic rifle that accepts a detachable magazine and has at least one additional military-style feature, plus certain semiautomatic pistols and shotguns matching similar criteria.5New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 265.00 – Definitions If you owned a now-banned weapon before the law took effect, you were required to register it with the State Police. Unregistered assault weapons cannot be used for target practice or anything else in New York.
Suppressors Are Banned
Do not try to make backyard practice quieter with a suppressor. New York treats possession of a firearm silencer as criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, a Class D felony carrying up to seven years in prison.6Justia Law. New York Penal Law 265.02 – Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree Unlike many states, New York recognizes no civilian exception. A federal NFA registration does nothing for you here; state law flatly bans them.
Build a Safe Shooting Area
Satisfying every distance rule and firearm restriction doesn’t shield you from criminal liability if your setup is dangerous. You are legally responsible for every round you fire until it stops moving. A bullet that leaves your property and strikes a person, vehicle, or building can lead to felony charges even if you followed the discharge statutes to the letter.
The most important element of a private range is the backstop. An earthen berm made of tightly compacted, stone-free soil is the standard. It needs to be tall enough and wide enough to catch rounds fired from your shooting position, with extra margin for shots that drift high or wide. A face slope of roughly 56 degrees from horizontal is the traditionally accepted angle for preventing ricochets. Sand, loose gravel, or a thin pile of dirt won’t do the job; those materials can deflect bullets unpredictably. Centerfire rifle rounds need substantially more depth at the berm’s crest than rimfire or pistol rounds.
Beyond the backstop, orient your range so you’re shooting into a hillside and away from any structures, roads, or areas where people might wander in. Post warning signs at the property boundaries near your shooting area. Never shoot toward a ridgeline where the sky is the backdrop. Treat the setup like a real range: a defined firing line, a consistent routine before anyone goes downrange, and no shooting when you can’t see what’s behind the target.
Liability If a Round Leaves Your Property
If one of your rounds leaves the property and injures someone or damages their property, you face civil liability on top of any criminal charges. The standard is simple: if your conduct created an unreasonable risk to another person, you can be sued for medical bills, lost income, property repair, and pain and suffering.
A standard homeowners policy (the HO-3 form) generally covers liability for accidental shootings on your property, because it covers all liabilities not specifically excluded and firearm discharge isn’t on the exclusion list. Coverage only applies to genuine accidents, though. Anything the insurer treats as “expected or intended,” along with criminal or reckless conduct, falls outside the policy. Many policies also exclude injuries between people living in the same household. If you shoot regularly, talk to your agent about an umbrella policy or specialized firearm liability coverage before something happens, not after.
Penalties If You Get It Wrong
Firing a gun in violation of the ECL 11-0931 distance rules is a misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in jail, a fine between $200 and $1,000, or both.7New York State Senate. New York Environmental Conservation Law 71-0921 – Misdemeanors A conviction still creates a criminal record that can reach employment, professional licenses, and future firearm rights.
If your shooting creates a real risk of injury, prosecutors can charge reckless endangerment under the Penal Law whether or not you technically met the ECL distance rules. Reckless endangerment in the second degree applies when your conduct creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury. It’s a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to 364 days in jail.8New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 120.20 – Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree9New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 70.15 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Misdemeanors and Violation
If the conduct is extreme enough to show what the law calls “depraved indifference to human life” and creates a grave risk of death, the charge jumps to reckless endangerment in the first degree, a Class D felony with a maximum of seven years in prison.10New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 120.25 – Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree11New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 70.00 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Felony A high-powered rifle fired toward an occupied area over an inadequate backstop is the fact pattern that gets charged this way.
A separate statute, Penal Law Section 265.35, covers other dangerous uses of firearms, including willfully firing at vehicles, trains, or aircraft, which becomes a Class D felony if anyone’s safety is endangered.12New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 265.35 – Prohibited Use of Weapons Backyard target shooting doesn’t normally touch this statute, but a stray round that hits a car on a nearby road can turn an ordinary afternoon into a felony case very quickly.