Posted: 6/27/2015 10:54:22 AM EDT
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Hi folks
We are currently live in Connecticut and planning to relocate to Georgia in a couple of months. Tired of the long harsh winters as well as the high cost of living ,(guns law-no good words at all). Can you tell me please more about this area? We are planning to buy house with big lot,7-10 acres or more. Can I build a small range on my land? Any requirements? Thanks |
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Hi folks We are currently live in Connecticut and planning to relocate to Georgia in a couple of months. Tired of the long harsh winters as well as the high cost of living ,(guns law-no good words at all). Can you tell me please more about this area? We are planning to buy house with big lot,7-10 acres or more. Can I build a small range on my land? Any requirements? Thanks Georgia is pretty open to shooting on your own property. First and foremost, you'd have to buy land outside of pretty much every/any city limits. Beyond that, it would depend mostly on the county ordinances where the property is located. A properly constructed backstop will go a long ways toward keeping you out of trouble, but being on good terms with your neighbors will be the BEST way to avoid "official" scrutiny. Here are the codes from Morgan County, as of a couple of years ago, from an email sent to me by the Morgan County Director of Planning and Development. I had contacted him concerning building the private range where we will be holding this year's Fall GA Hometown Forum shoot. If you're down this way by late Sept., or early Oct., sign up for it. That thread is pinned at the top of this forum. I'm about 45 minutes, or so, from Athens. Please the following regulation for discharging a firearm in Morgan County.
Sec. 50-10. - Discharging firearms. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other type of firearm onto or across the property of another without the express written permission of the owner or other person in legal possession of such property. (b) It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other type of firearm, within an area of the unincorporated portions of the county which is within 250 feet of a residence, place of worship, business or public meeting place. (c) It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other type of firearm in any residential subdivision where lots are five acres or less in area. (d) It shall be unlawful to discharge a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other type of firearm within 150 feet of any public or private street in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 16-11-103. (e) It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally, negligently or carelessly discharge a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other type of firearm in such a manner as to be likely to cause bodily injury or death to persons or cause destruction of property. (f) It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other type of firearm on any public boat ramp or public dock, or on any public land not designated for such activity. (g) It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other type of firearm on Sunday, except in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 16-11-105. (h) Special activity permits may be granted as an exception to the provisions of this section by the sheriff's office. Applications for such permits must be submitted to the sheriff's office on the approved form provided by the sheriff's office. Such special activity permits are only available for the day(s) of the event. (i) This section shall not apply when a handgun, rifle, shotgun or any other type of firearm is discharged by any person in defense of self or others in accordance O.C.G.A. § 16-3-21 or in defense of habitation in accordance with O.C.G.A. § 16-3-23. (j) This section shall not apply to any law enforcement officer while in the discharge of his official duties. (k) This section shall not apply to the operation of approved hunting preserves or other shooting ranges. (l) Nothing in this ordinance exempts any person from any state or federal laws relating to firearms. (Ord. of 12-4-2007(2), § 1) The regulations are for individuals discharging firearms. If you wish to have public shooting range, then there are zoning requirements that would need to be met prior to approval. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Morgan is a big RURAL county, and can be anywhere from 20-50 minutes from Athens depending on the location. The subdivision regulation where there are lots "5 acres or less" could be a problem even if you live on more acres, should there be smaller acerage lots around you, and I believe the state has changed the law on Sunday shooting, so it's likely no longer enforcable. You would need to get the applicable codes from the county you plan to move to. Hope this helps! |
| If you have school aged kids or plan to have any in public school, do not move to Athens. Look at Watkinsville. I live here and the schools are good, local law enforcement is good, low crime rate and taxes aren't too bad. My commute or Athens is only 15 minutes. Land prices are higher than Athens but well worth it. I do most of my work in Athens and 5 points area is the only place I would live but you won't find more than an acre or two there. If no kids also ck out Oglethorpe county. You can do pretty much anything you want out there from what I have heard. It's rural out there, you may see a broken down old mobile home next to a $300,000.00 house and you will have to go to Athens for most shopping. |
| Athens is a great town, for the right age. I loved it while I was at UGA, but that's the whole "college" thing. As its been mentioned, surrounding areas are a better option. I lived in Hull my last few semesters, and its a decent area. Watkinsville is also nice, I worked there for around a year. Decent golf courses in the area, but property can be expensive. There are some good local ranges close by, so that won't be a problem. |
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Quoted: Hi folks We are currently live in Connecticut and planning to relocate to Georgia in a couple of months. Tired of the long harsh winters as well as the high cost of living ,(guns law-no good words at all). Can you tell me please more about this area? We are planning to buy house with big lot,7-10 acres or more. Can I build a small range on my land? Any requirements? Thanks |
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Moved from NY to Watkinsville in September 2014. Best decision I have made in my life. Lots of us in the area, so we can definately answer questions. Many of these guys were answering my questions just over a year ago on this very subject.
Athens is cool, college town with lots of "entertainment value", but you will probably want to get out to the more rural areas if you want acreage for a range. We moved from 10 acres in NY that was costing me a fortune to 1 acre in Oconee County that costs me 1/10 in property taxes as in NY. Overall my bills are all 1/3 of what they were a year ago. My plan is to buy land outside of Oconee eventually to use as hunting/range/rec use. |
Good Lord . . . how many relocated people are on here???? 
Do not live in Clarke County. Oconee is GTG for the most part. I work in Madison and Barrow so I go through the area frequently and you can get a pretty good idea which areas are shady in a couple of minutes. |
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Good Lord . . . how many relocated people are on here????
Do not live in Clarke County. Oconee is GTG for the most part. I work in Madison and Barrow so I go through the area frequently and you can get a pretty good idea which areas are shady in a couple of minutes. Is that Madison County, or the city of Madison? If its the latter, drop by the shop and say howdy sometime! 
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Watkinsville is the 3rd richest county in GA per capita, so obviously there is a lot of good there. I lived there for 3 years and miss it very much. I think the biggest reason that it is a good place to live is that there is no gov't subsidized housing (projects). If you can afford it, move there.
Athens has a few good gun shops too, but if you are looking for AR stuff, Integrity Arms & Survival in Jefferson (Jackson co.) is the best ;) Just a 15 minute drive from Athens. |
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Quoted: Sorry to hijack this thread, but besides Watkinsville, what else would you consider a great option? I do have small kids so school is a #1 priority Jefferson, GA has some of the best schools in Georgia in the city school district, 20 minutes to Athens, lots of cheap land. Jefferson is in jackson county their schools there are OK but not on the same level as Jefferson City Schools |
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Quoted: Watkinsville is the 3rd richest county in GA per capita, so obviously there is a lot of good there. I lived there for 3 years and miss it very much. I think the biggest reason that it is a good place to live is that there is no gov't subsidized housing (projects). If you can afford it, move there. Athens has a few good gun shops too, but if you are looking for AR stuff, Integrity Arms & Survival in Jefferson (Jackson co.) is the best ;) Just a 15 minute drive from Athens. |
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I was just there yesterday, great place. Quoted:
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Once you get here heck out the Elberton gun club. 120 bucks a year, 400yard rifle range, idpa pits, sporting clays. I was just there yesterday, great place. IDPA 2nd satuday of each month. Come shoot with us. |
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IDPA 2nd satuday of each month. Come shoot with us. Quoted:
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Once you get here heck out the Elberton gun club. 120 bucks a year, 400yard rifle range, idpa pits, sporting clays. I was just there yesterday, great place. IDPA 2nd satuday of each month. Come shoot with us. I gotta pay off the speeding ticket I got on the way there first. 
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I gotta pay off the speeding ticket I got on the way there first. Quoted:
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Once you get here heck out the Elberton gun club. 120 bucks a year, 400yard rifle range, idpa pits, sporting clays. I was just there yesterday, great place. IDPA 2nd satuday of each month. Come shoot with us. I gotta pay off the speeding ticket I got on the way there first. Should have told him it was an isolated incident and wouldn't happen again. He would have let you slide I'm sure. 
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Jefferson, GA has some of the best schools in Georgia in the city school district, 20 minutes to Athens, lots of cheap land. Jefferson is in jackson county their schools there are OK but not on the same level as Jefferson City Schools Quoted:
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Sorry to hijack this thread, but besides Watkinsville, what else would you consider a great option? I do have small kids so school is a #1 priority Jefferson, GA has some of the best schools in Georgia in the city school district, 20 minutes to Athens, lots of cheap land. Jefferson is in jackson county their schools there are OK but not on the same level as Jefferson City Schools I agree. Both my kids graduated from North Oconee (Watkinsville) Jefferson would be my other choice to send kids to school. |