Every May we spend an overnight with friends who have a timeshare in the Poconos. Shades of Mickey Rooney! 

 

This year I called the resort and asked if I could bring a .22 rifle. Not a Mosin or 12-gauge or even an SKS but a bolt-action .22 that makes less noise than a typical fart. Hell I could even dip into my stock of .22 shorts and all anyone would hear is the click of the firing pin. There's plenty of room on the grounds, a lake, woods. It's not a motel-like place, the ghosts of which you see up and down Rte. 209. The units are separated by some distance. 

 

They said no. "It's private property," I was told. "We don't generally allow firearms unless it's hunters on their way to some other destination."

 

I was surprised, given what I've read in these forums about "ferms" in Pennsy. 

Lake Harmony has a "no firearms" clause in their rental agreements as well.

I wouldn't want people I don't know shooting on my land either. Just saying.

 

What resort?

Put yourself in their shoes. You will not want your guests strangers staying at your place to shoot on your property. Or even have guns at all.

Why suprised? its most likely a liability issue rather than the noise.

I agree with all of you and am not complaining. It's just that I've never seen "no firearms" signs (as I've seen in other places in the Pokies), and there is no mention of firearms anywhere I could see on their website. There's something to be said for official, clearly enunciated policies.

 

I would be shocked if individuals with permits (and a few without) don't already carry on site. 

Carrying within the complex and actively discharging a firearm, to me, is two different things.  Without a proper area setup for casual shooting a possible hazard exists that they are not willing to accept.  As a NRA RSO, I agree with that.  Most of the properties within these communities are governed by a separate agreement you sign when you purchase or in many cases lease the property.  They have a say in everything you do, Not my type of place.

They probably detected your Jersey accent.

 

If you want to bring it, DON'T ASK. You never know what dipshit you are going to talk to. Just bring it. If I went to that horrible place, I would have a handgun on my hip and they wouldn't say a thing.

 

If you want to shoot it, they are probably going to say no unless they have a range setup.

Since they don't have an organized shooting area, it seems to make sense that they don't want you shooting on their property.  I don't see anything that would prevent you from checking in with a rifle of your choice if the reason was going to some nearby range.  Or you just liked sleeping with it.    Or carrying if you can legally do so in PA.

Get a PA hunting license and go to a state range to "plink" and/or dust some birds.  Take your friends with you.  Drive back to the Timeshare / Rental / Private Community with your arsenal stowed properly in your vehicle.  Bottom line is liability issue.  I mean YOU could be the same dude that looked-down the muzzle of his 12 ga. and blew his baseball cap apart with a hang-fire, lol

Yeah it is kind of a creepy place but hey we used to spend long weekends in Kingston, NY. Our standards are low.

 

The houses are far enough apart, much farther than in places in the US of A where they allow shooting in back yards. The liability should lie with the shooter but WTF do I know?

 

Mipa is correct I should have just brought it.

 

As for the rifle, doesn't bother me much. Besides there's plenty of opportunity to play Wm. Tell with my son right here in the living room.

In my experience it is much better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission. Assuming of course you are being safe which I am sure you would be.

I would never shoot on someone's private land without their permission. Would you hunt on someone's private land in NJ without their permission?

 

2A rights do not trump personal property rights. People in the country tend to be very particular about personal property. Carrying and having guns on their property is fine since it's a lodging establishment.

Thanks to all who convinced me not to bring the stupid gun. It worked out for the best.

 

We visit these people once per year at their timeshare. I realized last night that my host is much easier to take with a pint or more of bourbon under my belt. Last night was the first time ever we'd been in the Pokies with them when I wasn't pleasantly pickled, or pickled at all, within half an hour of arriving.

 

He's basically a good guy but his schtick is gruesome. He insists on being the center of attention at all times. The most innocuous comment, like "pass the salt," inspires a 10 minute narration of that time in (fill in the city) when he was confronted by (some version of an unruly person) with salt-and-pepper hair who disliked swarthy Cubans especially Jewish ones, but the day was saved when he ran into (some famous guy) who treated his kids like (various forms of royalty or high office-holders). "Isn't that right honey?" Did I mention that he's a Cuban Jew? Spend 15 minutes with him and he'll tell you at least twice. 

 

His beautiful Philipina wife adores him and grows more radiant with each repeated fable, with each hyperbole. And the stories become more interesting and bizarre with each retelling. But only, as I sadly learned, if you've had enough distilled spirits to numb your senses.

 

Having forsaken John Barleycorn several months ago I found myself trapped in "Roger's" (not his real name) world. Stuck in the Poconos just miles from the heart-shaped tubs. Surrounded by trillions of blood-sucking insects and several dozen families who could not afford to vacation in Scotrun, Candiadensis, Analomink, Altoona, or Centralia, and probably all thoroughly drunk and heavily armed. 

 

Sweet slumber brought relief but from 7:30 am onward I could hear him through the balsa wood bedroom door pontificating on the finer points of Judaism's survival in the Caribbean.  The perorations continued through breakfast at the local Perkins, where he and his wife sent back three items (bacon too soft, eggs benedict too hard, toast cold and unbuttered). If waitress Kaneensha did not spit into my water I'm the next pope. 

 

So it's just as well the .22 stayed home. I would have hated to have my last remaining reporter friend at the Pocono Record have to compose this headline:

 

NJ Man Shoots Host, Self, During Domino Game

Second murder-suicide in less than a week at Chicken Village; County freeholders push for gun control

You're not short on wind either when telling stories lol. All in good fun...

You're not short on wind either when telling stories lol. All in good fun...

Correct you are. But at least this story is 1)100% true  2) reasonably coherent 3) not posted 38 times before 4) related to guns

What resort was it?

I agree with most of the posts here regarding the owners right to forbid shooting on his property. Regarding liability: in 2007-2008 PA enacted specific legislation that protects land owners from any liability if a hunter

injures/kills someone while hunting on the property. I don't know is this applies to casual shooting or an organized range. It was enacted after some poor landowner was held liable for 10% of the damages after a hunter killed someone

a half mile away while hunting the owners property.

 

Here is a link about the law (that had unanimous support in the PA legislature):

http://articles.mcall.com/2007-07-03/sports/3745308_1_liability-protection-hunters-landowners

Rhymes with "beagle" Valley. I meant Village. 

 

I figured PA would have such a law, especially with individuals owning large tracts and rifle hunting allowed. It is allowed in PA no?

 

The responsibility should lie with the shooter, just as it would in the parking lot of a Firestone or Weis or in a bank lobby. My host, the guy who narrowly escaped a grisly death, claims there's something in the lease or deed or whatever prohibiting firearms. But it would be interesting to know if the rights conferred by whatever category of ownership he has supersede some other state law, or whether it falls under the category of a private agreement. If that clause exists. Remember this guy is a bona fide chiacchiarone, un artista de mierda. 

No municipality can regulate firearms, parts, ammo, or sales in PA. It's illegal. Could it be in the lease? Possibly. Should have kept your mouth shut? Definitely. They would not have kicked you out for having guns, and they probably also would not let you have target practice without a range setup. Common sense. Already been covered.

No municipality can regulate firearms, parts, ammo, or sales in PA. It's illegal. Could it be in the lease? Possibly. Should have kept your mouth shut? Definitely. They would not have kicked you out for having guns, and they probably also would not let you have target practice without a range setup. Common sense. Already been covered.

Don't be so sure. At one point "Roger" said that using a grill anywhere but in one designated area results in "automatic expulsion." If they have iron-clad rules about roasting wieners they could have similar rules about guns. Then again, he's a BS artist and the joint was EMPTY the entire time we were there. If a .22 caliber rifle goes "pffft" in the woods and nobody hears it, did it make a sound? Even if kicking us all out would have been 100% illegal I'm not going on a crusade in uncharted (for me) territory so some Serbian guy can bring his 50 cal next year to blow up some acorns. As you know I pick my battles. 

I'd be willing to bet. I've never been kicked out of anywhere or off of any property and I OC 99% of the time, 8 years. You are looking at this from an uninformed perspective, seasoned with a Jersey state of mind.

I'd be willing to bet. I've never been kicked out of anywhere or off of any property and I OC 99% of the time, 8 years. You are looking at this from an uninformed perspective, seasoned with a Jersey state of mind.

Point is I'm not getting into a scene with my wife and the other lady around for the privilege of shooting at lily pads and tin cans. I can do that any time I like much closer to home. 

 

OC (or CC for that matter) is not the same as shooting. Bringing the gun was not the issue to me. If I saw a purpose in packing it I would have regardless of what they told me. I wanted to use it. Thought it would be an opportunity to have my wife shoot a bit.  

 

Serious question: Is that hag still your state AG, and what has been done to restore my reciprocal Utah/Pennsylvania carry rights? 'Twas a big topic here for a while but like all the others it's disappeared into a hail of BB pellets.

Your problem. I offered to bring you guys to meet our legislators and bring along constituents to back you up, nobody took me up on it.

 

I already said target practice is different than bringing a gun. I was quite clear.

I would have had nothing to contribute to such meetings. I'm green, don't know much about firearms or law, and I've only carried in PA a few times. Once, interestingly enough, in a private community.

 

Plus I'm not a constituent -- no real standing as far as a PA legislator is concerned. Only way I could vote for him or her would be to register as a Democrat and die. 

 

The people who should be most annoyed are your fellow Pennsylvaniacs who lost their right to carry in several (all?) of the states with which you lost reciprocity. That's a real loss. My inability to get a meaningless three-hour carry thrill is not nearly as important to me as what's going on here.]

 

I was confusing several issues there. Sorry. Harris only rescinded reciprocity for non-resident permit holders of a few states, including Utah. Does not affect PA residents at all. 

What states did PA residents lose reciprocity with?

Utah for one. 

Utah for one.

I believe that is false.

It is false. We lost reciprocity with no states, although temporarily with one.

 

What happened to you does not apply to us. What happened to us was there was a court ruling that said only a PA LTCF is valid for PA Citizens (does not apply to you). Had nothing to do with the AG. Yet still, Bloomberg's bitch kept changing agreements to deny non-res licenses. I swear she was doing it just for Jersey residents. She has relationships with your AG and NJSP at the time dating back a long time.

 

But you guys won't do shit about it so don't complain to me.

It is false. We lost reciprocity with no states, although temporarily with one. What happened to you does not apply to us. What happened to us was there was a court ruling that said only a PA LTCF is valid for PA Citizens (does not apply to you). Had nothing to do with the AG. Yet still, Bloomberg's bitch kept changing agreements to deny non-res licenses. I swear she was doing it just for Jersey residents. She has relationships with your AG and NJSP at the time dating back a long time. But you guys won't do shit about it so don't complain to me.

You're right. I corrected my previous post about you guys losing reciprocity. I was hallucinating. Your AG's actions only affected non-resident non-PA permit holders. 

 

In the article I cited above it was mentioned that PASP have nevertheless been giving resident permit-holders from out of state a hard time. Anybody experience this?