Many firearms enthusiasts love the idea of having a shooting range in their own backyard, where they can fire at will without having to drive off to a public range. Joseph Carannante, 21, recently decided to make that dream a reality when he built his homemade shooting range on his parents’ property in Florida. And although police say he was within the confines of the law when he built the range, Carannante is now surrendering and tearing down the range after taking quite a bit of heat from neighbors.
Carannante’s range was complete with a berm and he told his neighbors he would inform them anytime he was ready to fire his gun, but because the range was within 50 feet of where local children play outdoors, these precautions were not enough to make the neighbors happy. In fact, Caranante says he even received some death threats.
“I’ve gotten death threats out of this,” he told the Tampa Bay Times. “People threatening to ‘SWAT’ my house, blowing it up with a bazooka.” He says the threats have caused him to live in fear, “sleeping with one eye open.”
The threats and controversy surrounding Carannante’s range finally prompted a local radio personalty to call him with an offer. Mike Calta from 102.5 ‘The Bone’ called Carannante up and offered him a one year membership to a local gun range if he would agree to tear down his home range. Carannante accepted.
City officials say they would have prosecuted Carannante had he decided to take that first shot. Florida state law allows a person to construct a home shooting range on private property so long as not used in a reckless or negligent manor. Officials say they believe firing a weapon in a heavily populated neighborhood is definitely “reckless.”
