Changes to regulations are being considered to increase the scope of congested areas in Washoe County, where shooting is not allowed.
Areas under consideration are located south and east of Golden Eagle Regional Park, as well as between Sun and Hungry Valleys.
Deputies say it’s all about helping people practice recreational shooting most safely outside of a shooting range.
Not only for the shooters, but for those living nearby.
Lieutenant George Gomez with the Washoe County Sheriff's Office said, "If they are in a designated restricted area, know that you must be 5,000 feet from any occupied dwelling when it comes to firearms, which are shooting pistols and rifles, and then need to be 1,000 feet away from any occupied dwelling when you're talking about shooting a shotgun."
The distances that are set are to help reduce the number of accidental injuries that could occur while shooting.
Gomez also tells us, "Those distances are to protect the public, especially those people in those occupied dwellings. You know, 5,000 feet away. If we're talking about a rifle range because we don't want a bullet to ricochet off, say, a steel target or a rock, and then now they're too close to those occupied dwellings, and it goes into a yard where there might be a child playing."
Deputies tell us the congested areas can change due to new developments of buildings in the surrounding area.
With the growth of the city, areas need to get reevaluated to continue meeting set regulations.
Gomez says, "We have a lot of open land, but over the years, as everybody knows, we've been annexing a lot of property. There's a lot of development happening, so all those areas that were once maybe unincorporated Washoe County have now turned into congested areas based on the building and zoning and all that."
Authorities say they're not trying to eliminate people's right to recreational shooting, but they need to make sure safety stays a priority.
Deputies encourage people to think about fire safety when going out in the desert to shoot with these dry and hot temperatures.
Gomez finishes by telling us, "Make sure you have water. Make sure you have a shovel, so if you do ignite something from a bullet strike, you can quickly put it out, you know, before it turns into a bigger disaster."
Getting caught shooting in an area where it is prohibited can lead to a citation or possibly six months in jail.
