Ottawa "shooting" - Scary situation for everyone involved

Here is an article that is a bit deceptive at first - it talks about a bullet that was fired through the wall of a residential house in Barrhaven (Ottawa). At first it sounds like your typical gang related dishcharge, but once I saw a picture of the bullet, I thought "that looks more like a hunting style bullet than a handgun bullet". Anyways, as I read further, there is mention of people hunting in a forrested area near the house.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa...aven-1.2947468

I looked at a satellite image and thought, wow, there is no way firearm discharge is allowed there. I checked the bylaw, and it seems that discharge is possibly allowed in the area, except for the fact that there is now a subdivision there. There is a clause in the bylaw which states that discharge is not allowed in otherwise permitted areas "on land on a registered plan of subdivision once an application for a building permit has been received by the City of Ottawa; or within 450 meters of land on a registered plan of subdivision once an application for a building permit has been received by the City of Ottawa". It looks like someone was either not up to speed on the bylaw, or the bullet travelled more than 450 m. In any even, if this discharge was legal, the shooter really should have verified that there was a safe backstop. It looks like the bylaw schedule in question needs to be updated now that there is a subdivision there (http://ottawa.ca/sites/ottawa.ca/fil..._123469358.jpg). Anyways, this just illustrates the difficulty in hunting on the fringes of an expanding city, and how important it is to know the bylaws (and your backstop). Scary situation for all involved.

EDIT: The article has now been edited to remove the reference to hunting in the area, and they have replaced that statement with: "Staff Sgt. Ken Bryden said it appears the bullet was shot with a small-calibre long gun." I wonder what that change is all about?

There are areas down that way that are not on the discharge map but should be and areas that are still on the list that should be removed. I forget the year it was made but I know those maps are really old when you look at expansion south and west of Ottawa.

Scary

I suspect the city will update the Maps soon. They should also make it easier to obtain them. Most find it hard to locate them on the webite.

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Originally Posted by Fox

There are areas down that way that are not on the discharge map but should be and areas that are still on the list that should be removed. I forget the year it was made but I know those maps are really old when you look at expansion south and west of Ottawa.

Scary

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In Kenora one time, an officer shooting at a bear in a yard struck a house when people were in it. No injuries.

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Originally Posted by greatwhite

I suspect the city will update the Maps soon. They should also make it easier to obtain them. Most find it hard to locate them on the webite.

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I bet they just close discharge of firearms in the city.

There used to be shotgun only and bow only zones, those are all gone, something like this happens and whole thing will close down.

I'm pretty sure there still are a few bow only areas.

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Originally Posted by Fox

I bet they just close discharge of firearms in the city.

There used to be shotgun only and bow only zones, those are all gone, something like this happens and whole thing will close down.

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The third field behind my house currently is a discharge area. Will probably become a NO Discharge are soon.

Ban the expansion of Ottawa - problem solved. It might also help prevent people from getting deeper into debt, being house-poor and contributing to the housing bubble.

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Originally Posted by rf2

I'm pretty sure there still are a few bow only areas.

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Kanata used to be the only area, I think that went away on the last iteration of the maps but I may be wrong.

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Originally Posted by greatwhite

The third field behind my house currently is a discharge area. Will probably become a NO Discharge are soon.

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I think Russell's bylaws are separate from Ottawa's, aren't they? Must be nice to have an area right near your house where you can practice or whatever.

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Originally Posted by Fox

Kanata used to be the only area, I think that went away on the last iteration of the maps but I may be wrong.

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I think it still applies:
http://ottawa.ca/sites/ottawa.ca/fil..._123469354.jpg

That seems to be the only one though.

Here's an update by the city. http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...t-in-barrhaven

I would have to agree with some of the comments on that article. How could a bullet travel through the side of a house and yet still be in such pristine condition, let alone just fall to the floor like that. The bullet appears to be jacketed while having a bit of a hollow point, from what I can tell in the pic. Something smells fishy here methinks.

Cheers

I hope the police are competent enough to determine if this was staged or not. Assuming it wasn't staged, it could be that the bullet had very little energy left by the time it reached the wall. As this house is in a new developpment, the rear of the house (and likely the upper half of the front) is vinyl siding over a piece of chipbord or even something less rigid, a bit of insulation and a piece of drywall, so it wouldn't take much energy to penetrate that. The bullet in the picture has obviously been cleaned up (probably for analysis by the police) as the picture in the link I originally provided showed a bullet that was dirty. Anyways, if it was staged, I hope this information is revealed to the public.

Here is the discharge area as current to the by-laws

http://ottawa.ca/en/residents/laws-l...aw-no-2002-344