Yes, you can shoot a pellet gun in your backyard in Colorado in many places, but not everywhere. State law does not classify pellet guns as firearms, so the statewide gun rules mostly don’t apply. What decides the question is your city or county ordinance. Some Colorado municipalities ban air gun discharge outright inside city limits; unincorporated areas and smaller towns often allow it with safety conditions. Before you set up targets, check your local code and understand the criminal and civil exposure if a pellet ever leaves your property.
Why State Law Leaves This to Your City or County
Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-12-101 defines a “firearm” as a device that uses an explosive to propel a projectile. Pellet guns, BB guns, and other air-powered guns run on compressed air, gas, or a spring, so they sit outside that definition.1Justia Law. Colorado Code Title 18 Article 12 Part 1 Section 18-12-101 State restrictions on carrying, concealing, and transferring firearms do not automatically reach your pellet rifle.
Colorado’s firearms preemption statute (CRS 29-11.7-103) limits how far local governments can go in regulating firearms, but because air guns aren’t firearms, that limit never applied to them.2Colorado General Assembly. Senate Bill 21-256 Cities and counties have always had a free hand on pellet guns, and that’s why the answer to the backyard question changes at every municipal boundary.
“Not a firearm” is not the same as “unregulated.” Colorado’s general criminal statutes still apply to how you use any device that can hurt someone.
Finding Out What Your Local Rule Actually Says
A backyard setup that’s legal in an unincorporated stretch of a rural county can draw a citation a few miles up the road inside city limits. There is no shortcut around reading your own jurisdiction’s code.
Most Colorado cities and counties keep their ordinances online in searchable form. Try terms like “discharge,” “air gun,” “BB gun,” “pellet,” and “projectile.” If nothing surfaces, call your local police department’s non-emergency line and ask. Code enforcement officers field this question often.
One layer people forget: your homeowners association. Even where the city allows air gun use, your HOA’s covenants may forbid it. That won’t put you in criminal court, but it can mean fines and a fight with the board. Look at your CC&Rs before you assume the municipal code is the only hurdle.
Common Types of Local Restrictions
Colorado municipalities that regulate air guns tend to use a handful of approaches. Larger cities often prohibit discharging any air, BB, or pellet gun anywhere inside city limits, including on private property. Some codes require a minimum buffer between your shooting area and any occupied building, sidewalk, or public road. Sending a projectile past your property line is typically prohibited even where backyard shooting is allowed. And some jurisdictions require a backstop capable of stopping projectiles before they can leave your yard.
Unincorporated county areas generally impose fewer of these rules. You’re still not exempt from the general duty not to endanger people or damage property. A pellet that hits a neighbor’s window or injures someone carries the same legal exposure whether you’re rural or not.
What Happens If Something Goes Wrong
Local Ordinance Violations
Breaking a municipal air gun rule usually results in a code violation carrying a fine. Most Colorado cities treat these as infractions rather than serious criminal matters. First-offense fines generally start around $100 and climb into the hundreds for repeat violations, depending on the city’s penalty schedule.
State Criminal Charges
The stakes rise sharply if your pellet gun use endangers a person or damages property, because state criminal law applies regardless of what your local ordinance says.
Reckless endangerment under CRS 18-3-208 covers conduct that creates a real risk of serious bodily injury to another person. Shooting a pellet gun without a proper backstop in a neighborhood where a stray pellet could strike someone is the kind of situation the statute is written for. It’s a class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 120 days in jail, a fine of up to $750, or both.3Justia Law. Colorado Code Title 18 Article 3 Part 2 Section 18-3-208 – Reckless Endangerment4Justia Law. Colorado Code Title 18 Article 1.3 Part 5 Section 18-1.3-501 – Misdemeanor Penalties
Criminal mischief under CRS 18-4-501 applies when you knowingly damage someone else’s property. A pellet that breaks a neighbor’s window, dents a car, or damages a fence can trigger this charge. Severity scales with the dollar figure: damage under $300 is a petty offense; $300 or more bumps it to a class 2 misdemeanor with the same 120-day and $750 exposure.5Justia Law. Colorado Code Title 18 Article 4 Part 5 Section 18-4-501 – Criminal Mischief
Menacing under CRS 18-3-206 is a risk if you point or brandish a pellet gun in a way that puts someone in fear of serious bodily injury. Baseline menacing is a class 1 misdemeanor. Committed with an actual firearm, it becomes a class 5 felony. Since pellet guns aren’t legally firearms, the misdemeanor version normally applies, but a pellet gun treated as a “simulated firearm” in a threatening situation can put the felony charge on the table.6Justia Law. Colorado Code Title 18 Article 3 Part 2 Section 18-3-206 – Menacing
Civil Liability and What Insurance Will and Won’t Cover
A pellet that injures a person or damages property also opens you to a civil lawsuit. The injured party can sue for medical costs, lost income, and pain and suffering. Even a modest pellet gun injury to a neighbor’s child can generate a five-figure claim once emergency room bills and legal fees stack up.
Whether your homeowners policy covers the claim depends on the facts. A standard HO-3 policy includes personal liability coverage and does not specifically exclude air guns, but the coverage only reaches accidents. If a court finds you acted intentionally or recklessly, the “expected or intended injury” exclusion in most policies denies coverage. Insurers also won’t cover liability arising from illegal activity, so if you were violating a local discharge ordinance at the time, that’s another route to denial.
The practical point: don’t count on insurance to bail you out. If a backyard setup is sloppy enough to hurt someone, your insurer has strong arguments to walk away.
If You’re Shooting at Pests, Wildlife Law Applies Too
One of the most common reasons people ask about backyard pellet guns is dealing with garden pests. Even where your local ordinance allows shooting, federal wildlife law adds a layer most people don’t think about.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal to kill, capture, or harm any protected migratory bird by any means, including a pellet gun. The list is long and covers most songbirds, woodpeckers, and raptors you’d see in a Colorado yard. Violations carry fines up to $15,000 and up to six months in jail.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC Chapter 7 – Protection of Migratory Game and Insectivorous Birds Shooting at what looks like a starling and hitting a protected species is the kind of mistake that ends in a federal misdemeanor.
For ground-dwelling animals such as squirrels, rabbits, or gophers, Colorado Parks and Wildlife rules may apply. Contact CPW or your local animal control office before using a pellet gun for pest management. They can tell you which species you can legally target on your property and whether permits are required. Live trapping and other non-lethal methods often sidestep the whole issue.
A Pellet Gun Looks Like a Real Gun to a Bystander
The Consumer Product Safety Commission excludes traditional BB guns, pellet guns, and paintball guns from the toy and imitation firearm marking rules that require blaze-orange muzzle tips.8Consumer Product Safety Commission. Toy, Look-Alike, and Imitation Firearms Business Guidance9eCFR. 16 CFR 1272.1 – Applicability Your pellet gun can look almost identical to a real rifle. A neighbor or passerby who sees you handling it may call the police, and officers will respond as if the weapon is real until they know otherwise. Set up somewhere out of casual view when you can, and consider telling neighbors in advance.
Backyard Safety That Keeps You Out of Trouble
Whether or not your jurisdiction spells out safety requirements, a responsible setup is what keeps you on the right side of the law and your neighbors. The single most important element is a proper backstop.
For a primary backstop, a commercial metal pellet trap rated for your gun’s power is the easiest option. A homemade version works too: a sturdy cardboard box packed tightly with wadded newspaper, backed by a few stacked magazines, will stop most pellets. For guns with muzzle velocities under 550 feet per second, an old piece of carpet or canvas hung loosely inside the box is effective. Above 550 fps, pellets can punch through fabric, so use denser material. Skip thumbtacks, paper clips, and metal clamps for attaching targets, because hard objects cause ricochets. Tape is fine.
A secondary backstop behind the primary one catches anything that misses. Hay bales, a soft dirt bank, or a large sheet of loose-hanging carpet all work. If you’re hanging material, leave the sides and bottom free rather than stretching it taut; tight material is more prone to ricochets.
Beyond the backstop, wear impact-rated eye protection every time you shoot. Aim your lane away from neighboring properties, walkways, and anywhere a person might appear without warning. Shoot only during daylight. And give your immediate neighbors a heads-up. A short conversation prevents most noise complaints and startled calls to the police.