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My day job has me waist deep in property legal descriptions, title policies, etc all over the country. I am looking at a property that is in 2 states. It got me thinking, and it might be a crazy question, but how would gun ownership work if your house was sitting pretty in Virginia or WV but your pool, back yard, barn, detached garage, etc was in Maryland.

Could you carry at will inside your house but have to lock them up if you went out to your back pasture?

Just something that made me go hmmmmmmmm....

Wouldn't you technically have two pieces of property that border on each other? That would make each subject to the laws of its state.

From a title standpoint, yes. Virginia collects taxes on the piece of land with the house and Maryland collects taxes on the back yard. 2 separate legals combined on the deed. I was just curious since the house will have a Virginia address, would you have issues say with a self defense situation in your back yard that's technically in Maryland.

Make sure you're standing on the right side when you shoot. Seriously though, if it were me I'd take a defensive position in the house and call police for someone trespassing in the backyard. If they cross the line and try to enter the house all bets are off. The real question is which police department would respond. Would they confront a suspect outside their jurisdiction?
Reminds me of when the laws were less friendly to law abiding citizens in La, I can recall police officers suggesting that if you shot a BG outside your home trying to break in to drag him in the house before you called the police.

jmra wrote:Make sure you're standing on the right side when you shoot. Seriously though, if it were me I'd take a defensive position in the house and call police for someone trespassing in the backyard. If they cross the line and try to enter the house all bets are off. The real question is which police department would respond. Would they confront a suspect outside their jurisdiction?
Reminds me of when the laws were less friendly to law abiding citizens in La, I can recall police officers suggesting that if you shot a BG outside your home trying to break in to drag him in the house before you called the police.

Very good points. I would think the responding agency would be from Virginia only based on the physical address. Would they be forced to know where the entire state line is, especially if it falls on private property? I know I wouldn't even put myself in that position. If I was looking at a house and found out half of my land is in Maryland or any other not so free state, I would find another house.

If God is all powerful, can He make a rock so big He can't lift it? -George Carlin

ScottDLS wrote:If God is all powerful, can He make a rock so big He can't lift it? -George Carlin

Since He created the heavens and the earth, I anything other than NO be the answer?

Since the address is Virginia, I doubt Maryland would get involved no matter which side an incident happened unless it became a higher profile case. On the other hand, if a civil suit resulted, you can bet the other party would try to sue in Maryland.

My friend has a home which is in NM and TX. The address is a NM address. His truck is reg. In NM. All taxed as if in NM

WTR wrote:My friend has a home which is in NM and TX. The address is a NM address. His truck is reg. In NM. All taxed as if in NM

Is the physical home footprint in NM? Because it would seem difficult for NM to tax people and things located in Texas, so at least the portion of the property that was physically located in Texas should not be NM taxable. Since NM has an income tax, it would be advantageous to be taxed as a Texas resident when you were physically resident in Texas regardless of the address. Even if you worked in NM, non-earned income would be tax free in Texas...

You think that's confusing? There's private homes that span the border between the US and Canada.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_house

CleverNickname wrote:You think that's confusing? There's private homes that span the border between the US and Canada.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_house

Now that's cool. I now need to make a trip to Vermont someday. Luckily I don't have to deal with international borders but that's very interesting.

MustangGlocker wrote:My day job has me waist deep in property legal descriptions, title policies, etc all over the country. I am looking at a property that is in 2 states. It got me thinking, and it might be a crazy question, but how would gun ownership work if your house was sitting pretty in Virginia or WV but your pool, back yard, barn, detached garage, etc was in Maryland.

Could you carry at will inside your house but have to lock them up if you went out to your back pasture?

Just something that made me go hmmmmmmmm....

If it was me I'd carry on in my back pasture and property and even shoot the guns that are thought of as evil in that state. This is especially true if the only driveway or other access to the place is in Virginia. You are on your own private property and don't have to transport anything in Maryland. What you have and what you do there is your own business. Just don't say anything about it and watch who you tell it to.

Now the question doesn't mention self defense issues but to me only talks about carrying and shooting for fun.

jmra wrote:Make sure you're standing on the right side when you shoot. Seriously though, if it were me I'd take a defensive position in the house and call police for someone trespassing in the backyard. If they cross the line and try to enter the house all bets are off. The real question is which police department would respond. Would they confront a suspect outside their jurisdiction?
Reminds me of when the laws were less friendly to law abiding citizens in La, I can recall police officers suggesting that if you shot a BG outside your home trying to break in to drag him in the house before you called the police.

That strikes me as profoundly bad advice.

Dave2 wrote:

jmra wrote:Make sure you're standing on the right side when you shoot. Seriously though, if it were me I'd take a defensive position in the house and call police for someone trespassing in the backyard. If they cross the line and try to enter the house all bets are off. The real question is which police department would respond. Would they confront a suspect outside their jurisdiction?
Reminds me of when the laws were less friendly to law abiding citizens in La, I can recall police officers suggesting that if you shot a BG outside your home trying to break in to drag him in the house before you called the police.

That strikes me as profoundly bad advice.

What part? If you are referring to what police officers were advising years ago, I would agree that would not only be unwise today, but it would also be unnecessary.

Heck, I still get nothing but dirty looks asking game wardens which county to tag in if I shoot a deer across a county line, or shoot it on my side and it runs across before dying.