State laws

[dustytrails123]

I was wondering if anyone could help me out with some state laws out there on metal detecting...im goiong back on the road after a 3 year break and i go out east most of the time and would like to know if theres any states out east that require permits or allow detecting in state parks ..any help would be good ty

 

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[www.DetectorsAmerica.com]

In MA you cannot hunt on state property. I hit town parks and beaches.

 

[dustytrails123]

Thanx for the heads up on massachusetts im sure i will be out there for sure about 5 years ago i was out in gloucester...wish i had a detector then

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

Someone may offer you this list, assembled by the FMDAC, so I'll beat them to the draw

Federation of Metal Detector & Archaeological Clubs Inc.

This, of course, is for state-level parks, not city or county or private. Some of them with "no's" or other dire-sounding wording, are still detected with no problems (ie.: no one cares), despite the wording. I believe this is because lists like this got assembled years ago (starting in the 1980s' with a book called "Treasure Laws of the United States"), by simply sending out a form-letter to all 50 state's capitol park's dept. headquarters, and asking something like "what are the laws regarding the use of metal detectors in your state's parks?". Sounds innocent enough eh? I mean, who better to ask, than the state's themselves, eh? But put yourself in the shoes of the desk-bound bureaucrat who's fielding such an inquiry. What do you think the safe answer is going to be? Doh! They must pass it past their legal beaver, who in turn has to pass it by a cultural heritage expert, and presto, they'll find something to morph to the question. So when lists like this first started to appear, there were some of the states where old-timers were left scratching their heads, saying to themselves "since when?"

So a part of me doesn't take the list too seriously. Like state of CA beaches, for instance, have been routinely detected since the dawn of time, and it's totally ok. But sure, if you read too closely into the list, you might be inclined to think it's riddled with rules, or an out-right no, etc....

Just stay clear of obvious historic sensitive monuments, or any place with specific signage "no metal detectors". But that's just me.

I was wondering if anyone could help me out with some state laws out there on metal detecting...im goiong back on the road after a 3 year break and i go out east most of the time and would like to know if theres any states out east that require permits or allow detecting in state parks ..any help would be good ty

 

[dustytrails123]

Thanks tom for the info ...i dont have any plans on hunting big well known city parks i try to stick to the small towns and small parks i tend to do better adding to my silver count

 

[dustytrails123]

Got another question though when its listed permit required from park office...are they talking about the state parks or is it all parks?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Got another question though when its listed permit required from park office...are they talking about the state parks or is it all parks?

Dusty, that list I linked you to is for state level parks, not city, county, private, etc..... No one has ever attempted a list of counties or cities, because that's simply prohibitive in length.

If you are wondering about an individual city-level (or county-level), a good way to find out, is to look on that location's website (as it seems that most every city and such has a website nowadays ) And within that, there is usually a section for the charter, codes, ordinances, laws, etc.... If you see nothing there specifically prohibiting detecting, the there ya go! It must not be prohibited If the location doesn't have a website with their laws/muni-codes, then the info. MUST be available somewhere, for public viewing. Like at the city hall on the front desk, where you can flip through it. This is preferable to asking a desk-bound bureaucrat, because that risks a "no", when there might not really be any rule specifically actually saying that. So always look it up yourself. If it's silent on the issue, then presto, it's silent on the issue

But let me tell you ahead of time: It is VERY unusual for ANY city to have anything at all addressing md'ing. Odds are, you'll not find anything in any small town verbage. This isn't to say that you can therefore, just nilly-willy, waltz over beach blankets and thumb your nose and cops and gardeners though. Because they can morph something else to apply to you, if they wanted. (because let's face it, our hobby has connotations and draws lookie-lous). So you still have to be a little discreet, go at off-times of low-traffic, avoid busy-bodies, etc....

 

[Sandman]

Thanks Tom for your Posts.

 

[dustytrails123]

Yep thanx tom for the info i will put it to good use

 

[releventchair]

Dusty,you could try Dons Metal detect my state.