Shooting down drones........

[Duck Rodgers]

What do you think the penalty should be for shooting down a drone that's flying on your property? This will probably be really relevant as time goes on and the frequency increases......

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/shooting-drone-will-get-you-20-years-in-prison-211541710.html

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to Forbes that — despite what some well-armed citizens may think — trying to shoot down a drone is, in fact, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The FAA made the statement in response to questions by Forbes following an incident in which an Arkansas man thought his neighbor was flying a drone over his backyard to videotape his children. To stop what he saw as an invasion of his privacy, the man grabbed his rifle and shot the drone out of the sky.

But, according to the FAA, a drone is considered a civilian aircraft. And, under Title 18 of the U. S. Code, section 32, destroying one can get you up to 20 years in the slammer, as well as a hefty fine.

The Arkansas incident isn’t the first of its kind. People have been shooting down drones all over the country, from California to my home state of New Jersey.

But it seems citizens are receiving mixed signals about whether they have the right to blast a drone they consider to be invading their privacy out of the sky..

Take, for example, the case of Kentucky resident William Merideth, who shot a drone that he said was hovering over his backyard last summer. According to Kentucky’s WDRB, Merideth was charged with wanton endangerment and criminal mischief. A judge eventually dismissed the charges, saying Merideth had a right to protect his privacy by shooting down the drone.

The matter gets all the more interesting when you take into account the fact that at least one drone owner managed to affix a gun to his flying machine.

So where does that leave us? Well, the federal government has yet to prosecute an individual for shooting down a drone. But that doesn’t mean the feds won’t step in at some point and bring the hammer down on some drone-blaster.

The law itself(seems weird that drones even fit in there, maybe Forbes didn't ask the right questions....that can't possibly be the law for a little drone):

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/32

The Arkansas incident referred to above:

https://www.thv11.com/features/drone-shot-down-over-norfork/129539865

What happens if you see a drone hovering over your back yard? What if
your kids are playing in the back yard and you're worried someone is using the drone to film your kids?

In the case of 28-year-old Stephen Loosey of Norfork, you shoot it down.
that's what happened at approximately 6:30 p.m. on March 26 in the 4000 block of Arkansas State Highway 177. The Baxter County Sheriff's Office received a call about someone shooting "up in the air."

A person shooting down could face a charge of criminal mischief. Depending on the value of the drone, such a charge could be a misdemeanor or a felony. The misdemeanor charge carries a possible jail sentence of up to one year. If deemed a felony due to the value of the drone, a person convicted could face up to three years in prison.

If local law enforcement declines to level charges for shooting down a drone, that doesn't necessarily mean you have clear skies. The federal government has the option of charging a person with a crime for shooting down certain types of drones which are considered civilian aircraft. A conviction carries a prison sentence of up to three years.

In the case of the drone in Norfork, an investigator looked over the deputy's report and recommended the case be handled as a civil matter.

 

[Siro]

They should probably make it so that above a certain point it is no longer your property.

 

[Boris]

What if the drone may be armed w a suicide vest? I should just ask it politely if it is armed? Jesus this Obama society is so dense.

 

[candrew]

Just wait until Amazon starts their drone deliveries - there's a fulfillment center about 5 miles from my house.

Those ****ers will be zipping back and forth above you all day.

 

[Duck Rodgers]

Just wait until Amazon starts their drone deliveries - there's a fulfillment center about 5 miles from my house.

Those ****ers will be zipping back and forth above you all day.

It could get pretty crazy. Would be nuts to have drones in the sky carrying crap around, delivery robots on the ground carrying crap around on the sidewalks that a few companies are actually testing right now in some early form capacity too, and autonomous vehicles shuffling people/goods around on the roads....all simultaneously. All things that look pretty likely in some form from the view of today.

At least a fleet of drones "zipping" along would be a lot less creepier than even one just hovering around your yard. People could probably get used to zipping, if that's the way the world's going. I don't know, still seems hard to believe people will just accept drones flying around everywhere. But I personally wouldn't even have CCTV cameras everywhere if I were king of the world.....but not that many people seem to mind that....so what do I know.

 

[candrew]

At least a fleet of drones "zipping" along would be a lot less creepier than even one just hovering around your yard. People could probably get used to zipping, if that's the way the world's going. I don't know, still seems hard to believe people will just accept drones flying around everywhere. But I personally wouldn't even have CCTV cameras everywhere if I were king of the world.....but not that many people seem to mind that....so what do I know.

LOL....I dunno dude. All I know is that if someone shoots down a drone carrying my mother's same day delivery of cat pajamas from Amazon, I'll take that gun, stick it up your *** and pull the ****ing trigger 'til it goes cleeck.

 

[Jamezz]

Sounds fun!