Drone shooting: US home-owner faces charges

I'd be upset if it hovered over my back yard but the article doesn't make it clear how high or how long it was over his house.
 
Net gun. Then it's not a firearm, and you can hold it for ransom.
 
I think it's pretty cut and dried, it's illegal to fire your shotgun off in the city limits ( I don't think he can claim sell defense) It should also be illegal to fly your drone in the city limits. That way they'd both be arrested - problem solved.
 
I'm regularly puzzled by how many people don't even have minimal knowledge of laws related to guns (an weapons in general), even though they own one. Few even understand that it is already a crime to only brandish a gun, unless faced with a real self defense situation.

But then again, if even Mr. Biden suggests to 'walk on the balcony' and to 'fire two blasts' as warning shots, if there is 'any problem', what do you expect from the general public... :dunno:

https://youtu.be/wIuk3G9Xixc?t=38s

If one follows Biden's advice in an urban environment, it is a sure way to shortly after benefit from government provided food and shelter.
 
The definition of brandishing varies from state to state, however.
 
Yeah but after watching the video of the kid who mounted a gun to his drone and could shoot with it, one might assume any drone is armed and take preemptive action.
 
German guy said:
I'm regularly puzzled by how many people don't even have minimal knowledge of laws related to guns (an weapons in general), even though they own one. Few even understand that it is already a crime to only brandish a gun, unless faced with a real self defense situation.

But then again, if even Mr. Biden suggests to 'walk on the balcony' and to 'fire two blasts' as warning shots, if there is 'any problem', what do you expect from the general public... :dunno:

https://youtu.be/wIuk3G9Xixc?t=38s

If one follows Biden's advice in an urban environment, it is a sure way to shortly after benefit from government provided food and shelter.
Click to expand...


I am a right wing card carrying gun nut. Having said that, IMHO no one should be able to carry a gun, or even own a gun, until they have completed a basic fire arms course and a gun owners responsibility course. I know, not a popular position, but you need a hunting class to hunt, you also need instruction on how to properly handle and own a gun. Use to be mothers and father would teach their sons and daughters. Today, most people never get that chance. Guns are not something that should be self taught.

There seems to be a disconnect with people who play video games and then want to own real guns. There needs to be a reality check on the responsibility of owning firearms.
 
Last edited:
Silvaire said:
It should also be illegal to fly your drone in the city limits.
Click to expand...

Define "drone".

So what else does everyone think should be illegal or regulated that people perceive as being worthy of prior restraint because of its potential for abuse?

What about flying kites? Suppose the kites have cameras?
Model rockets?
Water rockets?
RC balsa aircraft?
Small balloons?
Children's ice cream?
(http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/News/State-and-city-legislators-are-calling-for-new-law)
 
I can still circle your house and take pictures of your wife through the bedroom window as long as it's in a manned aircraft and at an altitude of at least 1000AGL though right?

Just as long as no drones are involved...
 
Geico266 said:
I am a right wing card carrying gun nut. Having said that, IMHO no one should be able to carry a gun, or even own a gun, until they have completed a basic fire arms course and a gun owners responsibility course. I know, not a popular position, but you need a hunting class to hunt, you also need instruction on how to properly handle and own a gun. Use to be mothers and father would teach their sons and daughters. Today, most people never get that chance. Guns are not something that should be self taught.

There seems to be a disconnect with people who play video games and then want to own real guns. There needs to be a reality check on the responsibility of owning firearms.
Click to expand...
Turn in your card. Effective immediately if not sooner. It sure looks like you are advocating for another law. I suppose you would be okay with govt enforcing and administering that law.

I'm certain that most every law was considered to be a good idea at the time. Yet even recent history shows us that too often the unintended consequences, cumulative effect with other laws, inclusive, outstrip whatever good intention of the time.

The solution, which has always been right in front of us, is self-governance by the people. Think of it as a responsibility that comes of self-determination.
 
NBC news reported tonight that a Delta flight into JFK had a drone come within 100' of it on final.
 
SkyDog58 said:
NBC news reported tonight that a Delta flight into JFK had a drone come within 100' of it on final.
Click to expand...

I recall seeing such reports before...

Pilots reported drones within 200 ft of a jet near JFK in March, 2013:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/drone-in-nycs-jfk-airport_n_2811271.html

Drones also reported by pilots landing JFK in November 2014:
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...lose-Airplanes-Kennedy-Airport-283247661.html

Not sure what the investigations yielded in those earlier incidents, but could be that the police come up with no leads. They'd need witnesses on the ground who could supply info that would help ID the drone pilot.
 
"The drone was over my kids, it appeared to be filming my underage daughter in her swim suit, due to it's size and 4 spinning blades I feared for my children's safety with it hovering directly above them, I went outside to bring my children in and the drone accelerated towards me, I fired my weapon once neutralizing the drone"

They store the video on the ship, SD card goes AWOL, gets shot, burnt, or was never in the drone, it's the word of a property owner with children who was on his own property vs some peeping toms.
 
German guy said:
I'm regularly puzzled by how many people don't even have minimal knowledge of laws related to guns (an weapons in general), even though they own one.
Click to expand...

Or understand the laws of physics. You go blasting away at the sky and the lead you send up has to come down somewhere.

I don't condone the actions of the drone operator, but the guy who discharged his weapon at the thing within city limits is a moron.

I think Ed's idea is much better.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Or understand the laws of physics. You go blasting away at the sky and the lead you send up has to come down somewhere.

I don't condone the actions of the drone operator, but the guy who discharged his weapon at the thing within city limits is a moron.

I think Ed's idea is much better.
Click to expand...


True, but birdshot coming back down ain't doing much.
 
James331 said:
True, but birdshot coming back down ain't doing much.
Click to expand...

Correct, it's initial velocity out of the barrel is not sufficient to carry it high enough to develop a high velocity coming back down, plus each individual pellet has little mass. Basic physics.
 
My suggestion: intercept and ram. You can make a cheap electric foamie for a hundred bucks. Quad over your house? Launch and attempt to ram. As a minimum, you'll scare it off. If you take it out, let the owner explain to the cops what he was doing.

Ron Wanttaja
 
time for the lasar-guided drone interceptor
 
SkyDog58 said:
Correct, it's initial velocity out of the barrel is not sufficient to carry it high enough to develop a high velocity coming back down, plus each individual pellet has little mass. Basic physics.
Click to expand...

Don't be so sure.

When I was 7 my mother was out riding her horse and ended up down range from some idiot dove hunters. The buckshot may not have caused serious injuries itself, but it left some definite marks and spooked her and the horse resulting in a significant brain injury.

Bottom line, I am by no means in favor of gun control, but I have zero sympathy for idiots who don't understand the responsibility that comes with discharging a weapon.
 
Jim Logajan said:
Define "drone".

So what else does everyone think should be illegal or regulated that people perceive as being worthy of prior restraint because of its potential for abuse?

What about flying kites? Suppose the kites have cameras?
Model rockets?
Water rockets?
RC balsa aircraft?
Small balloons?
Children's ice cream?
(http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/News/State-and-city-legislators-are-calling-for-new-law)
Click to expand...

Language is dynamic and the term "drone" is already pretty well established. I'm simply saying that the first thing that is going to happen will be municipal ordinances followed by more sweeping laws and regulations. It's not a conspiracy, the public is just gonna get tired of these things. There's never going to be a free my drone advocacy group, not one that will ever have any sway at least.
 
James331 said:
"The drone was over my kids, it appeared to be filming my underage daughter in her swim suit, due to it's size and 4 spinning blades I feared for my children's safety with it hovering directly above them, I went outside to bring my children in and the drone accelerated towards me, I fired my weapon once neutralizing the drone"

They store the video on the ship, SD card goes AWOL, gets shot, burnt, or was never in the drone, it's the word of a property owner with children who was on his own property vs some peeping toms.
Click to expand...

O rlly? http://www.wdrb.com/story/29670583/...s-produces-video-claiming-to-show-flight-path
 
German guy said:
I'm regularly puzzled by how many people don't even have minimal knowledge of laws related to guns (an weapons in general), even though they own one. Few even understand that it is already a crime to only brandish a gun, unless faced with a real self defense situation.
Click to expand...
Yup. I've owned and used weapons for most of my life. I've also had extensive training with the Army, and a couple of combat deployments. And now I carry a weapon for a civilian job. But until I took a required concealed carry course in my home state I didn't realize all of the laws I had broken throughout the years. Some states have a jigsaw puzzle box full of contradictory laws about when/where/how you can and can't carry a weapon. One can know a lot about the weapon they are carrying, but until they get schooled on the law they're just walking blind in a legal minefield.

Geico266 said:
I am a right wing card carrying gun nut. Having said that, IMHO no one should be able to carry a gun, or even own a gun, until they have completed a basic fire arms course and a gun owners responsibility course. I know, not a popular position, but you need a hunting class to hunt, you also need instruction on how to properly handle and own a gun. Use to be mothers and father would teach their sons and daughters. Today, most people never get that chance. Guns are not something that should be self taught.

There seems to be a disconnect with people who play video games and then want to own real guns. There needs to be a reality check on the responsibility of owning firearms.
Click to expand...
:yes:

James331 said:
"The drone was over my kids, it appeared to be filming my underage daughter in her swim suit, due to it's size and 4 spinning blades I feared for my children's safety with it hovering directly above them, I went outside to bring my children in and the drone accelerated towards me, I fired my weapon once neutralizing the drone"

They store the video on the ship, SD card goes AWOL, gets shot, burnt, or was never in the drone, it's the word of a property owner with children who was on his own property vs some peeping toms.
Click to expand...
The property owner lied about how low the drone was flying. He also fired his weapon in the air. So he's already got two strikes against him in my book.

James331 said:
True, but birdshot coming back down ain't doing much.
Click to expand...
Assuming it was birdshot. And assuming he actually fired it directly up in the air. Two assumptions I'm not willing to accept, based on his twisted version of events.

Fearless Tower said:
Bottom line, I am by no means in favor of gun control, but I have zero sympathy for idiots who don't understand the responsibility that comes with discharging a weapon.
Click to expand...
Exactly.
 
It would also be nice if people understood the difference between "weapon" and "firearm"
 
Bob Noel said:
It would also be nice if people understood the difference between "weapon" and "firearm"
Click to expand...

Yeah, in Missouri, the CCW permit is "W" for weapon. It allowed one to also carry knives and other weapons that would otherwise be illegal to carry.
 
James331 said:
Well that changes things.


Still, flying your untested large toy over people's homes is not smart.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but it's probably pretty easy to edit or create a telemetry file. What would be more telling is if he had the video from the incident, and not a possibly manipulated file.
 
EdFred said:
Yeah, but it's probably pretty easy to edit or create a telemetry file. What would be more telling is if he had the video from the incident, and not a possibly manipulated file.
Click to expand...



:yes:
 
Hard to say for certain but from the scale of the map view on the iPad it seems unlikely that he was operating the drone by line of sight and was using FPV which is then a violation of the rules. Regardless, flying one of these things around other people's properties like that demonstrates, at least to me, pure idiocy. The dude, and his drone, got what was coming to them.
 
EdFred said:
Yeah, but it's probably pretty easy to edit or create a telemetry file. What would be more telling is if he had the video from the incident, and not a possibly manipulated file.
Click to expand...
The "drone slayer" states that he took the "sim card." We do have one photo of the drone which shows it as a speck in the sky and in my opinion substantially higher than 10 ft and probably closer to 200 ft. In any case, a lot more convincing than the self-described drone slayer who thinks he owns public airspace. The neighborhood equivalent of a school bully.
 
Silvaire said:
Hard to say for certain but from the scale of the map view on the iPad it seems unlikely that he was operating the drone by line of sight and was using FPV which is then a violation of the rules. Regardless, flying one of these things around other people's properties like that demonstrates, at least to me, pure idiocy. The dude, and his drone, got what was coming to them.
Click to expand...

First of all, that's pure speculation on your part. The entire flight was under 2 minutes and there's no reason to believe they didn't have it in sight the whole time. Second, why it is idiocy to fly it 200 or so ft above the ground in an area near a park? Yes, the infamous drone slayer lives adjacent to a park as we could see on the video. The fact that you're defending this gun happy lunatic is pathetic. The drone he shot down could have come down in a residential area and damaged property or hurt someone. Not to mention his bullets. And, he doesn't own the public airspace surrounding his house and has no right to shoot anything down.
 
The more I think about it, so it was a moving target at over 200' AGL and the guy took it out with one shot....

Also the drone owner sounded a little secret squirrelish to me.


If what the drone owner said was true, that's one heck of a shot, I'd wager the truth lies in between.





frcabot said:
First of all, that's pure speculation on your part. The entire flight was under 2 minutes and there's no reason to believe they didn't have it in sight the whole time. Second, why it is idiocy to fly it 200 or so ft above the ground in an area near a park? Yes, the infamous drone slayer lives adjacent to a park as we could see on the video. The fact that you're defending this gun happy lunatic is pathetic. The drone he shot down could have come down in a residential area and damaged property or hurt someone. Not to mention his bullets. And, he doesn't own the public airspace surrounding his house and has no right to shoot anything down.
Click to expand...

It's dumb to fly a drone carrying cameras over private residences because it ticks people off, as can be seen in this video.

Second, I take it you know little about firearms, the "bullets" fired up into the air from that shotgun aren't going to do any damage when they fall back to the ground.

The drone could have also ran out of batteries and nailed a person, the operator could have CFITed it into something, etc etc. Remember these folks have no training, just laid down a grand and ordered it online.


There are plenty of things I can do which are legal but will **** folks off, I don't do them because it's just asking for trouble.

Drone dude had to be a idiot living under a rock to not know that folks don't like people flying those things over their homes, he went about doing stuff that is commonly known to anger folks, he got his toy shot down.
 
Last edited:
James331 said:
Drone dude had to be a idiot living under a rock to not know that folks don't like people flying those things over their homes, he went about doing stuff that is commonly known to anger folks, he got his toy shot down.
Click to expand...

Pretty interesting seeing this rant come from a pilot. I hear similar arguments from people near airports. So if I takeoff and "anger folks" is it okay if they shoot me down too? It's NOT okay to shoot stuff out of the sky that angers you.
 
narchee said:
Pretty interesting seeing this rant come from a pilot. I hear similar arguments from people near airports. So if I takeoff and "anger folks" is it okay if they shoot me down too? It's NOT okay to shoot stuff out of the sky that angers you.
Click to expand...

Not a rant, not my house, not my drone, just a observation.


So...the house was in the flight path of a ... drone airport?
Said drone airport was also built long before that guys house too?



And yes, if I commonly flew and hovered low level over private homes in my aircraft while taking photos of people in their yards, I would fully expect to catch some bird shot given enough hours of annoying people.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top