Man Arrested and Charged After Allegedly Shooting Down a Camera Drone with a Shotgun

watt100 wrote in post #17210545
unless the drone took one last pic of the shooter

Which is probably a stretch, seeing as the drone pilot was taking photos of a house when it was shot down...

Road Dog wrote in post #17210961
Which is probably a stretch, seeing as the drone pilot was taking photos of a house when it was shot down...

yes

I don't enjoy the smell of cleaning oil so wouldn't necessarily grab a shotgun but do agree drones are a problem. Until recently one could have a hot tub behind a nice wall and enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy in both a legal and a practical sense.

I think a .22 air rifle would be sufficient, and they are easy to silence.

Wish I didn't see this thread. A whole lot of crazy up in here. It's like reading yahoo! news comments.

Your take on crazy will depend a lot on where you live. My sister in NYC thinks that using a gun for anything is crazy, my wife's folks in rural Maine would definitely go for the shotgun. My mention of the pellet gun was a joke- it would be a tough shot depending, but they are legal to use in my back yard, for instance, and while it is probably not legal to shoot someone's drone down, I don't like the idea that a fenced back yard no longer gives me a reasonable expectation of privacy, and I like the idea of shooting them down, even if the application of that idea is impractical.

Seems like the KISS (keep it simple stupid) rule would apply here and solve a few issues.

If you need permission to go there physically yourself then get permission to fly a drone there, simple.


Anyone low flying a drone over private property with out consent is just asking for trouble.

2ndviolinman wrote in post #17228271
I think a .22 air rifle would be sufficient, and they are easy to silence.

sufficient if your Annie Oakley I suppose, but most people rely on a scatter-gun to shoot tiny objects out of the sky.

Power washer/fire hose anyone?

Or you could shoot at it with a handful of laser pointers and fry the CMOS ..

hmm.... I think I'll market that.

The issue is jurisdiction-dependent. Here's how things stand in the UK regarding SUA (small unmanned aircraft) :

http://www.caa.co.uk …x?catid=1995&pa​geid=16012.

Our stringent firearms legislation is another can of worms entirely.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17210739
Funny how times have changed. It was likely only just over a year ago that I first heard about lawmakers discussing laws to legalize private use of drones.

My immediate reaction was "I'll shoot the damn things down!"

And if Amazon gets their wish, using drones to deliver packages, there may be more "shooting drones down" instances...

That's why one should always fly 2 drones... one for the mission and the other to survey drone abuse

Funny how model aircraft have become "drones" in the last couple of years even those that dont carry a go pro or other imaging device. Most of the hobbyist flown "drones" are flown line of sight, not form a video screen a mile, a state or a continent away. There is a very big distinction between R/C model aircraft and remotely piloted drones, something that seems to have been lost in the last couple of years in the pursuit of sensationalism and ratings..

stink tooth wrote in post #17251101
Funny how model aircraft have become "drones" in the last couple of years even those that dont carry a go pro or other imaging device. Most of the hobbyist flown "drones" are flown line of sight, not form a video screen a mile, a state or a continent away. There is a very big distinction between R/C model aircraft and remotely piloted drones, something that seems to have been lost in the last couple of years in the pursuit of sensationalism and ratings..

That's actually a great point you bring up about R/C model aircraft and the popular terminological metamorphosis to "drones". I have a R/C electric prop plane (with no cameras or tracking devices) that was gifted to me that I've flown for a number of years. So recently with all the talk of drones and surveillance, I've been told to leave the premises at a number of places (including public parks :rolleyes all because I was suspected of operating a "drone" without consent. It's honestly gotten way out of hand for sure.