A small town in Colorado, which bills itself as the “Home of the World’s First Rodeo,” may soon become home to the first pre-emptive strike against drones.
Deer Trail, Colorado, a small town located just off I-70 approximately 55 miles east of Denver may soon be firing “a shot heard round the world” of another type if some of the locals have their way. The town is considering an ordinance which would allow citizens to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles, aka drones.
The ordinance, originally written and proposed by resident Phillip Steel, would allow citizens to shoot down unwanted drones over Deer Trail’s airspace. As added incentive, there’s a reward of anywhere from $25 to $100 to any shooter who can prove he or she shot down a drone. Proof would consist of a valid (drone) hunting license and identifiable parts.
As currently written, the ordinance requires applicants of drone-hunting licenses “be able to read and understand English.” In addition, they must be 21-years-old and use only 12-gauge shotguns to shoot drones “at a vertical distance of one thousand feet or less.” Licenses would cost $25 and would be issued on an anonymous basis without background checks.
Although Steel and other residents of Deer Trail admit they have never seen a drone, Steel said he came up with the idea as a symbolic gesture in protest of increasing government surveillance of citizens. Steel’s actions come on the heels of recent disclosures about NSA surveillance involving the cataloging and archiving of records that include phone calls and emails of Americans. Steel believes that a “virtual prison” is “being created through continued expansion of the surveillance state.”
Steel, who is former military, told CNN “I took an oath when I joined the military to protect the U.S. Constitution. That oath did not end when I left.”
“We do not want drones in town,” said Steel. “They fly in town, they get shot down.” Steel admitted that “ordinance or no,” he would shoot a drone down should he ever see one.
In response to possible “drone hunting,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a statement reminding the public that the FAA regulates the nation’s airspace and that any drone “hit by gunfire could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air.” In addition, the FAA warned that “Shooting at an unmanned aircraft could result in criminal or civil liability, just as would firing at a manned airplane.”
Last year, Congress passed a bill which requires the FAA to open up U.S. airspace to drone flights, including “public safety drones” as part of a plan by The Department of Homeland Security. Opening U.S airspace to drones could possibly result in “…30,000 drones flying domestically by 2020.”
Deer Trail’s town board will vote on the drone-hunting ordinance on August 6th. Although most members of the board see the ordinance as more of a poke at the government, some see the possible monetary benefits of issuing drone-hunting licenses. Board member David Boyd told Denver’s KMGH Channel 7 that he doesn’t really support the idea of “legalized drone hunting,” but that he “can see it as a benefit, monetarily speaking, because of the novelty of the ordinance.” Deer Trail’s Mayor Frank Fields agrees with Boyd and says “the purpose of the ordinance would be to have fun and bring in business, tourism and activities for people in town.”
The additional income from drone-hunting licenses and possible tourism could be a plus for a small town like Deer Trail. According to Deer Trail Town Clerk Kim Oldfield, “This could actually be something to help fund a community center or build us some roads. We need to find our mark on the map…the novelty of being allowed to buy a drone-hunting license could turn into a fun thing.”
Perhaps Deer Trail will find their “mark on the map” and have some fun with the drone-hunting licenses, as Oldfield says. More likely, though, Deer Trail will remain just another “mark on the map” for all the drones gliding through the skies overhead.
Link: http://www.gcnlive.com/wp/2013/07/26/drone-days-of-summer/
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