hobby drones over the US a growing menace

[Michchamp]

Chalk this up to unforseen, though easily foreseeable hazards no one planned for (link to WaPo article):

In recent days, drones have smuggled drugs into an Ohio prison, smashed against a Cincinnati skyscraper, impeded efforts to fight wildfires in California and nearly collided with three airliners over New York City.

Earlier this summer, a runaway two-pound drone struck a woman at a gay pride parade in Seattle, knocking her unconscious. In Albuquerque, a drone buzzed into a crowd at an outdoor festival, injuring a bystander. In Tampa, a drone reportedly stalked a woman outside a downtown bar before crashing into her car.
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It gets worse:

Another unnerving scenario emerged last month when a Connecticut man posted an Internet video of a drone he had armed with a handgun, firing shots by remote control as it hovered in the air. Local police and the Federal Aviation Administration determined that no laws had been broken.
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No laws had been broken! At least not until someone gets shot... wonder how the NRA will come down on the "drones on guns" debate. Clearly our Founding Fathers wanted guns on drones. The only way to stop a bad drone with a gun is a good drone with a gun.

the laws have yet to catch up with drone use, and different jurisdictions have handled incidents differently, though I expect this will change soon. There's no reason overflying someone's property with a drone should not be considered a common law trespass.

 

[TheVictors]

I remember following the LA Kings SC win, a TV crew using a drone to hover over the crowd of fans celebrating.

First one can or cup and then another. Maybe an actual hockey stick but quickly thereafter the drone came down and was destroyed.

I would do the same and should a drone ever hover over our yard, it won't for long.

Heard a wedding used one to fly over an outdoor reception ..but weddings suck to begin with anyways.

 

[Gulo Blue]

BattleBots should do a drone version of their show. No collisions. Just fired projectiles. Not actual guns. Outlaw gunpowder. And it should be teams. 3 drones vs 3 drones.

 

[TheVictors]

Have you seen the Drone BattleBots? They do have them. The contestants enter a screened in net area. Not sure about projectiles vs just battling.

BattleBots has been big around our house lately...

 

[Michchamp]

I remember following the LA Kings SC win, a TV crew using a drone to hover over the crowd of fans celebrating.

First one can or cup and then another. Maybe an actual hockey stick but quickly thereafter the drone came down and was destroyed.

I would do the same and should a drone ever hover over our yard, it won't for long.

Heard a wedding used one to fly over an outdoor reception ..but weddings suck to begin with anyways.

obviously a drone is no match for a shotgun loaded with anything from buckshot to birdshot, but unless you live in the sticks, you'll get in a lot more trouble for firing a gun in the city than it's worth.

someone should make some simple anti-drone weapon that wouldn't harm a person, and skirt any legal definitions of firearms... maybe an oversized rubber-band gun that could tangle the drone and bring it down.

I was thinking there must be a way to jam the electronics and bring it down, but signal jamming devices (in the context of cellular signals at least) are banned by the FCC and the fines for using them are steep.

 

[TheVictors]

I would just use my Spider-Man web slinging abilities to bring it down.

I don't have a gun.

Wait (just posted on the Internet and now feel vulnerable) ...wait, yes I do. A big one.
You'd think someone would have a jamming device that disables the radio controller and what about Trespassing? Do properties have an expectation of airspace?

I read a less sinister story of a guy using his drone to peep into women's windows in a high rise. At least he wasn't shooting a gun

 

[Gulo Blue]

Have you seen the Drone BattleBots? They do have them. The contestants enter a screened in net area. Not sure about projectiles vs just battling.

BattleBots has been big around our house lately...

I haven't!!! Googling now.

 

[TheVictors]

It was one of those soft news stories in LA where they had some reporter 'Live' at some event.

He tried flying someone's drone and failed, saying its a lot harder than it looks

 

[Michchamp]

I would just use my Spider-Man web slinging abilities to bring it down.

I don't have a gun.

Wait (just posted on the Internet and now feel vulnerable) ...wait, yes I do. A big one.
You'd think someone would have a jamming device that disables the radio controller and what about Trespassing? Do properties have an expectation of airspace?

I read a less sinister story of a guy using his drone to peep into women's windows in a high rise. At least he wasn't shooting a gun

under traditional English -> US common law, property rights extended to all land above your property, up to outer space, and all land below it (mineral rights, oil, etc.). Since people began to fly the "above" part of it has been limited to the area within a few hundred feet or something, and where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Airplanes passing over your property are not trespassing, but I believe there are different standards used to judge whether they're a nuisance or not, such as noise level, height, etc. that vary by jurisdiction, and also FAA regulations over how low pilots can fly.

Regarding drones, there was this incident in Kentucky, where a homeowner shot down a neighbor's drone, claiming it was videotaping his kids in the swimming pool. Subsequent footage from the drone showed otherwise. The homeowner is being charged with criminal mischief and wanton endangerment. No idea what the latter thing is... or if this story is accurate. this story is the homeowner's side. the drone operator is apparently not as much of a creep as alleged, from the footage he released (he was not filming the guy's kids).

I don't think whatever laws come down regarding trespass over private property by drones should be very forgiving to drone operators. There's no public interest in allowing this hobby, and as the WaPo article shows how drones are a nuisance to law enforcement, emergency responders, air traffic, etc. quite the opposite.

conversely though, I think in TX (of course) a drone operator filmed a food processor dumping pig blood right into a creek... and of course the ham-handed response from the Texass legislature was to ban photography from drones without the permission of the property owner.

That gets tricky; if the drone is over public land, or not otherwise trespassing, I don't think photography should be illegal.

Like most laws, unless the Feds promulgate some standards, these may come down piecemeal, based on local experience. Where drones affect big business negatively or lead to bad PR for powerful people, you'll see drone rights restricted. Where individual homeowners are the only ones who complain, it's likely the drone industry's lobbyists will keep rights as broad as possible.

 

[Michchamp]

i wonder if anybody knows how trackable drone owners are. like if a drone over a runway brings down an airliner, do they have an easy way to find out who did it, or do they need to ID the type of drone, go pull sales records, match the list to possible suspects, interview each one, etc.?

 

[turok]

I used to be pretty good with a slingshot, maybe I will buy a large one for some aerial target-practice, if invasive drones become more pervasive here

Can't even legally fire pellet guns or use a bow and arrows for backyard target-practice within my city limits, like I had back when I was still a teenager living in the ciry of Detroit.

 

[Gulo Blue]

i wonder if anybody knows how trackable drone owners are. like if a drone over a runway brings down an airliner, do they have an easy way to find out who did it, or do they need to ID the type of drone, go pull sales records, match the list to possible suspects, interview each one, etc.?

Probably depends on the drone. If it's controlled by a cell phone app, I bet there's a way. But I think some models are more like radio controlled planes, and I don't know how you'd track that.

 

[Gulo Blue]

If they get too annoying, hawks will get them:

https://zippy.gfycat.com/SelfishAbleAmericansaddlebred.webm