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Should It Be A Crime To Shoot Down A Drone Over Your Property?
A Hillview man has been arrested after he shot down a drone flying over his property - but he's not making any apologies for it. "I just think you should have privacy in your own backyard," said William Merideth, 47, "I went and got my shotgun and I said, "I'm not going to do anything unless it's directly over my property."" That moment soon arrived, "within a minute or so, here it came... it was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky." Merideth was arrested and charged with first degree criminal mischief and first degree wanton endangerment...
As WDRB reports, Hillview Police say they were called to the home of 47-year-old William H. Merideth after someone complained about a firearm, Sunday night at a home on Earlywood Way, just south of the intersection between Smith Lane and Mud Lane in Bullitt County, according to an arrest report.
When they arrived, police say Merideth told them he had shot down a drone that was flying over his house. The drone was hit in mid-air and crashed in a field near Merideth’s home.
Police say the owner of the drone claimed he was flying it to get pictures of a friend’s house — and that the cost of the drone was over $1,800.
Merideth was arrested and charged with first degree criminal mischief and first degree wanton endangerment. He was booked into the Bullitt County Detention Center, and released on Monday.
WDRB News spoke with Merideth Tuesday afternoon, and he gave his side of the story.
“Sunday afternoon, the kids – my girls – were out on the back deck, and the neighbors were out in their yard,” Merideth said. “And they come in and said, ‘Dad, there’s a drone out here, flying over everybody’s yard.'”
Merideth’s neighbors saw it too.
“It was just hovering above our house and it stayed for a few moments and then she finally waved and it took off,” said neighbor Kim VanMeter.
VanMeter has a 16-year-old daughter who lays out at their pool. She says a drone hovering with a camera is creepy and weird.
“I just think you should have privacy in your own backyard,” she said.
Merideth agrees and said he had to go see for himself.
“Well, I came out and it was down by the neighbor’s house, about 10 feet off the ground, looking under their canopy that they’ve got under their back yard,” Merideth said. “I went and got my shotgun and I said, ‘I’m not going to do anything unless it’s directly over my property.’”
That moment soon arrived, he said.
“Within a minute or so, here it came,” he said. “It was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky.”
“I didn’t shoot across the road, I didn’t shoot across my neighbor’s fences, I shot directly into the air,” he added.
It wasn’t long before the drone’s owners appeared.
“Four guys came over to confront me about it, and I happened to be armed, so that changed their minds,” Merideth said.
“They asked me, ‘Are you the S-O-B that shot my drone?’ and I said, ‘Yes I am,'” he said. “I had my 40 mm Glock on me and they started toward me and I told them, ‘If you cross my sidewalk, there’s gonna be another shooting.'”
A short time later, Merideth said the police arrived.
“There were some words exchanged there about my weapon, and I was open carry – it was completely legal,” he said. “Long story short, after that, they took me to jail for wanton endangerment first degree and criminal mischief…because I fired the shotgun into the air.”
Merideth said he was disappointed with the police response.
“They didn’t confiscate the drone. They gave the drone back to the individuals,” he said. “They didn’t take the SIM card out of it…but we’ve got…five houses here that everyone saw it – they saw what happened, including the neighbors that were sitting in their patio when he flew down low enough to see under the patio.”
Hillview Police detective Charles McWhirter says you can’t fire your gun in the city.
“Well, we do have a city ordinance against discharging firearms in the city, but the officer made an arrest for a Kentucky Revised Statute violation,” he said.
According to the Academy of Model Aeronautics safety code, unmanned aircraft like drones may not be flown in a careless or reckless manner and has to be launched at least 100 feet downwind of spectators.
The FAA says drones cannot fly over buildings — and that shooting them poses a significant safety hazard.
“An unmanned aircraft hit by gunfire could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air,” said FAA spokesman Les Dorr.
Merideth said he’s offering no apologies for what he did.
“He didn’t just fly over,” he said. “If he had been moving and just kept moving, that would have been one thing — but when he come directly over our heads, and just hovered there, I felt like I had the right.”
“You know, when you’re in your own property, within a six-foot privacy fence, you have the expectation of privacy,” he said. “We don’t know if he was looking at the girls. We don’t know if he was looking for something to steal. To me, it was the same as trespassing.”
For now, Merideth says he’s planning on pursuing legal action against the owners of the drone.
“We’re not going to let it go,” he said. “I believe there are rules that need to be put into place and the situation needs to be addressed because everyone I’ve spoke to, including police, have said they would have done the same thing.”
“Because our rights are being trampled daily,” he said. “Not on a local level only – but on a state and federal level. We need to have some laws in place to handle these kind of things.”
So, should it be a crime to shoot down drones over your private property?
* * *
Finally, as an addenda, we note, as The BBC reports, the law isn't always in favour of drone pilots.
Over the weekend, Californian officials agreed to offer a total of $75,000 (£48,000) in rewards for information that would help catch drone operators who flew their vehicles over recent wildfires in San Bernardino County.
The flight of hobbyists' drones near to wildfires caused firefighting aircraft to be grounded for safety reasons, leading to the faster spread of the fires.
District attorney Mike Ramos said in a statement: "We want to know who was flying drones, and we want them punished.
"Someone knows who they are, and there is $75,000 waiting for them."
* * *
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Rand Paul said he would. That's good enough for me.
If a drone shits in the woods, does the NSA smell it?
Are there any laws against using radio jammers, High powered Electro-Magnetic-Pulse devices, or taking over the drone with a remote control?
Just wondering
Civy operation of drones is basically a new legal wrinkle that, absent any new laws from Congress <shudders> this will go through the court system piecemeal. In this case, i think they are charging him with discharge of a firearm, so the question then becomes "is it legal defense" ...
Technology isn't the problem here, it is the intent of the operator.
And so it goes ...
Regards,
Cooter
How about this
http://www.wsj.com/articles/next-step-for-drones-defending-against-them-...
How about this:
responsible dronesmanship?
The drone operator sends a post card to the neighbors telling them he is going to photograph a client's property and not to worry. Provide a discount to anyone who also wants their property photographed and be all upfront and nice about it. But maybe that's just too easy.
i guess it depends if its a crime to randomly shoot a shotgun in your backyard lol
out on your farm? or in a uptown Phoenix suburb?
"Should It Be A Crime To Shoot Down A Drone Over Your Property?"
No. Next question?
http://www.themarysue.com/fake-cod-quadrotor/
Go ahead, shoot down that drone, but what are you going to do when it starts shooting back? Sure, it's fake for now, but for how long?
Kill the drone operator.
How are you to know if the drone is owned by criminals casing your property for future theft or arson? It is self defense to shoot one down.
How am I to know if I see you walking past my house, whether you are criminals casing my property for future theft or arson? It is self defense to bust a cap in yo' ass.
there, fixed it for you.
Someone walking past a house, presumably on a sidewalk, is on public property. Someone flying a drone over someone else's property is trespassing.
I don't know if you were just trying to be cute and edgy or whatever but you failed.
I am Chumbawamba.
"Someone walking...on a sidewalk, is on public property".
Zimmerman doesn't think so.
I am Garypaul
Fucktard lib.
No, I'm a supporter of the Stand Your Ground Law and the Republican author of the law:
BAXLEY: Well, simply because if you carefully read the statute, which most of the critics have not, and read the legislative analysis, there's nothing in this statute that authorizes you to pursue or confront other people. If anything, this law would have protected the victim in this case; it could have.
You're the idiot who hates rule of law.
My 2c…
If the freaking thing is low enough over my airspace and not in the ADIZ.. it is a valid target.
trap or skeet shooting, anybody?
But Zimmerman did confront and pursue.
is that true?:
"Someone flying a drone over someone else's property is trespassing."
if you own a house, do you own the airspace over the house? and if so, to what height?
if a commercial aircraft flies over your house do you have the right to shoot it down with a stinger missile?
The actions of the drone in this story could not have been mimicked by a commercial jet aircraft. Jets neither hover nor fly low enough to look under your awnings.
Just trying to point out that self defense is a different deal to blazing away at somebodys property when you have no idea what the facts are.
I suppose that like when your favourite toy is a hammer, everythng does look like a nail, similarily to some people everything just looks like a target.
A drone flying low over one's property violates Clark rule #3: Don't be creepy.
FGB
How are you to know if the drone is owned by criminals casing your property for future theft or arson? It is self defense to shoot one down.
Yeah. I agree.
If those damned HELICOPTERS, especially those ones emblazoned with the Police Department Shield, flies over my airspace then I have the Gawd Given Right to blow that muther fukker right out of the sky...in self defense of course.
Those criminals are dangerously devious and have been known to masquarde as cops.
And damn it. Those Cessna Pilots flying in my airspace...They can be casing my property too with that aerial photography. Blow those muthers right out o' the sky.
And then those Commercial Jets...They may be masquarading as they are some of those NSA Spy Aircraft looking to case my place because I have got my speakers turned off and my cameras taped.
Sheeeeet. I am gonna neeed me some bigger Antiaircraft missiles. Damn it.
Someone does not understand the satire.
This guy was well within his rights to blow that fucking drone out of the sky.
SERIOUSLY.
But there needs to be REASON applied in making that decision.
The existence of a drone does not necessarily constitute a threat.
If your neighbor's dog strays in your yard then you have not the right to shoot it...necessarily.
However if your neighbor's dog is a vicious animal and is thretening to attack your three year old...then by all means you have the damned right to discharge that firearm in city limits and protect your child.
If the drone is flying through your airspace then that may be a violation but does not constitute a threat.
If the Drone is hovering over your property at low level, then it is a threat that needs to be eliminated..
Actually Tall Tom your comment is worth thinking about carefully.
I recently read about the 1975 "Miami Showband" massacre in Ireland where terrorists dressed up as police and made a fake checkpoint, stopped the band's minivan and then killed the hapless band members.
What does that say about the American policy of "unquestionable police authority"?
Shooting a drone is the same as shooting a cop's eyes out. Now you wouldn't make it legal to blind a cop with a gun. So, obviously shooting a drone must be illegal.
Also, if they can be destoyed every time they go off gov property, soon there'd be none left. We can't have a waste of taxpayer funds like that.
This will all be over soon. This guy will be made an example. First he will be jailed for the illegal shooting. Then he will be sued for the replacement cost of the drone. They will jack that price up so much he'll be in the poor house for life.
fuck a drome....they kill american citizens overseas without due cause.....choot 'em !
A super soaker with saltwater in it is far more insidious than a shotgun blast. Get enough on the drone and you'll short out the Li-ion battery and you can watch it drop into your yard, on fire.
Instead of a shotgun, He could have gotton by using a unilateral phase detrator with those newly installed reverse rotaries; this would automatically synchronize cardinal grammeters...well watch the scientist explain in this video to learn more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgVtzJZd5VQ
... use a slingshot ... much more quiet ... hide yourself, take aim, release ... pervert droners wouldn't know what hit their crashing toy ...
...and had he not announced his pistol when the 4 pissed off droners approached him, they very likely would have come onto his property and started some shit.
At that point, feeling threatened, he could have shot them, called the police, and very likely not have spent Sunday night in jail.
Not that I am suggesting that course, but it is possible.
Now that would've made a happy ending. Wish it had gone down like that. To the dude above you, use a shotgun like meredith did..dont hide!
Also, don't forget the activists using weather baloons and drones for mass surveillance:
http://publiclab.org/
Thats my problem with most of the world. It's the humanity$200 million in pay and live with themselves offshoring jobs to slave labor in another country. WTF has happened to individual values/responsibility/integrity.
Yes, shoot them out of the sky all day long.
There is a South Park episode concerning this problem, they pretty much shows that the operators are always the issue.
His daughter had been sunbathing in the yard and came and got her father after it hovered over her for awhile, left and then came back again.
The police gave the drone back to the kids who were operating it & never looked at the sim card to see what they had been recording.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3181965/Man-shot-drone-hovering-house-arrested-charged-criminal-mischief.html
His daughter had been sunbathing in the yard and came and got her father after it hovered over her for awhile, left and then came back again.
The police gave the drone back to the kids who were operating it & never looked at the sim card to see what they had been recording.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3181965/Man-shot-drone-hovering-house-arrested-charged-criminal-mischief.html
He should have called the police first saying a drone was flying dangerously close to his house and yard where his children were.
Then he should have shot it down after a few minutes and told the police it was swooping out of control
Better yet, try hitting it wiith a high pressure garden hose
When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
-- Unknown
The fact that he shot it with #8 birdshot means it was perty close...too close for comfort. As you say, what if the pilot lost control, after all he doesn't see exactly where that thing is flying when it's that low. Seems to me it's a dangerous hobby to be flying those near residential houses.
If I had a choice, and if I were a licensed [non-alcoholic] lawyer, I'd choose to defned the fellow hwo shot the drone down. Make a rep for myself also as a Drone Defense Attorney, go on TV with Greta van Facejob and spout very wise legals words to the TV audience...."therefore, whereas, heatherto, unless otherwise stated, notwithstanding"....and so on....
Also quote lots of cases like ... Roe v Wade, Dread Scott, Pee Wee Herman v City of Philidelphia, and so on....
Very impressive! I'd probably get lots more respect around here on ZH then I get now if I did something like that. Maybe Emily [the intelliegnt UK Emily, not the Emily from Ashley Madison] might take notice also.
Hey, Loki, we'll still respect you and even if you don't win, we can heretofore call it "The Loki Defense" even if it fails and the guy gets sent up the river.
But it's definitely worth the effort to set a precedent. Maybe you can contact Dershowitzenstein to do some pro bono work and help you out? He would prbably like this type of case esp if you convince him that the drone somehow violated your civil rights.By all means get as much TV time as possible and if at all possible get Kardashian or Caitlyn to make a brief teary statement how unjust it is for them to arrest you.
However, I would ASAP set up an online fundraising thingy to pay for your legal fees, court costs, etc....one of those 'crowdfunding' thingies. Mention in your online plea for donations how hurt you are about Cecil the Loin's murder and relate it to out-of-control hunters and drone operators like thsi who pose a threat not only to neighbors/people but to warm loveable nearly extinct animals like Cecil, Bless his lion soul.
Good luck! We'll all rooting for you!
""The Loki Defense" even if it fails and the guy gets sent up the river."
If the guy gets sent up the river, ZH should crowd fund a huge drone to break him out. Just pick him up out of the yard one day...
+1000
well, if bad luck happens we can try to get him transferred to the Clinton Maximum Security Correctional Prison where blow torches, welding tools and other break out tools are no problem obtaining it seems.
""The Loki Defense" even if it fails and the guy gets sent up the river."
If the guy gets sent up the river, ZH should crowd fund a huge drone to break him out. Just pick him up out of the yard one day..."
What if the drone were sent to the prick Judge's house that sent him up the river?
Son of Loki - Comedy Gold!!! Thanks, without hacking, can only give you 1 thumb up!!
Police carry Chuck Norris for safety.
I don't trust the cops. Too many dead people happen when cops are around.
He should have called the police first
Invasion of property.....shoot that bitch down !
Use another drone or any R/C aircraft. Attach a strong string about 30 feet long to your craft with a thread. Fly so that the string drapes over the target drone. The string will get sucked into the props, and the thread will separate, leaving your craft to return to you.
Much less noise than a shotgun, and unless you put your name on the string, untraceable.
Probably, but who is going to know you used such a devise to take out their spy robot?
It's amazing that the cops in this story let those scumbags get away with spying on his sixteen year old daughter who I assume sunbathing on his property.
Shoot it down with a paint ball gun. Not illegal to fire in the city and effective in taking down the flying cameras taking pics of your teenager daughters.
Why did this guy even hang around to respond to these people or open his door. All he had to do was play the plausible deniability card if push came to shove. Not very bright, but good for him for shooting it down.
Still, if an airplane flies over your house... not exactly a license to kill.
His mistake was talking to the cops.
By the way, when will they start offering $75,000 rewards for identifying whose birds are flying near wildfires??
Yep and they can now taste it too, tho will only admit to sniffing it's meta.
Your gun on your property, none of their business.
Maybe outside the city limits. But inside, city ordinances prevail. Inside the city, it is "their" business. Don't like it? Don't live inside the city limits.
Its their business only because they say so. That doesn't make it their business.
What about a 747?
Why do posters always want to escalate the question. The subject is drones not fucking 747's or rocket ships.
argumentum ad absurdem.
Blythe Master wrote, Rand Paul said he would. That's good enough for me.
LINK please.
If he is that shallow of a thinker then he deserves not the Presedency and someone really needs to take a good look at his License to practice Medicine.
He should have said that he thought it was a Chinese terrorist using a hacked drone. He shot in a defensive manner only.
What about an Amazon drone making a delivery? Do we get to keep it as a souvenir?
Jimmy Carter: US ‘now just an oligarchy’http://tinyurl.com/q33gjbj
Hell yeah...
Skeet shooting with prizes!
I bet the jury will acquit him. No father would vote to convict this man with the reasoning he gave.
"40mm Glock" LMAO.
The MGL isn't too far from a Glock 40mm, and as expected, it's sexy as hell.
And I thought my S&W 460 mag was a hoss ... that is like ... naval cannon? LOL!
Regards,
Cooter
I want one! I bet there's a helluva waiting list, though...
Like so many things it appears it is ok until it is you
If I was on that jury, I'd give him a medal. A man's home is his castle.......
Pull!
what should be a crime is all of D.C. - jail anyone inside that works for the govt
what should be a crime is all of the Federal Reserve - jail everyone on their payroll
what should be a crime is all of G Sachs - jail.....
etc
Is there not a basic legal precept as to a certain elevation above one's property historically been considered an invasion of privacy?
http://www.luckygunner.com/12ga-3-uranium-drone-load-tacnition-5-rounds
NY, CA, CT; problem. MT, ID, no problem
Y'all watch the reactions when "folks" start flying drones outside Nancy Pelosi's SF mansion windows. Will be one big ass hue and cry about privacy, etc.
Of course drones are an invasion of privacy. WTF people think they're being flown for. Jesus!
Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos.
The cops and the prosecutor in this case never studied property law (or were asleep during class).
The drone was a trespasser.
Thank you, sir. Lifted form Wikipedia;
The "ultimate demise" of ad coelum in the United States came in the United States Supreme Court case United States v. Causby in 1946.[16] In the Causby case:[15]
In almost all states the common law rule "that which you own is yours from the heavens to the depths of hades" holds only subject to FAA regulation of air space which requires that private aircraft not fly at altitudes less than 500 feet except at takeoff and landing at airports. A private drone flying 20 feet above the surface of your land is clearly a tresspass and is in no way governed by dictum in Causby shortly after WWII when privately owned unmanned drones were not even dreamed of.
Seems obvious we should have our reasonable expectation of privacy exp on our home land and house protected. However, maybe they should consider setting up a "DoNotFlyDroneZone" data base that you can register your property in similar to the feds "DoNotCall" database to block those pain in the ass telemarketers.
If someone violates it you then have to right to shoot it down as wel as collect xyz monetary penalty.
Means more Bureaucracy but maybe ? Plus, the local gubmint can issue the required drone license for $x as a tax revenue thingy so all drones will be registered sort of like cars.
This case is not about property rights being violated or shooting down drones. It is about discharging a firearm within the city limits, which is apparently illegal in this city.
Oh bullshit.
If he felt threatened by the presence of a tresspasser he can discharge that firearm to dissuade the intrusion. Do you really believe that Socialist anti gun drivel ...er dribble...you just spewed?
The Feds claim jurisdiction above 500' AGL, there's conflicting case law that says somewhere between 80-500' is the limit. Meaning, under 80' you probably have a strong case for trespass.
Nailing a drone with a 12-gauge isn't going to happen at 500' AGL unless the guy is a crazy good shot and has a few lucky pellets. I'd say the drone's carcass falling on his property and being successfully shot are both likely good evidence of trespass/snooping.
Google maps & other commercial satellite/airplane images can be quite detailed.
He has a "six-foot privacy fence". If a seven-foot tall person walks by his fence, is that "the same as trespassing.”?
Absent other reasons, is it ok to shoot someone for civil/criminal trespass? ("If you cross my sidewalk, there’s gonna be another shooting.")
[Ask me sometime about LZ bush.]
I'd shoot that mother just coz he was 7 feet tall. Never have liked tall fucks.
If the 7' guy uses his height to lean over the fence, he's trespassing (assuming fence is over the property line.)
Depending on the area and circumstances, it could very well be legal to light someone up for trespassing. It might not be moral, but I think the average housewife unloading a 12GA into a guy that hopped the backyard fence and was snooping in the windows would get a free pass in a lot of states.
There's going to be a lot of new case law built around drones. From what I see here, the drone operator fucked up pretty bad, and then the property owner added to it. Had he used something other than a gun, like a nice net, for example, and had the thing crashed in his back yard, and then simply not answered the door to the drone operator and called the cops, there's a very good chance the drone's operator would be the one in a jail cell.
I own a couple drones, including one that could easily fly well outside of visual range. I've never flown them over anything other than my own property and state land. Shit, if the drone operator just flew over roads he would have likely been OK, but flying low enough to get hit in an area generally regarded as private is just begging for trouble.
well, re: the Glock thingy...if four men jump out of a car fists raised that could certainly be construed by a reasonable person as a deadly threat somewhat depending on what words they used, if they had sticks in thier hands, etc. Then his use a equal force [a gun] may be justified to defend himself.
He needs a good lawyer who also wants to aggressively defend the drone portion of the case and make a name for himself in this area since it's growing exponentially I bet.
Last time I looked, and I did look, being a peeping tom was not against the law in Arizona. Peeping tom as defined as walking up to a house and looking in the windows. Now if the person has been told to leave and later returns, that would be criminal trespass. It still doesn't justify shooting them, morally or legally. In AZ you cannot use deadly force to defend property.
.
Hitting one at 500' would be pretty much miraculous. Even at 80' it would take a good/lucky shot. (BTW, #4 buckshot would probably make good drone ammo, as it strikes a decent balance between pellet mass and number of pellets.)
Since the thing was flying at rooftop level (and lower, according to the story), I render my verdict thusly:
1) Mr. Meredith not guilty on all counts.
2) Drone operator(s) pay Mr. Meredith's legal expenses.
3) Drone operator(s) reimburse Mr. Meredith for the replacement cost of shotgun shells.
Four guys running a drone through a neighborhood at a low level are only doing one thing. Looking for girls.
Mr. Meredith could have pulled down his pants and shown them his dick or, he could have gone out in the neighborhood and found the operators and joined in on what they were watching. And provided free beer. Can't we all just get along?
<<< Since the thing was flying at rooftop level (and lower, according to the story), I render my verdict thusly:
1) Mr. Meredith not guilty on all counts.
2) Drone operator(s) pay Mr. Meredith's legal expenses.
3) Drone operator(s) reimburse Mr. Meredith for the replacement cost of shotgun shells. >>>>
How about:
4) mental anguish from the horrible experince has left you seriously distraught for an indetermintate period of time;
5) recurring nightmares of these thugs coming to your home threatening you with violence...many sleeplesss nights;
6) medical bills for sleep therapy treatments;
7) psycholgist bills for treatment of the nightmares, anguish and physical suffering the home owner sustained;
8) loss of work/wages due to the above;
9) legal expenses;
10) a protective order against all four of those droners from coming within xxx mileskm of your house, your family or your body; and last but not least,
11) a permanent injunction against those droners from flying that drone wihin xxx miles/km of your house.
Drones over universities?
Drones over politicians' houses?
Maybe leaflet drops on college campuses?
Sounds fun.
Problem: Drone
Problem solver: Remington SP-10 with Turkey loads (aka Ithica Mag10)
Age of dones: in the sky, on the ground, in the classrooms, at the workplace...
Where I live you can't fire off weapons (even pellet guns) within 1000 yards of the residential area. Now if I happen to be plinking out on BLM land and one flies over......bang
True dat. CANNOT have irresponsible people just discharging firearms in public places. Somebody could get hurt or killed. Re my other comment about electrical jammer frying the circuitry.
Jamming seem like an expensive alternative to a few well placed shots. How much is that tech and how much power does it require to use it effectively? It might be worth having it in my arsenal.
A search of the terms "magnetron" and "horn antenna" should prove fruitful.
"Where I live you can't fire off weapons (even pellet guns) within 1000 yards of the residential area."
Yeah? What happend to self defence? You have a Constitutional right to be safe and secure in your body and private property.
He didn't shoot wantonly into the air, he disabled his target. It did not pose a threat by falling out of the air because he elected to shoot it down over his own property and accepted the risk accordingly.
I think a firearm is less than optimal here, but what else should he have used? As much as it disgusts me to invoke the argument, suppose the operator were talking creep shots of someone's under-age daughter. What is a law abiding citizen to do, wave?
What's needed is a commercial radio jammer, directed, narrow signal to simply fry the electronics.
Bzzzzzt, damned thing falls to the ground.
Then conveniently gets run over with a mower and when owner comes for it, tell him he's gonna pay to resharpen the blades ....
Seventy years ago they had blimps pull up steel cables as anti-aircraft defense.
But your previous comment about "irresponsible people discharging firearms" is, i think, off-base — unless you're referring to the criminals in uniform that came to kidnap him.
Those are referred to as barrage balloons. I think they will be making a comeback.
Not necessarily. Some drones follow a pre-plotted GPS route, no active ground control. Others will return to a certain location and land if active control is lost. Were you thinking of an EMP?
A fishing crossbow is cheap & easier to operate. If the (blunt) dart doesn't break it the tether will bring it down. Plus you can fish/hunt with it. Max range ~200'
If you live within city limits and hate squirrels (or drones) but can't fire a gun, X-bows are really quiet and very accurate.
Just sayin'
How about high powered laser to destroy the drone video sensors. Would be a long way home with no vision.
If it were that easy, there would be many fewer stationary surveillance cameras (in my neighborhood at least). What wattage were you thinking?
Any flying commercial aircraft that happen to spot your lasers and you'll find yourself in jail quite rapidly... virtually guaranteed.
It should not be a crime to kill a deone, especially if that drone is 10-25 feet off the ground directly over your property.
Justifiable Dronicide: Just say, "It looked unstable, officer, and we feared for our lives that it was gonna crash right down on our punkin' heads any second and kill me or my kids. Damn straight! Kids are still scared of their own shadow and gonna need months of counseling, who's gonna pay for all that?"
Maybe if you merely abort it then it would be okay.
.....and part it out.
Memo to Mr. Merideth: The Kentucky Revised Statutes at 511.080 defines criminal trespass in the third degree:
(1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the third degree when he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises.
Knowing some old boys from Ky, I can't believe they would convict this guy and I'm shocked they even arrested him. The prosecutor must have relocated from SF or NYC and be new in town.
Shoot down a commercial satellie with the same kind of imaging capability and see where you finish your life at.
Compressed air fired nets will do the job. I think the guy is right. Your property should extend up to the height of air traffic control.
If, for some stupid reason, this man loses his case of defending his privacy, it will be because governments don't want anyone defending their privacy ever again.
The Bill of Rights of the United States of America (1791)
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
The Class-D airspace over my property is protected with #4 Lead-Shot accelerated to ludicrous speeds....
Have you gone plaid yet?
Need to bootleg a small short range EMP device! Just a jammer will not due because the onboard computer can bring a good drone 'home' if radio contact is lost.
“They asked me, ‘Are you the S-O-B that shot my drone?’ and I said, ‘Yes I am,'” he said. “I had my 40 mm Glock on me and they started toward me and I told them, ‘If you cross my sidewalk, there’s gonna be another shooting.'”
You go Kentucky! don't let em forget why we call it the Dirty South!
Fuck no, just tell me it's typical altitude and speed so that I may secure the appropriate load and install the proper barrel. I am guessing a modified cylinder and a high brass #4 turkey load.
I think it should be a crime NOT to shoot down a drone.
There's definitely an opportunity here for anti-drone drones or pneumatic net 'launchers' or something...
Does this mean it's ok to fly them over the White House
The guy lives in a suburb with postage stamp lots. Are you kidding me?
He had no business discharging a firearm 'in his backyard.' No wonder it was against the law.
He could have dealt with this in a number of different ways, but hauling out a shotgun and shooting it was not too bright.
I sympathize with him, but let's get serious.
Use a slingshot.
Unrighteous indignation soon to be the law of the land
That's why he used a shotgun Jesse and most certainly he was aiming up. Those pellets are not going that far it's not like shooting a rifle straight up in the air.
"Sorry Dude; I was cleaning my Auto-5 and I thought it was empty" Is this your's???
After thought: Follow their drone home, with your drone, and film his kids... Better yet, film his wife doing the horizontal bombo and post it to Youtube.... Quid pro quo
So Jesse, did you upvote yourself before or after he dozens of downvotes?
Americans on their property can be subjected not only to Peeping Toms but to Peeping Drones, not to mention an explosion in the capabilities of government surveillance. What’s a citizen to do? Well, there are citizens with the capabilities at home right now to build this Quadrotor Drone shown. This could be the equalizer:
Quadrotor Drone, with Machine Gun! - PATROLLING AMERICAN SKIES ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjG1n9FEDb0&feature=youtu.be
He should have taken it out with another drone.
and that shooting them poses a significant safety hazard.
“An unmanned aircraft hit by gunfire could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air,” said FAA spokesman Les Dorr.
"Its for the children" Cue the whining voice and handwringing.
Ahh yes! Criminal prosecution based on coulda, mighta, oughta!!! First cousin of pre-crime. Keep the unmanned drones out of the air. Problem solved.
The reason why peeping tom activity is taken so seriously is because it is the last stage of budding psychopath before they begin to hunt. Flashers do not tend to accelerate peeping toms often do, they are dangerous. So we are supposed to allow any asshole who wants to video our residence while beating his pud get away with it, screw that.
Rumor has it that shooting at drones is a favorite past time in Mt but I doubt the neighbors call the cops.
Can you fly a drone over the Obama residence? Over the Governors residence? Over the Congressman or Senators residence? He owns the coal/mineral rights under the ground and the wind rights above his house. The drone was tresspassing and the owners should be arrested.
The Equal Protection Clause is located at the end of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment:
Won't be long before someone straps a canister of Sarin onto a drone and flies it into a Synagogue on Saturday
Party time.
Exactly.
How is one to tell the difference between a benign drone and an enemy drone?
At least big airliners are subject to control towers. But what are drones subject to?
Ovomit has imported several million muscums so far, all he has to do is arm them, and he has his "domestic army". There are already 40 or so training camps of muscum terrorists around the country. The local LE and the FBI won't touch them or disarm them.
Exterminate the demoniacal Ovomitaloids and the enabling Demoncraps, or we are doomed.
Perhaps a grappling hook, a lasso, a net, something to grab it from 10 or 20 feet off the ground and take it down. Perhaps then the police would have confiscated it and arrested the operator instead. But since discharing the firearm was the "bigger offense", the police of course arrested the father. It was stupid of them to give it back to the operator, sounds like a real douche nozzle. How much would anyone bet on those four guys jumping the father on his front lawn if he wasn't armed? The operator should be charged with peeping tom laws.
I find it funny that we have the right to bear arms and yet there is always a city ordinance making discharge or transportation illegal. It is also interesting that we have a 4th amendment but have no damn privacy of any kind... none! Get a warrant you Red Coat POS!
His daughter is under 18, I would charge them with underage sex crimes. See just how bad they want this fight.
Swat it with a net, and then beat the shit out of it with a baseball bat.
He should have told the police that he had killed an alien. Acted all proud and such.
He should have called up the news and told them about how he killed an alien....
"No, it couldnt' have been a drone, no drone would trespass, it must have been an alien, and I killed it"
That is a completely awesome approach, I would only add that the father could pee his pants for dramatic effect. I've heard it goes a long way towards supporting a "fear" defense. Someone once told me if you had to shoot someone who broke into your home, to pee your pants immediately after the trespasser was stopped. Fortunately I don't know if this is good advice, or not.
Nice target practice.
Start shootin the Amazon drones and get free gifts as well.
In the shady parts of town Amazon will lose a lot of drones. Everyone keeps quiet about shootings.
You can just see it coming...
m
Do thermite tipped blow darts count?
~silent but violent~
What if you ordered a drone from Amazon and a drone delivered it?
Hillarious...
m
So that means its legal to hover over my neighbors pool and video his wife suntanning nude?