Colorado Town to Vote on Hunting, Shooting Down Drones

Deer Trail, Colorado (population 598) was scheduled to vote on measure allowing residents to “hunt for federal drones and shoot them down.” The vote was originally scheduled for yesterday but has been rescheduled while the district court determines whether the ordinance is legal. 

The author, Phillip Steel, wrote the measure after learning about “loosened regulations that would allow the flight of drones in domestic airspace.”

“What has me fired up is it’s trespassing,” he said. “It doesn’t belong there. Yes, it’s privacy. But that’s only one part of it. Who’s going to be flying these drones?”

The ordinance specifies the kinds of weapons and ammunition residents could use and puts a bounty on recovered parts — $25 for the fuselage or wing, $100 for a whole drone that has U.S. government markings.

The idea has found some support in Deer Trail, which takes up less than one square mile and is about 50 miles outside Aurora.

“I would shoot a drone down if it’s peering in my window, scanning me, and it’s within elevation where I can nail it,” said Robert Copely, a resident.

The town Mayor, Frank Fields said the vote would probably would take place next year.

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