There’s a Drone Flying Over My House. Can I Shoot It?

That whole thing opens a HUGE can of worms over a right to privacy.

When I was doing real estate inspections, and a six foot privacy fence surrounded the back yard of a residence, we were to take a photo of the fence from our own eye level and submit it as a reason we were unable to access the back yard or the rear of the dwelling. Privacy was given the utmost respect.

There was a big flap once when one inspector held a camera high enough to take a shot over a six foot privacy fence. He got a great picture of the home-owner's 14 year old daughter indulging is some topless sunbathing. And she saw the camera. You wouldn't believe how the stuff hit the fan!
 
I saw this earlier. I completely agree with the guy. I think it depends on the size of the property, a suburban dwelling where the the shot can fall down and harm people or other property, I get it. If it's a large piece of land, then he should not have any problems.
 
And lefty, Libby Yahoo, a big supporter of gun control, shows their abysmal ignorance about firearms.
Who in their right mind would grab a 30-06 (as was stated in the article) to shoot down a small drone?
You would use a shotgun.
Sheesh!
 
If I thought it was spying and looking for something to steal or worse I would want to do the same.
Something needs changed, just like hackers stealing info the bad guys will use them to locate things or see if anyone is around. Plus they already are getting in emergency responders way.
 
(quoted from post at 09:59:45 08/01/15) And if a drone crashes all on its own and someone gets hurt, are they liable?

Actually yes, they can be held liable for any damage to property or injury to humans, pets or livestock. Same rules apply to any RC aircraft.

Rick
 
I don't remember exactly how this went but some years ago a local rc flying club had a airport near me. Some neighbor figured out how to get on the same frequency as the planes and was making them crash. Could something like that be done with these drones? I don't think anyone could prove anything or figure out who it was so they ended up having to move their flying field.
 
Remember, water flowingthrough your property, and air above your property, and your land itself, are all governed by three different sets of rules, all with many overlapping rules, regulations, and so.

Pay enough to enough lawyers and you can find something to argue over differently.

But in general, airspace over your property is ruled by the fedral laws governing airplanes, and you are in deep trouble if you cause an aircraft to crash intentionally. Whether a 747 or a little personal drone, the fedral laws control that airspace and they have not yet really rolled out different rules for the different types of airspace.

And remember drones have video, and many of them beam that video back home live, so you will be on video shown brining down the aircraft.

I agree with the issues of privacy this brings, and private folk need better protections of privacy than we currently have.

But just consider the laws of today before telling other folk how to SSS a situation like this?

Paul
 
Had the altimate drone fly over my house last night. Saw a hot air ballon coming from the SE. Went in the house for a bit and came out and could hear the guy really putting the coals to the burner. He somehow managed to get turned and came back from the west right over the top of the house. He just barely cleared the 80 ft. tall highline across the road from me. Looked like he was going to touch down after that but went back up and didn't see where he touched down.
 
Forgot the picture.
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This is a similar situation to when thermal imaging started to proliferate. It was so new there weren't any laws yet. After a few test cases the law now can't "just look through the walls " of your home without a court order (I believe something like that). It will take some time, and probably test cases, for more laws to catch up with drone use.
 
There should be a right to privacy and the ability to protect that privacy in your own home, and your land should be considered part of your home. Flying by is one thing, but hovering over you recording video is a whole different scenario.

As it stand the law is against the guy, however a good lawyer could argue that a precident needs to be set regarding something like this.

I think drones should fall into the peeping tom law. Here's an exert that could very easily apply here:

Unless covered by another provision of law providing greater punishment, any person who, while secretly peeping into any room, uses any device to create a photographic image of another person in that room for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the "adult" desire of any person shall be guilty of a Class I felony.

Spying on his underage daughter while sunbathing could and should fall into this category.
 
I'm pretty sure you can build a sweep oscillator with enough power to protect your home area without running afoul of the FCC. I've done a little research on this but haven't figured it all out so don't beat me up too bad.

You could leave it on 24/7 instead of having to staff a standing watch.
 
A real can of worms it would appear. Crooks could be using drones to case a potential robbery site. Getting combinations to your locks or safes might also be done. Or your PIN at an ATM. Possibilities are many. We need protection from the misuse of these devices.
 
I'm an attorney here in Indiana, but haven't taken the time or trouble to research the law SO DONT KNOW THE ANSWER or if any primary sources or ruling precedent even exists. That being said, if one were over my home I may well shoot it down and let the chips fall where they may. I'm a big believer in property rights.

John T
 

If drones are covered under FAA rules, then I would think that each and every drone would need to be registered with the FAA, and assigned a permanent number, which would be required to be displayed.
 
I am of the opinion that drones flying over one's house and property are nothing more than a toy - one being remotely controlled. As such, one should be able to shoot it down as it is a violation of privacy - given the altitude and relatively low ground speed. It is a recipe for a snooping device - something any crook could use to survey your property, take inventory and later come get it.

If it's legal where you live to discharge a gun at a bird, like a dove or even shoot in the air at skeet, then it should be legal to shoot a drone.

Of course, it's illegal as the justice system favors the guilty, not the victim in this country.
 
Damn thing better be couple hundred feet up and flying by. Not hovering at 40-50 feet or I will try my best to blow it out of the sky. Period. Even private aircraft are supposed to be minimum 200 feet above the ground.
 
I think you might be able to tip the scales, increase your odds regarding where the chips fall, thus reserving the heavier artillery for future reference, by using your high pressure "fine stream" water hose, or your beefed up leaf blower to perform the maintenance on "your domicile". One has to do the necessary housekeeping to insure they don't deny themselves "implied habitability". I mean just a couple of leaves piling up, might turn the place squalid overnight, darned hose got away from me again, can't hear a drone while using a leaf blower, must not have seen it up there....

Never heard of any regulations or laws on water hoses and leaf blowers, seems perfectly legal to me..... and all that is followed by the usual disclaimer of course ! LOL !
 
JohnT,
I heard on the radio a few days ago, locally, someone actually shot down a drone. I can't find anything about it.
 
(FAR) Federal Aviation Regulation 91.119. May not operate an aircraft (congested area) below 1000' and 2000' horizontal. (other than congested) below 500'
The operator should be in plan site, if there is not a lot of homes around. If it was me and they showed up a second time. Well.....................
 
(quoted from post at 13:21:46 08/01/15) I don't remember exactly how this went but some years ago a local rc flying club had a airport near me. Some neighbor figured out how to get on the same frequency as the planes and was making them crash. Could something like that be done with these drones? I don't think anyone could prove anything or figure out who it was so they ended up having to move their flying field.

Difficult since controls went to spread spectrum technology. Except for three letter government agencies etc.
 
got one here in ky with A 12 GAUGE-----good to see if they over our property we will have a great skeet shoot and love it ----s-s-s shoot shovel and shut up or better yet cover the camera with a bag and dump it on gov property
 
That's because laws are made by the lawyers, of the lawyers, for the lawyers. Washington is full of them. An honest man that isn't committing a crime doesn't need a lawyer.
 
Guy in KY got me thinking ? I know that is dangerous ! LOL. Sounded like he mainly my be in trouble for the damage to the unit. $ 1,800 is what I read. So if you could take one down without ruining it may be a good idea. Isn't their some bolo ammo for shotguns that has balls and a string ? or this may be a fine time to invent something, maybe that shoots a net out ?
 
I believe what may have created the problem ofr the man in Kentucky this week was that he discharged a firearm inside the city limits, which in most municipalities is illegal unless in defense of life or property.
 
Whether its a toy, hobby, RC, experimental or whatever, these things fall under the legal definition of an aircraft. Shooting, damaging, disabling, destroying an aircraft in any way is a federal crime. I doubt the feds will be interested in charging him though. The guy wasn't even charged with discharging the firearm in city limits but he's still looking at two other felony charges.

I saw the telemetry video and it appears the drone never hovered over his property (he stated it did and was around 20' or so, it did cross his property at approx 270' altitude and for less than 2 seconds duration. When the drone was shot it was 2 properties over from the shooters property. The shooter claimed it was above his property and he shot straight up.

Here's the link to the flight record
http://link.brightcove.com/services...wPweJ20LLt7jwm8LxmhCE&bctid=4390416527001
 
Let me ask a question. What's the range of a 12 ga with a 3 inch shell? Not likely the guy was shooting a full choke with a high brass 3 inch shell but it could be possible. So the drone is approximately 280 feet high and somewhere around 400 ft away (two subdivision properties away)... He must have a better gun (and ammo) than I do.
 
interesting stuff.
Curious on how it will all work out with the FCC.
ok on the remote control RF flying/driving thing.
On frequencies where it is allowed, and consumer level RF products, 'may not cause interference, and must accept interference from licensed sources'
ok....if one flies by a hams vertical when he is transmitting legally on a licensed frequency...that is a harmonic of the flyers...it will probably crash or lose its signal...flyers problem, not the hams.

But, my real question, is the [i:7367db0341]camera[/i:7367db0341] on it.
Transmitting video over the rf spectrum requires a FCC license.
and has lots of rules.
I read a very few certain cameras have a FCC exemption.
So, how are all these hobby cheapo drone operators getting around that requirement?
 
Glad to here the other side of the story. Don't know why the news didn't mention this. Two seconds over his property @270', he had to be
sitting with his shotgun ready to fire to get it.
 
Range between a 2 3/4" and 3" shot gun shells driven at the same velocity and shot size are about the same. The 3" shell holds more pellets
making for a denser pattern, not necessarily increased range.

I've set up clay targets, not moving, and they can be broke out to about 100 yds pretty consistently with 7 1/2 shot. Past that it takes bigger
shot. #4's got me out to about 125 yds. Going to bigger shot created a far less dense pattern and it got harder to break a 4" target.

Shooting down a drone with a shot gun at extreme range shouldn't be too hard as 1 lucky bb into a critical component should knock it down. I
suspect they're pretty fragile.
 
I don't know that you can transmit live feed from one can you? My son in law has flown his over my place several times. He uses a Go Pro with a card. Either takes stills at a regular interval or shoots video. He has to hook the camera to the computer to see what he's shot.
 
Drones are pretty lightweight and fragile, especially the rotor blades. At the distance claimed the shot might not be lethal to a bird but still damage a drone, even if the pellets were raining down on the drone, one rotor strike might be enough. I heard he fired several times too, maybe 5-6.
 
Some basic geometry puts the hypotenuse of that right triangle at around 155 yards . Doable with a load of number 4 buck, or perhaps BBs.
 

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