Activists’ drone shot out of the sky for fourth time

Sorry Pat,
as a life-long resident of California I can tell you: if you do *anything* in this State, (or even nothing at all) you are in violation of some statute or regulation. The carbon dioxide you exhale violates Air Quality Mandates.

I think we just heard from another arogant obama voter.

It would be nice if the smart people in this discussion could look at the real issues here:

1) with the emergence of drone technologies, what new air regulations are necessary to manage their use, for safety as well as for privacy?

2) would it ever be appropriate for FAA to protect a pigeon-shoot or other activities by imposing a TFR? What activities fit, and which do not?

3) should animal rights activists instead fly a helo over the pigeon-shoot and thus endanger human life? I.e., where do the present regs stand on their right to hover and at what altitudes, without violating any FAR's? Could they legally pass over at 500'AGL with a larger camera and record?

4) in the big picture, is there a value to the general Public in transparency, wherein we should not discourage collection of video via drone, in matters such as pigeon-shoots (or pollution, etc.)? If so, do we want to rely on government officials to use drones and produce that video, or would we prefer to empower free citizens to do so, as has happened in Pennsyvania courtesy of Mr. Hindi?

5) where are the regs that allow the destruction of a drone? And, are there legal obligations on the part of the local law enforcement to issue citations and otherwise attempt to cease this destruction?

6) given that GA private planes (especially helos) are far more intrusive than drones, is there a need for FAA to revamp air regs to protect privacy and/or to maximize the efficient use of aviation technologies for Public information?

From my own perspective, I applaud this use of drones. I appreciate we have the freedom to challenge stupid activities such as pigeon-shoots. And I would much prefer we rely on concerned citizens to do this data collection, and not on FAA or police or other governmental entities, which all too often tend to serve one interest too narrowly.

;-)

Who really cares, pigeons are just rats with wings, sort of like sea gulls. I do agree that it seems less than sporting to shoot them just as they are released from a cage. Now as for shooting down the drone, that sounds like fun. It appears that the drone in this article was only wounded, when the next one comes over, lose the bird shot and switch to 00 buck. That should do it.