quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
I could be wrong, but as I understand it, you own rights to the airspace above your property to a certain altitude. What rights that gives you, I'm not sure, but I would imagine that one has the right to deny any overflight from drones. I don't imagine that it allows you to shoot one down with a 9mm though. That is completely irresponsible. A shotgun is a much better choice.

You're incorrect. The FAA manages airspace, including airspace below the highest point of your home. Under federal law, it is a felony to willfully damage or destroy aircraft, including drones.

I'm in a box where I can not fly my drones 3 feet off the ground. (I'm near an airport) But I can go one block up the street to a 100' box where I can fly up to 100' with instant LAANC approval.

Now, will the FAA charge someone for shooting one down? They have not been jumping to do so. But I have seen some reporting where a drone was shot down and the person arrested for criminal mischief and prohibited use of a weapon. If the event is tied to something legit - like a drone tasked to search for a missing child or even pet - you can bet law enforcement will be looking into it.

There is certainly privacy concerns including incidents of voyeurism, but that has not yet been addressed by the FAA at the federal level. Some states have inacted laws concerning the subject. I think Pilot Institute is doing a pretty good job providing information on state and city laws.

https://pilotinstitute.com/drones/states/

quote:

Originally posted by steve495:
You're incorrect.

Not uncommon.

Even so...If you fly a drone over my property and spy on my shit, you can expect to lose your drone.

quote:

Florida Man Shoots Walmart Delivery Drone

If the drone had been delivering meth to a trailer park, this story would have been like winning with a full bingo card.

How can it be a Florida man story without a pickup truck, alcohol, or an alligtor?

quote:

9mm will kill someone on its descent trajectory.

Maybe. Maybe not. 'Will kill' is a pretty strong yet unsubstantiated result. But I agree it was a moronic move regardless.

How life-threatening a missed shot would be depends upon the initial angle of the shot and whether the vast majority of the bullet's travel speed is in the vertical axis rather than in the horizontal direction. If he missed that effin' @##!**@ pesky drone when it was almost directly overhead, then the bullet after it stops rising (gravity) and starts coming back to Earth (again gravity) will only accelerate to a max terminal vertical velocity of about 118 ft/sec due to air resistance, enough to cause a nasty bruise, perhaps a minor concussion and maybe some slight fracturing to the top of the skull in a head strike, but otherwise it's just not fast enough to even break skin. Now turn around and lob that miss far more horizontally (say when the drone is far down the street), then all bets are off.