Drone hunting licenses are on the table in a small Colorado town. Concerned about unmanned aerial drones posing a threat to their privacy, the Deer Trail town board will bring it to a vote.
If the ordinance is approved, not only would such licenses make shooting and destroying drone aircraft legal, but it would actually pay out bounties. Those who successfully shoot down a drone and bring it to authorities will get paid a $100 reward, reports ABC 7 News Denver.
Philip Steel, the Deer Tree resident who proposed the ordinance, says locals simply “do not want drones in town.” Steel says that he wants the laws to pass so that if “they fly in town, they get shot down.”
The ordinance lays out very specific guidelines for drone hunting. It says what weapons and ammunition are permitted, specific rules for engaging a craft, and more. It was modeled after traditional hunting laws.
The proposed law also specifies that only federal drones may be “hunted,” even though destruction of government property is illegal. Opposing Views adds in their report that US airspace is regulated by the federal government as well.
Though Steel says he has never seen a drone in the small Colorado town, he believes the ordinance will be a symbolic act. “I do not believe in the idea of a surveillance society,” Steel says.
At $25 each, Steel thinks the drone hunting licenses will be popular and bring in good revenue. Several members on the town board who will be voting have had similar things to say.
Some, like Deer Tail’s Town clerk, Kim Oldfield, say that some might see the bill as “super vigilante and frightening.” But really, Oldfield says, it could be a novelty that generates money for the little town.
Oldfield, along with Mayor Frank Fields, see the potential for a “skeet, fun-filled festival. We’re the home of the world’s first rodeo, so we could be home to the world’s first drone hunt.”
Steel, however, maintains that while his proposal for drone hunting licenses in Deer Tail, Colorado may be a novelty to some, he says, “To me, I’m serious.”
