Drones are easily accessible to anyone who can afford them, similar to guns. So, if you see a drone flying over your garden or house are you allowed to shoot it down if you feel threatened?
No, shooting down a drone that is flying over your property is illegal. According to the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), a drone is an aircraft, therefore it is illegal for civilians to take action and cause damage to an aircraft in flight.
Keep reading to find out why you cannot shoot down a drone, and some of the possible repercussions for doing so. The answers will shock you!
Legalities Surrounding Shooting a Drone Down
Drones are currently one of the fastest-growing hobbies in America, as well as a hobby that is changing the way certain commercial industries do things.
So, it doesn’t come as much of a shock to find out that many people are having issues with drones flying over their homes. Most enthusiasts use drones far away from other people and make sure to adhere to all the droning laws. However, not all hobby drone pilots are considerate.
You do get the odd drone flying over homes, however, the only way to explain why you can’t shoot down a drone if it is flying over your property is to explain the misconceptions surrounding drones and private property.
Keep reading to find out these laws for a better understanding of this issue!
Aircraft
A drone is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle which is classified as being an aircraft without a human pilot onboard.
Under federal law. 18 U.S.C. § 32., it would be illegal under general criminal or civil laws in most states in America to shoot down a drone because of the fact that it is an “aircraft”.
Violation of this code carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years! In other words, and I cannot stress this enough.
This law does vary from state to state, but using a deadly weapon to bring down an aircraft would generally only be legal or justifiable if the shooter were acting in self-defense.
Just like how if a person were to fend off an attacker and might use a weapon to do so, then it would be justifiable and they probably wouldn’t face any legal backlash for their actions.
It is the same for drones (i.e. aircraft) if the shooter is protecting themselves, others, or possibly a property, this would make the act legal.
Airspace
One of the biggest issues revolving around aircraft and private property is that people think they own the land as well as the airspace above the land that they own!
This simply is not true. The airspace above your backyard is not owned by the homeowner, but in fact, the airspace falls into the national airspace system.
This means that once a drone takes flight or is currently in flight, it is exclusively under the control of the federal government, and therefore you as a civilian cannot take any action affecting the drones’ flight path.
The Repercussions of Shooting Down a Drone
Now that you know that legally you are not allowed to shoot down a drone that might be flying over your property, you might be wondering what will happen to you if you do shoot it down anyway?
Well, actually not much! This might be surprising to hear, as I stated above that it is an illegal act and should definitely put you in some legal trouble.
There are not a lot of cases of people just shooting down drones, but the few times where it has happened and there has finally been a chance to clear up some of the misconceptions people might have about this act, nothing has happened.
In Kentucky, on June of 2015, William Meredith shot down a drone belonging to an enthusiast named David Boggs when the drone flew over his property. At first, Meredith was arrested on a charge of criminal mischief. However, a local judge, Rebecca Ward, dismissed the charges against him.
She said that the drone did indeed represent “an invasion of their privacy”, and further went on to say that Meredith “had the right to shoot” the drone. This was done without any substantive analysis, alluding only to a general right to privacy.
There haven’t been many times where people have been charged for shooting down a drone that was flying over their property until recently, when a Minnesota man was arrested for shooting a drone down.
A Minnesota man was arrested after an enthusiast reported his aircraft was shot down while flying over a meat-processing plant. Travis Winters, 34, was charged with criminal damage to property and reckless discharge of a weapon within city limits.
The pilot was flying a $1,900 drone and said he had been filming the alleged slaughter of chickens by employees due to possible COVID-19 infections.
The pilot was apparently approached by two men that asked him about his flight to which Winters also admitted to shooting the drone down with a shotgun.
The drone pilot probably should not have been flying his drone over Winters’ business, but Winters also had no legal right to shoot the drone down and that is exactly why he faced legal charges.
Perhaps one day this will be an issue that will be discussed and a solution could be made that protected everyone. I would hate to be a father and have to watch a drone hover around my backyard waiting to record my family and not be able to do anything about it, because of the fact that it is illegal to shoot them down.
As an enthusiast, I would also hate to be capturing some amazing footage of my neighborhood when all of a sudden my drone comes crashing down because a man with a shotgun decided I was being “annoying”.
If a drone flies over your house it is most likely just passing by, but if it was over your house for longer than it should be, then you still shouldn’t shoot it down but rather call the authorities.
You wouldn’t shoot at every car that drives by your home, but if it had to park in your driveway and the driver started taking photos of your home or recording you, you still wouldn’t shoot at them, instead, you would call the right people to handle the situation.
If you see a drone over your house it is best to call the police as they might have the right equipment or means to track the pilot down and take action from there.
If you were to shoot the drone down, you might as well have aimed that gun at your foot instead because you have basically committed a crime and removed all suspicion from the pilot.
Anti-Drone Technology
As drones become more and more popular, there are a lot of questions that have been brought up about the safety of people and events if these drones were used in the wrong way.
Anti-drone system are devices used to detect or intercept unwanted drones. Anti-drone technology is deployed to protect areas such as airports, critical infrastructure, large public spaces such as stadiums, and military installations and battlefield sites.
This technology is usually purchased and used by government agencies or private security to defend or protect the areas listed above.
Many companies are currently in a race to come up with the best methods to capture or take drones out of the air without damaging them in order to be able to track the pilot down.
There have been many methods created. Methods ranging from net guns to training Hawks to take drones out.
Final Thoughts
It is illegal to shoot a drone down if it is flying over your house, and I suggest if you do see a drone flying over your house for an above-average amount of time, that you call the police instead of shooting it down.
Yes, you might turn out like William Meredith and you might not be charged with anything, but you might be charged and end up like Mr.Winters!
Anti-drone systems or technology is used by military and government agencies to capture drones that might be a threat. Rather leave the legalities to the professionals.
