Deer Trail, Colo hasn’t yet voted on whether or not is will let residents hunt unmanned aircraft – FAA has warned such activity would be illegal
What might have started out a whimsical protest against government surveillance tactics has morphed into a little more than that as a small town in Colorado has found itself overwhelmed with requests and cash for a unmanned aircraft hunting license that doesn’t exist – yet.
In June a resident of Deer Trail, Colorado proposed a town wide ordinance that would offer $25 licenses to hunt and shoot down government drones if they flew within 1,000 feet above private property — with a $100 bounty if one actually got shot down.
The Denver Post this week reported the town’s clerk Kim Oldfield stopped counting the flood of requests for the licenses two weeks ago when the tally of personal checks made out to the town hit 983 [Deer Trails’ own population is about 560] and $19,006. The checks came from all over the U.S. Oldfield said.
Oldfield went on to say she returned as many of the checks as she could before the work became overwhelming. “I’m still getting the letters,” she said. “I’m just throwing them in a big pile.”
Deer Trail residents don’t actually vote on the ordinance until Oct. 8, though the Denver Post reported that the town’s board had a chance to approve the license ordinance last month but deadlocked 3-3.
As you might expect the Federal Aviation Administration hasn’t taken too kindly to the Deer Trail idea. In July it said anyone who fire guns at drones is endangering the public and property and could be prosecuted or fined.
The AP reported that the FAA said: A drone “hit by gunfire could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air,” the statement said. “Shooting at an unmanned aircraft could result in criminal or civil liability, just as would firing at a manned airplane.”
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