Drone - Above Neighborhood

[Red2014SS]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

I'm an extremely "aware" person, a sheepdog kinda guy. But to instantly feel threatened by something like that is, at least in my opinion, kinda paranoid.
Is it threatening? Not in my opinion. Annoying? Yes, probably so. Is someone casing your house to violate you or your family somehow? Not likely.

Not likely, but not impossible. And that's the problem. Especially for a guy living in the boondocks.

[ChrisBlair]

Shooting at a drone is irresponsible, silly, pointless and in many respects illegal. You don't know what's "behind your target" in the sense that the bullet's gonna come down somewhere, eventually. I believe you'll also find that you don't own the airspace above your property the way you may think (the drone is not a registered aircraft in this regard), and that discharging a firearm within your town is a great big no-no. Those of you out in the middle of nowhere may not care about that even though that's an irresponsible and non-law-abiding outlook, but those same folks should consider that the drone may have filmed you breaking the law.

I agree completely in the wish that we could just shoot at them, it seems like a fun and satisfying thing to be honest, but not only is this the same as shooting at somebody's remote controlled model airplane for kicks, firearms owners need to be much more responsible than that. We are under scrutiny and most folks think we are fearful yahoos with small brains and big egos. So do us all a favor and don't shoot at drones. You're smarter than that.

[VTSummit]

However a golf ball would be fine...

[TXsilvy]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

Shooting at a drone is irresponsible, silly, pointless and in many respects illegal. You don't know what's "behind your target" in the sense that the bullet's gonna come down somewhere, eventually. I believe you'll also find that you don't own the airspace above your property the way you may think (the drone is not a registered aircraft in this regard), and that discharging a firearm within your town is a great big no-no. Those of you out in the middle of nowhere may not care about that even though that's an irresponsible and non-law-abiding outlook, but those same folks should consider that the drone may have filmed you breaking the law.

I agree completely in the wish that we could just shoot at them, it seems like a fun and satisfying thing to be honest, but not only is this the same as shooting at somebody's remote controlled model airplane for kicks, firearms owners need to be much more responsible than that. We are under scrutiny and most folks think we are fearful yahoos with small brains and big egos. So do us all a favor and don't shoot at drones. You're smarter than that.

I said shotgun....birdshot stings, but wont do any permanent damage if it did somehow hit someone in the distance (again highly unlikely)

[Tajefe Couple]

Originally Posted by el ess A

Let me get out my slide projector and put it up on the wall. I'm a very reasonable person. If someone flies a drone over my house and I know who they are, I'll kindly ask them to refrain from doing it again. If they do it again, then I'd consider they are now provoking/threatening me with it. Trust me, I'm not confusing my gun rights as far as it concerns my property.

1) I live in the south. In the country. On a good amount of property. Near an outdoor gun-range.

2) I live away from buildings, population, and airports. I am not in a gun-free zone. If I lived in town, I would be extremely cognizant of my surroundings and the potential for collateral damage. But I'm far from your typical confederate flag-waving, 4-wheel-driving, gun-toting goober. But yeah, if I want to go outside and fire a gun in the air, I can. You should see it around here on New Year's Eve night at midnight. (I use blanks, but I'm betting some of my idiot neighbors use live rounds)

2) I can legally hunt deer, rabbits, etc., and shoot anywhere on my land. Including into the sky to shoot ducks. Or anything I think looks like a duck.

3) If someone flies ANYTHING around my home, they're not doing it by accident. There's a reason (and likely not an innocent one) because of where my house is located on my land. A drone flying by, non-stop, ONE time going somewhere else doesn't bother me.

4) If I feel threatened, I can legally defend my property against all threats and I can use any weapon, including a gun, to defend myself, my family, and my property. This includes any human threat. In my state, you do NOT have to be inside my house to have a problem.

5) If they are video recording while on my property, then they come under the same rules as the home video camera rules, which means you cannot deliberately point it at your neighbor's house or property (as in an attempt to spy). Incidental coverage doesn't count. Thus by deliberately flying over my property, they violate my privacy and are breaking the law. So showing video to the police or whatnot only would prove they were trespassing. And to actually record me shooting the drone means you were pointing the drone/camera at me, in a threatening manner. Is there also a gun on the drone? I cannot take that chance. I think my home video system probably would show me shooting at a threat.

6) I don't care about drones/helicopters, whatever you want to call it. Fly them. I'm sure they're fun hobby like anything else. But you have no right to fly them over my property in a manner I feel is threatening to me or my family.

7) I don't go willy-nilly firing my guns. But I won't put up with any large buzzing insects hovering over my property, either.

How many shots was that again-
1
2
2
3
3
4
5
6
7
i thinks i lost count.

[Steve Dallas]

First off, I wouldn't be too concerned unless they are actually filming in a Window while hovering over your property. The thing is, these things make lots of noise, so this isn't a stealth copter that can hover right outside your window. And, as others have pointed out...most drones can take video or pictures just like people on the sidewalk or an airplane/helicopter or from a hill nearby with a good telephoto lens. Hobby drones really aren't very good at "spying" on people because of the noise and how obvious they are. If they are higher altitude, you might not see or hear them....however they won't get much detail anyways.

I fly drones, and am prepared to pay for any damages I cause.

To the previous poster, I wonder how you would feel about shooting down a helicopter that was hovering 700 feet above your property for 10-15 minutes. Would you shoot it down? Same laws that would lock you up in jail for doing that also apply to drones. It would be better to call the police and have them deal with it.

Here's about the highest quality video you can get. I had the permission of the houseowner to fly over her property.

[Tajefe Couple]

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

First off, I wouldn't be too concerned unless they are actually filming in a Window while hovering over your property. The thing is, these things make lots of noise, so this isn't a stealth copter that can hover right outside your window. And, as others have pointed out...most drones can take video or pictures just like people on the sidewalk or an airplane/helicopter or from a hill nearby with a good telephoto lens. Hobby drones really aren't very good at "spying" on people because of the noise and how obvious they are. If they are higher altitude, you might not see or hear them....however they won't get much detail anyways.

I fly drones, and am prepared to pay for any damages I cause.

To the previous poster, I wonder how you would feel about shooting down a helicopter that was hovering 700 feet above your property for 10-15 minutes. Would you shoot it down? Same laws that would lock you up in jail for doing that also apply to drones. It would be better to call the police and have them deal with it.

Here's about the highest quality video you can get. I had the permission of the houseowner to fly over her property.

I was making a joke about el ess A counting skills.
Look at any of my post I want to keep my freedom and guns. However if I feel the need to protect myself I also live in a state with the "make my day law". Not to mention on any given day you can hear my neighbors or sometimes me out here in BFE practicing safely on our land.

[Tenring]

Originally Posted by VTSummit

I'm an extremely "aware" person, a sheepdog kinda guy. But to instantly feel threatened by something like that is, at least in my opinion, kinda paranoid.
Is it threatening? Not in my opinion. Annoying? Yes, probably so. Is someone casing your house to violate you or your family somehow? Not likely.

How can you assume this? Just because you are a logical non-threatening person does not mean anyone else is.

I can think of countless reasons against......what good reason would a person have to fly their drone hover/over someones house?

Other that what Steve Dallas posted above, of course.



.

[VTSummit]

Out in the country, I can't think of a good reason they'd be over your property. In a more dense area- it's not just your house they are over, it's the neighborhood. Maybe they are just hobbyists flying their toy. Can't think of any instance where someone has ever used one of these to case out a place to rob etc. They're loud and obvious.

[Steve Dallas]

And, yesterday I went out with some friends and shot this out in the boonies.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by tajefe

I was making a joke about el ess A counting skills.
Look at any of my post I want to keep my freedom and guns. However if I feel the need to protect myself I also live in a state with the "make my day law". Not to mention on any given day you can hear my neighbors or sometimes me out here in BFE practicing safely on our land.

My comment was more towards el ess A saying he'd shoot one down. I'd argue towards taking a less aggressive approach to quadcopter owners. The large percentage of people using multicopters are responsible and really don't care what you're doing. If someone objects to being on a video I shoot....I'd blur out the face...easy enough to do.

Here's an example of a parent really crossing the line in how he deals with a multicopter pilot.

[Low Saturn]

Its really funny just out bent out of shape the public gets about these quadcopters. People think they are capable of way more of what they can actually do. I own a few myself. They're loud, very lightweight and the camera on then is nice, but not "spy" worthy. If one of mine fell from the sky and hit someone in the head, the persons head would damage the quadcopter.

If I take it up 100 feet or so and take video, the scenery looks nice and its cool to get a birds eye view of the neighborhood, but thats all I get. I can see a car, but wouldn't be able to tell for sure what kind of car. I can see people, but can't be sure if the person I'm seeing is male or female. But ask the average person on the street and they assume you can read license plates, can see what the quadcopter sees from the ground and can see their teenage daughter undressing through their bedroom window. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are some that have the capability for you to see what the copter sees from the ground, but those are either expensive or have poor quality video/range

Heres on video using a $80 quadcopter thats about a foot wide and weighs 100 grams. Winds were 1 to 2 mph and I had a hard time keeping it steady.



I am respectful of my neighbors when I fly. I never go directly over anyone else's property. Just my own. My son never gets his very high up, he likes to zip around between trees, under our trucks and into the garage.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by Low Saturn

Its really funny just out bent out of shape the public gets about these quadcopters. People think they are capable of way more of what they can actually do. I own a few myself. They're loud, very lightweight and the camera on then is nice, but not "spy" worthy. If one of mine fell from the sky and hit someone in the head, the persons head would damage the quadcopter.

If I take it up 100 feet or so and take video, the scenery looks nice and its cool to get a birds eye view of the neighborhood, but thats all I get. I can see a car, but wouldn't be able to tell for sure what kind of car. I can see people, but can't be sure if the person I'm seeing is male or female. But ask the average person on the street and they assume you can read license plates, can see what the quadcopter sees from the ground and can see their teenage daughter undressing through their bedroom window. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are some that have the capability for you to see what the copter sees from the ground, but those are either expensive or have poor quality video/range

Heres on video using a $80 quadcopter thats about a foot wide and weighs 100 grams. Winds were 1 to 2 mph and I had a hard time keeping it steady.

https://youtu.be/i5vT_hxuVdA

I am respectful of my neighbors when I fly. I never go directly over anyone else's property. Just my own. My son never gets his very high up, he likes to zip around between trees, under our trucks and into the garage.

To be fair, my DJI Inspire 1 shoots 4k video, so you do get more detail from height. Still, it's really no different than taking a telephoto shot with a regular camera.

I think one reason people get so uptight about it is BECAUSE they aren't silent observation platforms. These things advertise that they are in the air nearby, and stand out...where a photographer won't anymore. It's new and different, and because people have used the term "Drone" for them...they automatically tie them in with the military and how they are used to take out people from afar or spy for the military. In fact, they are not even capable of what half the people out there think they are.

Could a determined person use these things for nefarious purposes? Yes, just like a person can use a gun for the similar nefarious purposes.

[Low Saturn]

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

To be fair, my DJI Inspire 1 shoots 4k video, so you do get more detail from height. Still, it's really no different than taking a telephoto shot with a regular camera.

You sir have a quadcopter that 99% of what most hobbyist quadcopter owners wishes they could afford. Heck, most wish they could own a Phantom.

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

I think one reason people get so uptight about it is BECAUSE they aren't silent observation platforms. These things advertise that they are in the air nearby, and stand out...where a photographer won't anymore. It's new and different, and because people have used the term "Drone" for them...they automatically tie them in with the military and how they are used to take out people from afar or spy for the military. In fact, they are not even capable of what half the people out there think they are.

Could a determined person use these things for nefarious purposes? Yes, just like a person can use a gun for the similar nefarious purposes.

Well said.