Town of Deer Trail, CO Ponders Issuing Drone Hunting Licenses
July 17th, 2013
Government use of drone technology has stimulated a crucial debate about civil liberties. For years, Americans have watched as their tax dollars have been taken to fund these unmanned aerial vehicles, which have mainly been used to tear apart the countryside in Yemen and Pakistan, leaving thousands dead and causing victims’ family members to join terrorist organizations. At the same time, the federal government began accosting its own citizens with aggressive and unconstitutional spying measures.
Recent reports have indicated that the FBI may be using drones against Americans without warrants on US soil, and an Air Force drone crashed today in Florida, requiring the shutdown of a local highway. In the wake of all this chaos, The Daily Caller is reporting that the Town of Deer Trail, Colorado is now considering a measure that would issue drone hunting licenses to bounty hunters, allowing them to shoot down federally-marked drones, so long as the specific unmanned vehicle in question is weaponized or unlawfully spying on a homeowner from the airspace above his or her property.
The Symbolism of Authorizing Bounty Hunters to Shoot Down Drones
Phillip Steel is the citizen behind the petition that led to Deer Trail’s anti-drone measure. On a post on a about the history of the town, Steel indicated that the bill would be largely symbolic, as drones are not yet flying around Deer Trail and agitating homeowners. He received six pages worth of signatures, qualifying the initiative for consideration by the town council on August 6th.
Kim Oldfield, the Town Clerk, told The Daily Caller that the council might actually pass the measure, as the drone hunting licenses would cost $25, and, despite the fact that they would only be valid in Deer Trail, locals believe that anti-drone activists from around the country might purchase them as a novelty item. Phillip Steel argued that it would increase the notoriety of the town (which seems to have already happened to some extent) and that this measure presents the town with a choice: “It’s either that or being known for being the only place in America that’s 50 miles away from the nearest Wal-Mart.”
The Ordinance Only Allows Drones to Be Shot Down Under Specific Circumstances
In all fairness, chances are slim that any drones will ever be shot down in Deer Trail. In fact, drones typically fly too high to be taken down by a shotgun. There is a greater principle at play in the mind of Phillip Steel — the idea that flying a drone over a property owner or town’s airspace with intent to deliver ordinance or spy without a warrant is an act of war.
Specifically, only drones with federal markings could be taken down under the ordinance, not private ones being used lawfully, and only if they happen to be in the process of conducting warrantless spying operations on a homeowner or carrying weapons on board. Shooters would be limited to using shotguns and firing only three shots at the drone and only if it is flying at 1000 feet or below. These limitations make it fairly unlikely that any drone shoot-down attempts would ever occur, but the principle is more important to the people of Deer Trail, who mainly want to send a message that “it’s time to take a stand against becoming a surveillance society.”
For his efforts to confound and expose the rising surveillance state, Phillip Steel, the author of the drone bounty hunter licensing program being considered in Deer Trail, is our Rebel of the Week.
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