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Colorado Town May Issue Licenses To Shoot Down Drones

A federal drone that's used to patrol the U.S.-Canadian border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
/
AP
A federal drone that's used to patrol the U.S.-Canadian border.

Drones have not been spotted flying over the little town of Deer Trail, Colo., about 55 miles east of Denver.

But that hasn't stopped an effort by some in the town of 550 residents to make it legal to shoot down the unmanned aerial vehicles.

On Oct. 8, people there "will vote on whether to issue permits to hunt drones," The Associated Press writes.

According to Denver's ABC7:

"The idea of hunting the federal government's drones began as one man's symbolic protest against a surveillance society. But other townspeople embraced the idea as possible magnet for tourism — and revenue — in the tiny community of about 550 residents. If voters approve, Deer Trail would charge $25 for drone hunting licenses, valid for one year.

" 'They'll sell like hot cakes, and it would be a real drone hunting license,' said Deer Trail resident Phillip Steel, who drafted the ordinance. 'It could be a huge moneymaker for the town.'

"The town would offer a $100 bounty reward for shooters who bring in debris from an unmanned aircraft from the U.S. government."

Along with the fact that no drones have actually been seen and that any would likely be well above the range of the shotguns that the proposed ordinance would allow to be used, there's the complicating fact that drone hunting could land you in jail.

"Shooting at an unmanned aircraft could result in criminal or civil liability, just as would firing at a manned airplane," the Federal Aviation Administration has warned, according to the AP.

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Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.