Kentucky man shoots down drone spying on 16-year-old daughter

Should we be more strict about the use of the word 'drone'? Not just here, but everywhere. The vehicle in this article is likely just a quadcopter.

The only reason I'm being pedantic is connotation. The word 'drone' is often associated with its military context, which may cause trouble for those pushing for better laws on commercial/recreational unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous or not. In the minds of those uneducated on the differences of these types of vehicles, having more permissive laws regarding drone operation can sound like a bad thing.

Once media and lawmakers start using this jargon regularly, it will be too late to go back and re-educate people on the proper way to classify these types of vehicles.

Better coverage here: http://www.wdrb.com/story/29650818/hillview-man-arrested-for...

More recently disputed by the drone's owner, who has the flight data recorded by the drone: http://www.wdrb.com/story/29670583/update-drone-owner-disput...

This was the premise of a South Park episode last year.

It's amazing that Trey & Matt are so dead on when it comes to current events and culture critique that they sometimes even parody the future.

Next time use a slingshot or a bow, or just throw a rock at it. FAA says the air up to 500' above your property is under your control.

Reading the comments is rather irritating... so many people asking to see the Sim card (not the SD Card), which was apparently taken away by the shooter.

Two hobbyists in the comment section are constantly explaining drones and wide-lens cameras and the lack of detail at close distances (even as close as 20 yards).

It's astounding to me that the same people who are saying it's within their rights as an American citizen to shoot down the drone and blah blah blah are also acting completely contrary to the idea of innocent until proven guilty by automatically assuming the drone pilot was spying/snooping. Many of them show ignorance over drones and how drones work.

Many in the comments are also touting gun knowledge ("Shotguns don't have an effective range of 200 feet to shoot down the drone, as the drone owner claims.") - Well guess what? The effective range is for penetration/killing/before the bullet hits the ground when shot horizontally. If shot vertically and it so much as hits a propeller, the Phantom drone goes down. It doesn't need to be at it's effective range nor does it need to penetrate the drone.

My opinion?

Drone owner is innocent (until proven guilty, which is how our law system is supposed to work), was shooting video for friend as claimed, and the "all drones are ban and used for spying" gun owner figured it was spying on his daughter and shot it down.

20 seconds in the video on this page a photo from the gun owner is shared. The drone is hovering well over 10 feet. [0]

The question is if a drone is an aircraft under the law: 18 USC 32 ; although I'm sure the court might just dismiss the case and require reparation payments at most, in news-fear-mongering-speak "he could be looking at up to 20 years in jail and a felony on his record".

[0] http://www.wdrb.com/story/29650818/hillview-man-arrested-for...