# Kentucky Man Shoots Drone, Gets Arrested **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 31, 2015, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634 "2015-07-31T06:38:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/81 "2015-07-31T23:09:50Z")
> [@XT](#): > > Well…yeah. It worked. No one was hurt, even those these guys were (perhaps justifiably) pissed off over the loss of their expensive drone. So…yeah, I think his actions were justified based on what little we know at this point, and I think his fear was certainly reasonable. I’d rather warn off 4 pissed off guys and have them go away than hope they are reasonable and only yell and scream about their expensive lost drone, especially if my wife and kids are there as well. YMMV of course, and I can certainly see how some might just call the police and hope for the best…but then, I’d guess that you and others wouldn’t be shooting down some guys drones in any case, so it probably wouldn’t have come up in the first place. 🙂 > > FWIW, I wouldn’t have shot down the drone either…certainly I wouldn’t discharge a shot gun in a residential neighborhood. I’d have filmed it and called the police, and perhaps a good lawyer and seen what could be done in the civil courts. The ends justify the means? I don’t know the laws in that state but here it would be considered a terroristic threat. Just because someone is angry doesn’t mean they should be threatened with death. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/82 "2015-07-31T23:11:49Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Why is the other driver approaching you? Are you too drunk to get out of your burning car? Are they threatening to kill you because you killed their child or wife? Does the other driver intend to swap insurance company and driver’s license info with you? Each individual incident should be assessed separately. There is no One-Size-Fits-All approach. What if he looks angry? Mildly peeved? Slightly annoyed? At what point does a persons demeanor justify a death threat? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/83 "2015-07-31T23:39:50Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Would you care to compare a traffic accident versus shooting down a drone? Just for giggles? I would gladly answer the question, I’m just not sure what it means. I smash into someone else’s car angering them. This guy shot down a drone angering others. In each case, one person does something to anger someone else, and same person gets to threaten to kill the other on the basis that the other is angry? > [@XT](#): > > Well, no…I think what people are saying is that leaving aside the anti-aircraft thingy with the shot gun, if 4 guys approach you aggressively that you are justified in being scared and justified in warning them off. Why go into convoluted analogies instead of simply addressing what folks are saying? If you don’t agree then, by all means defend your position. This is what I’m asking. If angry people approach me, am I justified in your mind shouting, “One step closer and I wil kill you!” principally on the basis that they are angry? > [@doorhinge](#): > > Why is the other driver approaching you? Are you too drunk to get out of your burning car? Are they threatening to kill you because you killed their child or wife? Does the other driver intend to swap insurance company and driver’s license info with you? Each individual incident should be assessed separately. There is no One-Size-Fits-All approach. I just veered into their car - let’s say it was intentionally. They are pissed. I can threaten to kill them if they step any closer? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/84 "2015-07-31T23:50:01Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] This is what I’m asking. If angry people approach me, am I justified in your mind shouting, “One step closer and I wil kill you!” principally on the basis that they are angry? [/QUOTE] On the basis that they were a threat. I suppose you COULD not warn them then kill them once they start beating on you…or, let them beat you up I guess with your family there to watch and, hopefully not get involved in the festivities. I’m really curious…do you not think that if multiple angry guys are threatening you on your property you should warn them off?? [QUOTE=Loach] The ends justify the means? I don’t know the laws in that state but here it would be considered a terroristic threat. Just because someone is angry doesn’t mean they should be threatened with death. [/QUOTE] I’d go more with ‘context is the key’ than ‘ends justify the means’, but whatever you like. I don’t know where ‘here’ is, but warning people that you could or would use deadly force if they attack you on your own property is kind of a gray area in the US…it certainly wouldn’t be a ‘terroristic threat’ though. And I think that them being angry and threatening themselves justifies a warning BEFORE things get out of hand. Obviously, there are several posters in this thread who don’t see it that way, so maybe it’s just one of my quirks that it’s better to make an angry foursome of dudes back down rather than get the shit kicked out of this guy at the possible threat to his wife and daughter or, at a minimum that they would have to watch such a thing. Also, think of how much those guys fists and feet as well as elbows and knees might have been hurt by repeatedly hitting him…seems to me that all of that was saved by simply making it clear that if they continued that worst things than them beating him up might be in store. Obviously, MMV on this, especially in your neck of the woods where it’s probably better to let those guys vent, though, conversely you probably wouldn’t have shot down the expensive drone either so it’s a wash. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/85 "2015-08-01T00:02:57Z")
> [@XT](#): > > On the basis that they were a threat. I suppose you COULD not warn them then kill them once they start beating on you…or, let them beat you up I guess with your family there to watch and, hopefully not get involved in the festivities. I’m really curious…do you not think that if multiple angry guys are threatening you on your property you should warn them off?? If people are approaching who are simply angry, aren’t menacing me in some way (bearing baseball bats or reaching into their waistbands), I think it is totally appropriate to yell something like, “Stop right there!” “Don’t come any closer!” Or maybe even “I am armed!” if they continue to advance. Going right to “I am going to shoot you if you come any nearer!” in my mind is a statement worthy of criminals and psychotics, again assuming that the approaching people are angry for a clear reason (that I am responsible for, BTW) and show no other signs of being violent. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/86 "2015-08-01T00:12:44Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > If people are approaching who are simply angry, aren’t menacing me in some way (bearing baseball bats or reaching into their waistbands), I think it is totally appropriate to yell something like, “Stop right there!” “Don’t come any closer!” Or maybe even “I am armed!” if they continue to advance. > > Going right to “I am going to shoot you if you come any nearer!” in my mind is a statement worthy of criminals and psychotics, again assuming that the approaching people are angry for a clear reason (that I am responsible for, BTW) and show no other signs of being violent. Well, that’s reasonable. But I think it’s something that reasonable people can at least understand in the heat of the moment. Fear does strange things to people, especially when ones family is there as well. No, I wouldn’t jump right to ‘I am going to shoot you if you come any nearer!’, but then as I said I wouldn’t have shot the drone (leaving aside the fact that I also don’t have a gun, which would have made both things sort of difficult from my own perspective). I do think that if people are angry and approaching your property that it’s not a totally unfounded assumption that they may become violent in the near future, especially if one is responsible for destroying a drone worth over a thousand dollars. To my mind such a fear is at least in the reasonable realm of possibility, so I can see warning someone off. But then, I think that if someone shot down my drone with a shot gun I wouldn’t have rushed over to confront some dude who obviously has control issues AND a shot gun, even backed by 4 of my buddies. Sounds to me as if all parties involved would have been better served getting the police involved. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/87 "2015-08-01T00:36:34Z")
I don’t see anybody asking, let alone answering, the big elephant in the room question. If he hadn’t shot down that drone, how would he (or the police) ever have identified the owner/operator? Everyone up-thread who says he should have just called the police, answer this: What do you think the police shoulda/coulda/woulda done? They’d just blow off the complaint, because AFAIK there’s no way to track down the owner/operator. It’s just like complaining about those junk telemarketing calls, or all that on-line internet harassment from Gamergate or Cecil-the-Lion-gate that nobody can control because you can’t catch the perps. Vigilante justice, like this guy with the shot-gun, happens in large part because people see the official law-enforcement types as unwilling, or uninterested, or unable to do anything. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/88 "2015-08-01T00:38:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Vigilante justice, like this guy with the shot-gun, happens in large part because people see the official law-enforcement types as unwilling, or uninterested, or unable to do anything. Yep. I wonder what the outcome would be if the homeowner used an attack drone to destroy the video drone. You know this is coming. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/89 "2015-08-01T00:39:24Z")
Attack drone = cheap drone that destroys other drones. Defend yourself. Buy a dozen. I really do wonder what the legal battle would be over this. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/90 "2015-08-01T00:42:19Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > What if he looks angry? Mildly peeved? Slightly annoyed? At what point does a persons demeanor justify a death threat? You can issue a death threat any time you think you can get away with it. You may get away with it. People might allow you to go to the head of the queue. Or you could be arrested for threatening people. Or someone may decide to see if you’ll follow thru on your threat. Each incident would have to be decided on a individual basis. The use of lethal force, OTOH, requires a threat of imminent danger of great bodily harm or death. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/91 "2015-08-01T00:51:00Z")
> [@FXMastermind](#): > > Yep. I wonder what the outcome would be if the homeowner used an attack drone to destroy the video drone. You know this is coming. It is now. :eek: Which item do you think would be most effective for Death-From-Above aerial combat: - a 4 to 6 foot titanium wire - several feet of thin, stainless steel chain - a “dream catcher” made of Spectra Super Braid fishing line ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/92 "2015-08-01T00:54:27Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > If he hadn’t shot down that drone, how would he (or the police) ever have identified the owner/operator? Everyone up-thread who says he should have just called the police, answer this: What do you think the police shoulda/coulda/woulda done? What if nothing being done was illegal? In that case the police should/coulda/wouda done nothing at all, and it would have been 100% proper. Before you commit felony aggravated robbery to solve a problem (he took valuable property and threatened the owners with deadly force), you should at least be pretty damn sure it _is_ a problem that you’re owed a solution to. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/93 "2015-08-01T01:07:39Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My god, imagine the terror inspired by a runaway Mylar birthday party ballon. Probably hear shotguns racked up and down the block. [The horror of blimps](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=2943767#post2943767) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/94 "2015-08-01T01:15:17Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > It is now. :eek: > > Which item do you think would be most effective for Death-From-Above aerial combat: > > - a 4 to 6 foot titanium wire > - several feet of thin, stainless steel chain > - a “dream catcher” made of Spectra Super Braid fishing line Battlebots: Airborne Division ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/95 "2015-08-01T01:23:29Z")
When dickheads fly their drones over emergency situations thus preventing air assets from accessing those they were designed to protect, then yes, there should be a bounty on those drones. Shooting one flying over the suburbs is just insane. What goes up, has to come down, fortunately this one didn’t land on a 3 year old playing in his back yard. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/96 "2015-08-01T01:30:47Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > When people start flying around weaponzed drones (cuz 2nd Amendment!!!), I wonder how current laws wil change. What do you mean “[when](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/18/drone-armed-with-hand-gun_n_3458404.html)” ? ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/97 "2015-08-01T01:54:04Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > - a “dream catcher” made of Spectra Super Braid fishing line No need for anything fancy. Just some long trailers of fishing line will work fine. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > [The horror of blimps](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=2943767#post2943767) That thread is why I found and joined the forums. > [@Kobal2](#): > > What do you mean “[when](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/18/drone-armed-with-hand-gun_n_3458404.html)” ? Now imagine some anthrax, radioactive dust, or just a good old fashioned bomb. Welcome to the future. It’s going to really suck. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/98 "2015-08-01T01:55:27Z")
Let’s all remember that a lot of drones are actually flying kill machines, and they kill people all the time. Yeah, OK [lets not think about it](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/12/13/citizen-drone-with-paintball-guns_n_2291499.html). ---
**Author:** ![Leonard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@Leonard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leonard)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/99 "2015-08-01T02:08:05Z")
FYI, if he shot it with bird shot, the pellets coming back down are not really dangerous. I’ve had bird shot rain down on me from duck hunters and it doesn’t even hurt. I suppose if you just happened to look up into one it might be bad, but probably no worse than an acorn falling from a tree. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634/100 "2015-08-01T04:02:35Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > There ya go, hombre. It’s impossible to tell why the drone is there, whether or not and what video it’s recording, and if so for whom? I’m not gonna Google it right now, but internet laws strongly suggest “Drone Porn” is already going to yield you some pretty interesting footage. Googling “Drone Porn” leads to a short film made with paid actors as a comment on the paranoia about surveillance. Clicked through several pages, no illicit “creep videos” come up at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-man-shoots-drone-gets-arrested/726634.md?page=6)