# May I patrol my property with armed drones? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396 "2014-08-24T19:03:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396/21 "2014-08-25T10:48:03Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > If there’s children living in the home, then in Oregon the guns must be locked up in a gun safe. You probably won’t get prosecuted, but you’ll lose your kids. I think that he would likely lose his kids by mistake anyway. BANG!!! … OOPS!! “Honey, I shot another one.” ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396/22 "2014-08-25T15:04:15Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > OK, but given that these things are not autonomous, there’s no real difference between the setup you describe and a much simpler one where you sit atop the house with a gun and shoot strangers yourself. Do you think additional technological gubbins between you and the trigger makes any difference? Why? Well, for one thing, this is taking a gun system that the laws grudgingly accept and adding military grade target acquistion/automated targetting/automatic trigger pulling/etc. It’s substantially more dangerous. Some of the technology I described is a miniaturized version of techniques used by the military. For another, I recall now that Tracking Point firearms could not simply add a trigger pulling servo to their weapons. They had to construct them so it takes human supplied trigger pressure for the weapons to fire, and instead a servo releases a mechanism similar to a safety when the firearm barrel is aligned with the aimpoint. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396/23 "2014-08-25T15:09:13Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > In general, you’re not allowed to shoot someone who is not a threat to you. This and other similar problems would be solved (in Colorado, at least) by adding one more step. Before tapping ‘shoot’ button, tap the “it’s coming right for us!” audio alert. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396/24 "2014-08-25T15:29:23Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Well, for one thing, this is taking a gun system that the laws grudgingly accept and adding military grade target acquistion/automated targetting/automatic trigger pulling/etc. It’s substantially more dangerous. Some of the technology I described is a miniaturized version of techniques used by the military. > > For another, I recall now that Tracking Point firearms could not simply add a trigger pulling servo to their weapons. They had to construct them so it takes human supplied trigger pressure for the weapons to fire, and instead a servo releases a mechanism similar to a safety when the firearm barrel is aligned with the aimpoint. That sounds like it would be more about system safety than the legality of killing people. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396/25 "2014-08-25T19:51:47Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > If there’s children living in the home, then in Oregon the guns must be locked up in a gun safe. You probably won’t get prosecuted, but you’ll lose your kids. They take your kids away for having an unlocked gun?? I don’t / won’t ever live their. :eek: Wait, I have no kids at home anymore so I’m good to leave guns laying around. Cool. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396/26 "2014-08-25T20:13:23Z")
Habeeb’s next thread: What if I had a quadcopter that shot lethal \*\*laser beams \*\*at passerby’s? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396/27 "2014-08-25T20:13:59Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > I’m sorry about that. When I started typing up the topic, I had in mind drones carrying firearms. But I realized just how difficult an engineering problem this would be, as the mass of the firearm + ammo + servos + gunsight camera would hugely increase the payload weight of the drone. This in turn means you need a hugely larger drone to carry all this hardware if you want the same battery life. > > So the drones merely providing observation with the bullets coming from elsewhere sounded like a more technically achievable solution. Since you do not challenge the wanting to shoot people you have no right to shoot, that posters are so concerned about then I agree with them that this will not get you a free pass. The remote control will get you nothing as far as responsibility release is concerned. Like with any weapon that a citizen has, it is the use that is the problem. Building this set up is fine on your land but once you use it against any unlawful target, you are toast. Shoot squirrels on your own property or targets or risk going to jail. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396/28 "2014-08-25T20:37:06Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Habeeb’s next thread: What if I had a quadcopter that shot lethal \*\*laser beams \*\*at passerby’s? Forget the quadcopter. Build a moat and attach the lasers to frikkin’’ sharks! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396/29 "2014-08-25T21:11:12Z")
What about concealed weapon laws? Unless your turret is clearly visible (and obviously a gun) from anywhere somebody could get shot by it. Also, am I the only one that initially misunderstood the OP as having drones equipped with guns? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396/30 "2014-08-25T22:32:12Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > Also, am I the only one that initially misunderstood the OP as having drones equipped with guns? That’s pretty much the thread title spot on…“armed drones”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/may-i-patrol-my-property-with-armed-drones/696396.md?page=1)