Drones may be the future, but owners certainly need to take a bit more responsibility while flying them if this tale is anything to go by. A gentleman by the name of William H. Merideth looked skyward and noticed a Drone was flying over his property, so he acted the same way any American with access to war grade weapons would, he took aim and shot it down.
According to an account of the incident, Mr Merideth’s shotgun blast hit the Drone and the hardware crashed within a short distance of his home. When police arrived to investigate why there was ammunition being fired, Merideth admitted that he shot down the Drone because it was flying over his home. Mr Merideth then gave an interview to propaganda Republican 1 channel Fox News, which he explained his actions with the following statement
“I went and got my shotgun and I said, ‘I’m not going to do anything unless it’s directly over my property.’ Within a minute or so, here it came. It was hovering over top of my property, and I shot it out of the sky…”
Owners of the Drone were slightly angry considering the machine was estimated to be worth $1,800 (£1152.75) they also claimed that they were only shooting photos of a friend’s house when the incident occurred. Police arrested Merideth and charged him with first degree criminal mischief before promptly releasing him the next day, law enforcement gave what was left of the crashed Drone back to its owners.
I haven’t really any sympathy with both parties, on one hand William Merideth should not have really shot someone else’s Drone down, on the other hand, don’t fly a machine over someone’s house. It will be interesting to note how police handle this in the future, if the fore mentioned gentleman does not receive a punishment, it will be shoot a Drone season arriving down a street very soon.
On a side note, what is wrong with the gun owner? There are ways to resolve conflicts rather than taking aim and firing a cartridge into a direction of anything which annoys you.
Thank You wdrb for providing us with this information
Wow… let me correct you little one for you have once again tried to give false information. (like this isn’t the first time but whatever…)
first things first, the “War Grade Weapon ” is a hunting shotgun loaded with 8s in it… nothing war grade there.
2nd, there are drones that can operate from a really long distance… we do not know where the people that were operating the drone actually where… so how can you deal with someone you can’t reach ?
3rd, while shooting “something that is annoying” is a bit harsh considering we do not know the exact event, I agree, that was not the best reaction, However, there was no way for the owner of the house to know what the intentions were of the operators of the drone and for all intent and purposes, they were trespassing on his property, they should have asked before doing so, just like you would normally…. He also only fired on the drone once he was HOVERING… not like it was zipping along now was it.
4th and final, the laws will need to be put in place to insure that no one gets… confused with the… ethical way of using a drone…
GET A BEST TOP254-CAREER ::: @1md5.
bc.
http://www.Home-Job-ConceptsBest6/top5/yes...
⚛☤☤☤☤☤⚛⚛☤☤☤☤☤⚛⚛☤☤☤☤☤⚛⚛☤☤☤☤☤⚛⚛☤☤☤☤☤⚛⚛☤☤☤☤☤⚛
What about the ethical way of using firearms ?
A shotgun is a war grade weapon? You think because you ponied up $1,800 and now have a drone; you have the right to invade my privacy? You have the right to hover it over my property at less than a few hundred feet (40 yards/120 ft is about maximum shot gun range); no doubt engaged in being a Peeping Tom?
ya im on this point here. it was a SHOTGUN. i think the drone was a bit close :P. now if he sniped it at 300 feet with maybe a M87 (a TRUE war grade weapon IMO) that would be another story haha.
So I can shoot down planes that invade my perceived airspace also?
Huge difference betweeen a plane and air drones. Air drones is low altitudes, and used for manyu reasons (films, taking shots, or just playing). How many kids use it to try to film someone nude, follow someone, etc. Drones are not a great idea with a camera, but the citizens can also not been filmed or taking in photos without permissions. Privacy is important, drones are now a huge breaking limit from privacy. We can’t build gates in the sky to be safe from privacy.
On my opinion shooting at drones is a bad idea due to the Lithium-ion batteries which produce quite a volatile reaction when punctured.
I also own a small drone, and if you fly it from somewhere else, it is hard to determine over what you are flying, but the operators should have at least informed the owner of the house they might be flying over.