New state bill would let cops shoot down drones

(credit: Ron Amadeo)

A Utah legislator has recently introduced a proposed state law that would allow law enforcement to shoot down drones in certain situations, among other suggested limits to drone activity.

If passed, Senate Bill 210 would firmly establish many limits on the behavior of drones that currently don’t exist at either the federal or state level. As currently written, Sen. Wayne Harper’s bill seems squarely aimed at many drone-related incidents that have occurred across the country.

Specifically, Harper’s bill would establish the concept of aerial trespass—which does not exist elsewhere in the United States. It's likely an attempt to avoid future situations of landowners shooting drones down out of the sky. The bill also would ban the use of drones within 500 feet of correctional institutions, forbid flights within three miles of a "wildland fire," and halt surveillance of gatherings of 500 people or more, and aerial voyeurism.

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