A small Colorado town is expressing its disdain for surveillance drones in the most peculiar manner: It wants to sell drone-hunting licenses and offer a bounty for hunters who shoot down an unmanned aerial vehicle.
The town is Deer Trail, population 648, best known for hosting the world's first rodeo.
Longtime resident Phillip Steele wants to change that. "We don't want drones in town," he told ABC 7 News. "They fly in town, they get shot down."
The ordinance, to be voted on next month, states:
"The Town of Deer Trail shall issue a reward of $100 to any shooter who presents a valid hunting license and the following identifiable parts of an unmanned aerial vehicle whose markings and configuration are consistent with those used on any similar craft known to be owned or operated by the United States federal government."
Before anyone starts to worry about this type of mentality, it might be shrewd from a business standpoint.
Steel acknowledged that the ordinance is mostly symbolic,that he had never seen a drone, and that a weapon restriction within the ordinance--allowing only shotguns 12 gauge or smaller--would make it virtually impossible to bring down a large government drone.
However, in a rural region in which many are skeptical of the federal government and its increasing use of unmanned aircraft, buying a drone hunting license for $25 would be a way to express their feelings and support the community.
"Basically, I do not believe in the idea of a surveillance society, and I believe we are heading that way," Steele said.
Applicants, the ordinance states, would have to be at least 21 and able to "read and understand English." The length of the season is unclear.
Resident David Boyd, who has a vote on the town board, said: "Even if a tiny percentage of people get online [for a] drone license, that's cool. That's a lot of money to a small town like us. "[We] could be known for it as well, which probably might be a mixed blessing, but what the heck?"
There's also talk of turning drone hunting into a festival of sorts. Drone Days, or something along those lines.
Said town clerk Kim Oldfield: "We’re the home of the world’s first rodeo, so we could home of the world’s first drone hunt."
No word, yet, on what the federal government has to say about this.
--Photos are screen grabs from ABC News 7 video
I suggest Deer Trail launch a drone rodeo, here are some event ideas
- WW3: Four man teams control squads of drones and attempt to destroy or disable the enemy teams. No RF jamming allowed.
- Monkey In The Middle: One team splits into two groups and throws a flaming ball back and forth. The second team tries to get the ball. Upon success the first team becomes the monkey. (drones playing catch: http://youtu.be/hyGJBV1xnJI)
- Evasive Maneuvers: Let the crowd get in on the action! Audience members squirt water cannons to try and take down the drones. The drones counterattack by dropping water ballons on the audience.
- Alien Abduction: Put a cat in the arena, contestants try to hover the drone above the cat and bathe it in a cone of light (no hurting the cat!)
Posted by: plato | Jul 18, 2013 at 09:46 AM