If approved by the Deer Trail Board of Trustees on Aug. 6, the seven-page ordinance drone-shooting ordinance drafted by Phillip Steel would:
Â
• allow the town to issue hunting licenses for $25 each, permitting the holder to shoot at drones only within Deer Trail;
• permit only the use of shotguns that are 12-gauge or less, with barrel lengths of 18 inches or greater and shot sizes between 2 and 7.5;
• require the licenses to be issued anonymously, without background checks and with no record of the data kept;
• allow licenses to be issued only to people age 21 or older who can read and understand English;
• only allow shooting at windowless drones flying lower than 1,000 feet that do not have any apparent means of entry for a human being, including fixed wing, rotary wing or a combination of the two;
• require the use of optical equipment like binoculars for drones flying between 300 feet and 1,000 feet, and prohibiting the use of such aids for the aircraft when they are less than 300 feet above the ground;
• require those who accidentally shoot down remote-controlled toy aircraft to reimburse the owner for its full cost;
• only allow shooting upwards, in directions that are within 20 degrees of an axis perpendicular to the ground;
• reward individuals $25 for a piece of a drone, such as a wing or the fuselage, with identifiable markings;
• reward individuals with $100 if they bring down a full drone, defined as a drone that can have a missing or damaged nose or tail section, but not both.
Source: The I-70 Scout
