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Comment by Balgair | Hacker News Reader

DO NOT DO THIS.

1: Missed bullets/shot may kill your friends and neighbors [0]. Especially in densely populated sub/urban environments.

2: Many drones use LiPo batteries. When punctured, LiPo batteries may catch fire [1]. You stand a good chance of starting even more fires if you shoot at drones.

Congrats, you have likely made things worse.

If you are thinking of shooting at a drone: STOP.

Put down the firearm and pick up the phone.

Call the police. Then call your state and local representatives[2]. Then call your neighbors. Organize and vote.

Pass laws, not ammo.

[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20070928000018/http://ats.ctsnet...

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUFxlf4fXjo

[2] https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

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Surely it goes without saying that private citizens should not discharge firearms aimed at another person's property? I mean literally there is no need to say it, as it's extraordinarily unlikely that the person you're responding to or anyone else on this site is foolish enough to do that. Yeah, there is a YouTube video here and there of some idiot shooting at a drone. But it seems unlikely that this is a rampant phenomenon, seeing as how it's illegal and probably a felony in most places. E.g. I don't know if a drone counts as an "aircraft" under NY state law, but it's a class E felony to discharge a firearm at an unoccupied aircraft here (1 1/2-4 years in prison).

Edit: oops, 18 USC 32 imposes a maximum of twenty years for sabotage of an aircraft anywhere in the USA, and apparently the USG has been interpreting this to include drones. Note that this law also applies to local and state law enforcement. Only the feds are allowed to deploy anti-aircraft technology.

https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/88696-before-you-p...

To be fair, the person that I was replying to literally advocates using firearms to take down drones as a viable solution. I agree with you, it is a insane thing to do. It seems that for drones, the laws may need to extend to state and local law enforcement, not just federal.

The comment you replied to observed that it is possible to use a firearm to shoot down a drone. It did not "advocate" for using firearms.

I didn't advocate shooting down drones. It should not be done under normal circumstances due to the falling debris hazard. But of all the ways to shoot down a drone (assuming it were necessary to protect public safety), using a shotgun is probably the safest, and I agree this should be done by police. Unless perhaps you're a firefighter trying to dump a helicopter full of water on a fire, and then I think most reasonable people would make an exception there too.

Falling birdshot is not going to harm anyone unless it gets in their eye. It's like tiny pebbles, not a slug which you're probably thinking of.

I agree, birdshot is very unlikely to harm anyone. All missed shot are unlikely to harm, in fact. Larger things like buckshot would be more likely to harm others, though still it's very low. Actual bullets like 45, 223, 22, or 9mm, accounting for ~50% (1/2) of most sold calibers in the US in 2015 [0], will do some real damage. Shotgun gauges only account for ~12% (1/8) of the calibers sold.

All said, it is still MUCH safer to not shoot at a drone at all. Let the local police take cafe of it.

Heck, get a super-soaker or something kind of water-ballon slingshot, if you must.

[0] http://knowledgeglue.com/what-are-the-most-popular-calibers-...

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