He is from Kenya?
In one of the funniest bits I’ve seen in a while, the team at The Colbert Report [segment starts at 2:42] has produced a documentary about one lone citizen trying to make a difference, Phillip R. Steele of Deer Trail, Colorado. Steele wants his town to issue drone hunting licenses. The story itself dates back to last July [story at Denver’s Channel 7] , but the Colbert team disclosed a major new twist in the story in their broadcast this past Wednesday: Steele is a birther.
When asked if he had any message for Barack Obama, Steele said, “Go back to Kenya.” That was followed by a pause and then, “He is from Kenya?”
You can get your suitable for framing drone hunting license for $25 (although the town hasn’t approved the ordinance yet). You can also get charged with a crime for shooting at an aircraft, warns the FAA.
He is wanting to use shotguns to shoot down the drones. FAIL.
He should read up on the effective range of buckshots and slugs vs a drone a few miles up.
There are many other critical issues that need to be addressed when hunting drones, but shotguns is a non-starter.
The capacity for Americans to combine a legitimate concern for real issues (i.e., fears of an overbearing police state) with profound ignorance (i.e., “Obama’s from Kenyan, isn’t he?”), is terrifying. So foul and fair a nation-state I have not seen.
Perhaps he is unclear on the fact that certain drones are fully capable of shooting back?
That’s true of the big fixed-wing drones, like the one pictured on the license.
But a lot of the current concern (and hysteria) is about the small multicopters that are increasingly being adopted by LEOs and fire departments to give them an “eye in the sky” in emergencies. They’re also being used by news agencies now, to get aerial video of events like bicycle races. Those are the ones people will actually see, and are definitely vulnerable to buckshot. Heck, a really skilled slingshot user could probably take one down with a lucky hit.
Unfortunately, the most likely outcome is that some poor RC hobbyist will be out flying his new $1000 pride and joy, and see it explode in mid-air because some paranoid twit wanted to collect him a ree-ward. Since 99.99% of hobbyist copters are powered by lithium-polymer batteries, slung underneath to keep the CG low, the odds of a fire in such a situation are really bad.
As a resident of the State of Colorado, I am ashamed of the Town of Deer Tick…I mean Deer Trail. The town sits out on the eastern plains and consists of a few dozen trailers, two gas stations and a liquor store. I been through the town. Hell if I could see anything worth spying on with a drone.
Twenty-five dollars for a ‘certificate’ to shoot down Drones, being sold by a birfer. I actually don’t think Mr. Steel is as stupid as he seems; he knows his audience and like Cmndr. ZOO low, is just smarter than the average birfer and will be happy to lighten their wallets.
I share LawDog’s sentiment. its hard to believe that my state has such nutcases in it. Especially nutcases that think that their shotguns and hunting rifles will knock down a drone. I would really hope that there has been some communication between the Deer Trail folks and the Feds regarding the illegality of all of this. Wouldn’t want Deer Trail essentially aiding in the commission of a federal offense.
That is true, but the drones they should worry about are the ones they cannot see or reach not the local WCTV robo-coptor flying by…unless it is secretly controlled by NSA O-bots taking orders from the Illuminati.
If birthers worried about what “they should worry about”, they wouldn’t be birthers.