Deer Trail, Colo., residents to get ‘drone hunting licenses’?

Several cities and states have passed legislation forbidding the federal government's use of drones to spy on citizens. But a Deer Trail, Colo., man is taking a personal stand, drafting an ordinance that makes the hunters the prey.

Deer Trail resident Philip Steel has written legislation, which will be considered by the town board on Aug. 6, for residents to acquire “drone hunting licenses” according to a report in Business Insider.

Anyone shooting down a drone and bringing “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” to authorities will be entitled to a $100 reward, according the report.



“We don’t want drones in town,” Steel told local ABC affiliate 7NEWS. “They fly in town, they get shot down.”

All renegade cowboy jokes aside, Steel says the program would be mostly symbolic, according to a Mashable report.

“Basically, I do not believe in the idea of a surveillance society, and I believe we are headed that way,” he told 7NEWS.

And at $25 a pop, the drone hunting licenses could be “a huge moneymaker” for the town, Steel told the TV station. “They’ll sell like hotcakes,” he said.

But Deer Trail residents might want to think twice before leveling sights against a surveillance drone. Federal law states that anyone destroying or damaging government property will be slammed with a felony charge, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and subject to a hefty fine.