Should You Be Allowed To Shoot Down a Drone In Wyoming?

Imagine you are in your backyard and you see a drone hovering overhead.

ARE YOU ALLOWED TO SHOOT IT DOWN?

Wyoming lawmakers are discussing that right now.

There are rules when it comes to drones. How high they must be over other people's property, Restrictions around airports, and government property.

But what about your property? 

The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee is talking about standards and rules for drone usage in the state.

“One, (the topic) does have to do with drones as it relates to hunting, and two, it does have to do with drones as it relates to residential uses,” said Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne. (Cowboy State Daily). 

The Judiciary Committee hopes to consider “whether someone can fly a drone in your back yard,” Nethercott continued, and “whether you have the right to remove it or trespass the owner of that drone.” (Cowboy State Daily). 

A lot of this will have to do with how low is too low. 

Think of it this way. If someone is playing with a drone across the street from your house, you don't care.

But if they are hovering that drone the exact same distance over your house, suddenly you care.

But it's the same distance. Why should it matter?

As it is right now, as far as the law is concerned, if you own a house you own to about treetop level about your yard, roughly.

So anyone flying anything above that is supposed to be okay.

But what if they are just hovering there, watching you? 

For that we can ask, what if someone is standing across the street from your home, staring at your house. Technically they are not violating any law.

But let's get back to the original question. 

If a drone is hovering over your home, too low according to whatever law the state writes, should you be able to shoot it down?

If you are in a neighborhood you'll have to worry about the laws regarding shooting in a populated area. That's dangerous.

The answer is not as cut and dry as you might think.

We will have to wait to see what our legislators come up with.

There is a full article that discusses what the legislators are talking about on Cowboy State Daily.