I think allowing anyone to shoot at a drone is a ridiculous and dangerous idea. I don’t know what the solution should be, but I can see both sides of this argument. As a newcomer to the hobby, I would not want my drone shot down. Who is responsible for the damage to the drone or anything/anyone it hits on the way down?
HOWEVER, I live in an area where the houses are close together, and I would not someone flying over my property (without asking first). I don’t know if they have a camera on there or how good of a pilot that are. On my property I have an expected right of privacy, and I don’t want someone invading it because they have a new toy. If there is an equipment failure or it crashes for whatever reason it could damage my car hit the dog or a kid.
I practice/test in my back yard, I never go higher than my house or over the fence line. There are places I can go when I want to get some real airtime. I have a few friends with a lot of property, there are a few abandon buildings nearby with big empty parking lots, and our local park lets people fly as long as we stay away from everyone and don’t cause issues. I know not everyone that wants to fly has these options, so what do you do then?
Jackson, thanks for posting this. It brings up some interesting conversation.