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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday October 29 2015, @03:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the get-off-my-lawn dept.

El Reg reports

A father who shot down a drone that was hovering over his family home in Kentucky has been cleared of all charges.

Dad-of-two William Merideth thought the quadcopter was spying on his daughters in their yard in Hillview and blasted the gizmo out of the sky with a shotgun. That earned him the title "Drone Slayer" from pro-privacy quarters.

Merideth was arrested shortly after in July and charged with criminal mischief and wanton endangerment.

He appeared before the Bullitt County District Court on Monday this week and after a two and a half hour hearing, Judge Rebecca Ward dismissed the case against him.

"I was in my right to protect my family and my property", said Merideth.

The judge agreed, telling the court: "He had a right to shoot at this drone."

David Boggs, who owned the downed drone, was hoping to get the cost of the machine in compensation and said he will ask the Commonwealth's Attorney's office to take the case to a grand jury--or consider pursuing a civil case against Merideth.

Previous: Man Arrested for Shooting Down Drone Flying Over His Property


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by CirclesInSand on Thursday October 29 2015, @05:10AM

    by CirclesInSand (2899) on Thursday October 29 2015, @05:10AM (#255887)

    A very long time. Shooting shotguns into the air isn't that dangerous...by the time the tiny shot pellets lose their upward momentum, they've basically lost all their momentum. It's not like bullets, which can overcome air resistance enough to keep their forward momentum.

    That's why you have outdoor skeet shooting contests, but not outdoor scatter shotgun sniping contests.

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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 29 2015, @05:23AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 29 2015, @05:23AM (#255893)

    Specifically, most bullets have a better ballistic coefficient and a higher sectional density, so they go faster at longer ranges and penetrate more efficiently at a given velocity.

    That said, the level of damage done by a bullet shot at any plausible elevation for drone killing, on its return to earth, is far, far, far below what it would do within 100 yards.

    • (Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday October 29 2015, @08:22AM

      by frojack (1554) on Thursday October 29 2015, @08:22AM (#255929) Journal

      I've been hit by shotgun pellets (birdshot, #6) at about 100 yards. No effect.
      Shotguns are totally ineffective at that range.

      A drone much beyond 40 yards would probably not be damaged unless you were using #4 or larger shot (geese loads).

      --
      No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
  • (Score: 2) by Tork on Thursday October 29 2015, @05:25AM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 29 2015, @05:25AM (#255894)
    You have way more faith in armed southerners than I do. I once came across a group of dudes firing bottle-rockets at each other while one complained about his eye hurting after it had recently been burned. There wasn't even any alcohol involved.
    --
    🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 29 2015, @06:16AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 29 2015, @06:16AM (#255908)

      In my travels, I have found that dumb rednecks are not restricted to any particular geographic region.
      As best I can tell, the bell curve for intelligence applies globally.

      -- gewg_

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 29 2015, @08:29PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 29 2015, @08:29PM (#256217)

        Down here they use traffic signs for target practice. Do you think they'll treat drones any different?

      • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday October 29 2015, @08:39PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday October 29 2015, @08:39PM (#256223) Journal

        Yeah I'd say that's true. I've seen plenty of dumb redneck-style antics in rural China and Vietnam. The only difference was they chewed betel nut instead of Red Man.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday October 29 2015, @06:21PM

      by edIII (791) on Thursday October 29 2015, @06:21PM (#256150)

      You, sir, need to learn about the Redneck Olympics.

      Alcohol does *not* need to be involved for Redneck's to run around shooting fireworks and such at each other. Just good ol' fashioned goofing off.

      --
      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
      • (Score: 2) by Tork on Thursday October 29 2015, @06:46PM

        by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 29 2015, @06:46PM (#256164)

        Alcohol does *not* need to be involved for Redneck's to run around shooting fireworks and such at each other.

        Heh. Sorry if I'm earning myself a big 'woosh' here, but that's exactly what I was saying in my post. These living cartoons were burning each others' faces with bottle rockets WITHOUT even having alcohol to serve as an alibi.

        --
        🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 29 2015, @11:37AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 29 2015, @11:37AM (#255970)

    If you think the idiots shooting guns in the air is going to restrain themselves to shotguns only, I have several bridges up on craigslist.