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An 18-year-old student in Clinton, Connecticut has led the Federal Aviation Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local police to investigate after his video of a quadcopter drone firing a handgun went viral.
According to his father, Austin Haughwout assembled the drone warrior for a college class project with the help of a professor at Central Connecticut State University. A spokesman for the university said that the professor strongly discouraged Haughwout and that the drone wasn't related to a class project. The 14-second video, posted on YouTube on July 10th, shows a quadcopter hovering and firing a semiautomatic handgun (unconfirmed that this was a Kel-Tec PMR-30 pistol) four times in midair. CNN reports that the agencies involved haven't found any evidence of wrongdoing:
"We are attempting to determine if any laws have been violated at this point. It would seem to the average person, there should be something prohibiting a person from attaching a weapon to a drone. At this point, we can't find anything that's been violated," Clinton Police Chief Todd Lawrie said. [...] The Federal Aviation Administration and federal law agencies are also investigating "to determine if there were any violations of criminal statutes," the FAA said.
[...] Law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes, a former director of the FBI, said he believed the gun drone could be illegal as a form of reckless conduct. "What if the drone gets beyond the distance of the radio control? We had that drone land on the front lawn of the White House," Fuentes said. Earlier this year, a U.S. intelligence agency employee lost control of a borrowed personal quadcopter drone, which crashed on the White House lawn. "Do we want drones out of control that could land who knows here? We could have a child pick up the drone, pick up the gun, and accidentally kill themselves. I see the whole thing as reckless conduct," Fuentes said.
This isn't the teen's first taste of national drone fame. He was assaulted by a 23-year-old woman last year while taking aerial footage of a beach using an unarmed quadcopter. Despite assaulting a minor and lying to the police whom she had called to the scene, in contradiction of video evidence from the drone and Haughwout's iPhone, she received just 2 years probation.
(Score: 2) by githaron on Thursday July 23 2015, @01:58PM
I really don't understand everyone's problem with this. Someone build a quadrocopter that fires bullets. So what? It sounds like a cool project to me. It is not like this drone was being flown around a populated area. It is not like the drone is being used to attack people. It is sad that people are actively searching for laws to prosecute this person with.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2015, @02:20PM
My problem isn't with the armed drone, it's with the idiot who thought that would be a good thing to make (and apparently you, because you too think it's "a cool project".) People like you are why we can't have nice things. Arming a drone is so obviously wrong that if there isn't a law against it now, there soon will be. And it will be too broad and restrict projects which would actually be cool. As if people weren't afraid enough of RC quadcopters. At the very least, he could have used a paintball gun instead of a real gun with live ammunition.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by CirclesInSand on Thursday July 23 2015, @02:34PM
There is nothing "obviously wrong" about this project at all. "Obviously wrong" would mean that there is intent to harm someone or a reckless endangerment of other people. And if you were thinking at all, you'd realize that handguns are farm more dangerous in a hand than on a drone.
The only thing "obvious" is that you are scared by the reality that other people are capable of hurting you. You simply want to outlaw anything that makes that fact unignorable.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2015, @03:01PM
I should have qualified: It's obvious to anyone who is not an asshole. This "project" has consequences that go beyond the range of the gun that was mounted on that toy, so where that gun was fired is beside the point. One obvious consequence is that some politician will use this idiocy to ban something. Another obvious consequence is that people are now more afraid of drones than they've been already. I wouldn't call this stunt "terrorism", because that fear may not have been intended, but what that asshole did certainly has some of the effects.
To say that a gun is more dangerous in a hand than on a drone is beyond stupid. Despite all the advanced sensors and control algorithms that keep a drone stable, it is still a moving and naturally unstable platform. It is remote controlled, which means the pilot and shooter has limited perception of the environment that the drone is in and what the gun shoots at. Control of the drone is through radio communication on non-exclusive frequencies, most likely not encrypted or authenticated. The pilot can not guarantee permanent control. The software which controls the gun actuator is not verified, and neither is the software which controls the drone, which was not designed to be used in life-threatening applications. Glitches in the power supply, a loose cable or any number of problems which are common in the RC world could trigger the live gun.
No thanks for anything. People like you ruin it for everybody else.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2015, @09:41PM
Oh, its you again. You know what, anyone that is against a private citizen doing whatever they want privately is an asshole. I am sure everyone that isn't an asshole agrees.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2015, @10:13PM
>One obvious consequence is that some politician will use this idiocy to ban something.
You are not a free man and do not live in a free country.
Kill the politician like dylann storm roof killed the politician near him that was pro-gun control.
(Score: 4, Funny) by maestroX on Thursday July 23 2015, @02:24PM
just wait until they are loaded with anvils
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Thursday July 23 2015, @02:47PM
I think the Road Runner will be safe from this.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 24 2015, @08:52PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhQ4dE_RGnQ [youtube.com]
Sounds fun.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Francis on Thursday July 23 2015, @02:39PM
The problem is that it further breaks the 2nd amendment. The 2nd amendment was written with certain assumptions in mind. Those assumptions being that there was no standing army, basically no full time law enforcement, that nearly all adults would own one and that you'd only be able to shoot one or maybe two bullets a minute.
Being able to shoot remotely via a platform that can fly just further breaks things the way that repeaters and manufactured shells did. Now, not only are you not safe at ground level or behind a wall, now being behind a thick wall with no line of sight isn't sufficient.
I don't expect this to be a huge problem any time soon, but cumulatively, it adds up in a big way and at some point the 2nd amendment supporters are going to have to just accept that the 2nd amendment doesn't offer cart blanche for all this stuff.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Thursday July 23 2015, @02:54PM
Absolutely NONE of those "assumptions" you mention were even contemplated by the Second amendment proponents. Not one.
There were several drafts, and various letters and newspaper articles discussing the reasons for a second amendment.
Some drafts actually mentioned that the people needed to be armed sufficiently to overthrow the government (to do so is considered a right of the people). They decided to tone down that language a tad in the final version.
All understood that arms meant equipment ON PAR with then current military standard issue weaponry.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Francis on Thursday July 23 2015, @03:32PM
They didn't write those things down because they didn't need to write them. They also didn't bother to mention opposable thumbs or using your eyes to aim. Likewise, no special rules for space or what happens during an alien invasion either. They didn't debate those because it was a given that blind people wouldn't be using firearms and that you'd have to hold the gun in some way in order to fire it.
Assuming that just because they didn't specifically mention the things that they were taking for granted that they weren't taking them for granted is rather ridiculous. Those things were all a a part of the context and the mental framework they were using when they debating.
Just because it's not convenient to consider the historical context in which the discussions and debates were being made, does not make it more accurate to pretend like the debate considered the future consequences of technological advance. At that time there was very little difference in weaponry available. It was mostly flintlocks that were notorious for misfiring and you'd have to choose between a hair trigger and one that would take longer to fire. With the trade off being that you'd either have it fire before you might want or having to wait a moment after pulling the trigger.
BTW, considering that they did specifically mention well-organized militas in the 2nd amendment, I find it rather hard to believe that they didn't discuss the matter.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday July 23 2015, @03:55PM
> All understood that arms meant equipment ON PAR with then current military standard issue weaponry.
The US has a nuke for every 100 or 200 military personnel. Every high-rise in the country should have a nuke launcher, just to be on par.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday July 23 2015, @04:18PM
You know, like a rifle. Also, nuclear weapons would be a terrible way to retake your country.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday July 23 2015, @04:34PM
Hey, don't ask me what's actually required to retake the country from an army known to have used nukes in less-than-dire situations before: I checked the box that said "I don't intend to overthrow the US government".
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday July 24 2015, @12:32AM
There is a catch-22 in there where you first swore an oath to support and defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Thursday July 23 2015, @05:01PM
Leave Texas out of this!
Some drafts actually mentioned that the people needed to be armed sufficiently to overthrow the government (to do so is considered a right of the people).
And please show us where in the the US Constitution that such a right is considered? The Declaration of Independence is not a legal document. Nor are the Articles of Succession. Treason will now come on a quadcopter?
(Score: 2) by zugedneb on Thursday July 23 2015, @09:58PM
So, what happens, if someone makes preaches in the street to overthrow the government?
Is inciting riot legal in the US?
Also, by and large, how many men would it require to march to Washington armed, before the military would stop mawing them down with machine guns, and admit it to be a legitimate overthrowment?
old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
(Score: 3, Informative) by tathra on Friday July 24 2015, @01:16AM
that would be sedition, which is very illegal. here [cornell.edu] is the relevant law.
the problem here though is that the US has a rogue government, operating outside the law and flagrantly ignoring its foundational document which grants it sovereignty, and by ignoring that it loses all legitimacy. basically every congressman and all employees of many gov't branches (most notably DEA, NSA, DHS, and TSA employees) are openly violating 5 U.S. Code § 7311 [cornell.edu] (punishment listed under 18 U.S. Code § 1918 [cornell.edu]). rather than suggesting to overthrow the government, we just need to push for enforcement of Title 18 USC sec. 1918, because if it were to be enforced there'd be no need for the appearance of sedition.
(Score: 2) by tathra on Friday July 24 2015, @01:07AM
except for the one about there being no standing army, because a full-time standing army is explicitly forbidden by the constitution:
the US Army is supposed to be nothing but militias, ie, national guard/army reserve units called to active duty with no full-time "active duty" branch:
(note that this is also what's meant by the "well-regulated militia" clause, and if you say something about all able-bodied men are the militia, well, then that supports the GP's statement about the assumption that nearly all adults would own one)
(Score: 5, Informative) by CoolHand on Thursday July 23 2015, @04:19PM
I think you assume that the only purpose of the amendment is to help proctect from foreign invasion. This is not true. From the Wikipedia article [wikipedia.org]:
So, in order to protect ourselves from a tyrannical government (which our founders knew all about), they crafted this amendment (along with other important amendments), and may have considered it the most important of all. The Bill of Rights is designed to protect the individual citizens rights against the tyranny of government. Don't tell me that with the way society is moving that this need may not be there. So get out of here with your unpatriotic anti-2nd amendment BS, and quit trying to take away my rights that I view as essential to a FREE man.
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 24 2015, @01:23AM
The second amendment has no authority when the entirety of the constitution in which it is written has been subverted. The second only matters so long as the other 26 are also upheld, but now we live in a time when the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 14th, and 15th, at least, have been undermined, some more than others, yet nobody ever makes a peep about those. Where are all those zealots crying about the second being to protect all the other amendments while the other amendments are right now rendered useless or significantly diminished?
(Score: 2) by Non Sequor on Thursday July 23 2015, @07:27PM
Unless he's put some serious engineering into designing appropriate fails ages the primary concern to me is that he's operating a firearm without practicing proper gun safety. I've never used a handgun, but based on the rules I was taught for handling shotguns and rifles this seems unclean.
Always treat the gun as if it were loaded.
The gun should never be allowed to point at a person.
In general when not being used it should be kept pointing down range or straight up.
So what's the mechanical failure rate on the drone itself, his mounting, and his firing mechanism and what measures is he taking to protect himself and others when a failure occurs?
I haven't read the article, so maybe he's Superengineer and has extensive design and testing to vet those issues.
Write your congressman. Tell him he sucks.