Posted on 08/31/2016 4:48:33 AM PDT by SJackson
Old school justice.
If you’ve seen the Godfather movies, you know there are risks in messing with the wrong people. Two strangers with a drone found this out the hard way when they flew their device near the rural Virginia property of actor Robert Duvall.
A local woman, Jennifer Youngman, did not like what the men were up to and — boom! — she shot the drone out of the air after a gust of wind brought it towards her property.
“They were going a little too fast and they went over my airspace. I had my .20-gauge there, so I put two 71/2 birdshot shells in it, and there you are,” Youngman told the Fauquier Times, which reported the story this weekend.
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Youngman and other local residents speculated the drone operators might be from The National Enquirer and had come to spy on Duvall, who played the lawyer Tom Hagen in the Godfather movies.
The men allegedly set up a card table near Duvall’s residence to launch the drone, and then scrammed after Youngman shot it down.
It will come as no surprise that isn’t the the first drone to meet such a fate in the U.S. Last year, a Kentucky man ended up in county jail after he blasted a device he said was spying on his daughters. Another such incident occurred in California.
It’s unclear for now what the law is when it comes to taking action against drones hovering over private property. On one hand, some academics argue the law frowns against “self-help,” and shotgun owners can face mischief or vandalism charges if they open fire. But at least one academic argues that “robotic intrusions” pose a special kind of danger that justifies “violent self-help.”
In the Kentucky case, prosecutors dropped the criminal charges, though the drone owner is still pursuing civil charges in federal court.
So far, it does not appear any charges are in store for Youngman, who is glad to have chased the drone away from the property of Duvall, who she describes as a “really nice man.”
The Army Built a Wi-Fi “Gun” That Shoots Drones From the Sky
If she has had any second thoughts, it is only in regard to the nuisance created by the drone debris.
“I have a bit of regret, I had small pieces of drone all over my pasture. It’s already given me two flat tires on my tractor,” she told the Fauquier Times.
Fortune could not immediately confirm the facts of the story, but Youngman repeated the account to Ars Technica, adding that she is an experienced skeet shooter.
Maybe drone shooting will become a sport as is skeet shooting.
Really? A movie from 30 years ago and that's all this idiot reporter can come up with? Duvall has done so many other really good roles since then but, by God, we have bring in the mediocre movie "The Godfather" into it.
That's Mister Arthur Radley to you, Scout.
“Pull!”
Unclear. The FAA claims to control all airspace, they recognize airspace above 500 feet or 300 feet above a building as public, but it's a federal crime to interfere with drones flying below the public level. And in some circumstances require drones to fly below that level. An obvious mess.
Did the drone operator fly it across state lines?
Did the drone operator have an FAA pre-approved flight plan?
The air-space above my property, as well as the terrain beneath IS my property. . .encroach at your own risk!!
No one should have to tolerate such foreign objects trespassing in their property, whether it is from the National Enquirer or Amazon.com.
It’s class C airspace.
I like ‘Second Hand Lions’.
-JT
And so you’re trying to tell me my roof and chimney are in FAA Airspace? Good! Let them pay the property taxes!
“I had small pieces of drone all over my pasture. It’s already given me two flat tires on my tractor,” she told the Fauquier Times.”
Me thinks she stretches the truth just a bit!!!!
Even my smallest tractors would make dust out of an object as light as a drone.
And for a 20 guage with 7.5 bird shot to take it down. That’s very short range... What’s the range on that? 50 yards max?
Good. The current drone fad is no reason why a property owner must give up her rights. She had 100% right to destroy the thing, without any compensation to its owner.
This applies to drones sent by individuals, government or news media.
Duvall one of my favorite if not very favorite character actors. Last role I saw him in was in Jack Reacher as the gun range owner. Unfortunately he is getting a tad long in the tooth. I don’t think he is your typical Hollyweird type either.
Effective range probably about 50 depending on choke, even with 3 inch chamber.
When I was a kid I dropped a rabbit heading away circa 40 yrds, #6 shot, with a 20 gauge 2.75 chamber. My dad thought it was one of best shots he had seen in the field as I had to time his hop out of a drainage ditch on the side of the field. That was 60 years ago. I still have that gun which was my grand dads, 20 gauge double Ithica.
Robert Duvall would approve. He himself would shoot at salesman all the time from his front porch.
http://media.baselineresearch.com/images/266478/266478_full.jpg
Some help from Michael Caine.
http://images1.fanpop.com/images/photos/2600000/Secondhand-Lions-michael-caine-2629112-740-359.jpg
FWIW, in case no one knows, Duvall is a conservative.
Even if it does, what jury is going to side with the nosy spy?
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