In this strange time, everyone is spying on everyone and privacy as we knew it is not returning. Yet people believe–or pretend to believe–that something can be done about it. While many think legislation is the answer, some in Colorado have a different idea: license citizens who wish to shoot down government drones. (Those involved haven’t yet said what they will do when drones shrink from the size of planes to that of fleas.) From Jason Bittel at Slate:
“Is it just me, or are things really coming off the rails in Colorado? Earlier this summer, a handful of northern counties got all hyped up on freedom juice and started talking about secession. (The rural counties were reportedly upset over ‘restrictive gun laws and clean energy mandates.’) Now, a town to the south has been inundated with requests for drone-hunting licenses—and we’re not talking about using flying robots to shoot deer on the ground. Naturally, it doesn’t matter that there’s no such thing as a drone-hunting license.
Here’s how the whole brouhaha began. In June, some dude in Deer Trail, Co., proposed that there should be a town-wide ordinance to shoot down government drones, complete with a $100 bounty should one successfully ground one. (FYI: You’d have to provide a piece of the drone to prove your ‘kill.’) Despite the fact that the town won’t even vote on the ordinance until October, the story snagged national media attention, which in turn spurred red-blooded Americans everywhere to send Deer Trail a check for $25 (the proposed cost of the license that doesn’t exist). When the town clerk stopped counting, they’d received $19,006.”
Tags: Jason Bittel