As is happening all across the country right now, politicians are drafting knee-jerk legislation against domestic drones. Sadly they often write vague definitions of "drones" without really thinking of the ramifications their rhetoric could have.
Case in point: Two bills were recently introduced to the Oregon legislature which will immediately criminalize every consumer and hobbyist who owns a toy or model aircraft capable of capturing images of people or objects. But don’t take my word for it – read the Roswell Flight Test Crew’s very extensive analysis here. Or watch their great video above.
So PDXDrones members are coming together Thursday to organize ourselves against and respond to this misguided legislation. We'll be working with the AMA and Roswell Flight Test Crew to produce a video petition to send to our legislators, as well as other collateral we'll gladly share with other pilots going through similar situations.
If you live in the Portland area, we need you to attend this meeting. If we don’t act as a group, to let our own representatives know the grave mistake they are attempting to make, then we might all become criminals.
Comments
I mostly agree and appreciate your rational outlook on the situation; however at the state level they can supersede FAA regulations within urban areas, have already done so in several Californian cities.
Best reference I can give is the Marijuana debates, currently illegal at the Federal level in all states a Schedule 1 narcotic. However in several states now it is legal. It is the opposite of the situation we will be dealing with in Oregon, and has been enforced in California at the state level.
Far too many if's and precedents, the community is right to be wary and act appropriately.
A good post I read recently:
"All of this pending legislation is a knee jerk response by legislators responding to "concerns" posed by their constituents. The bottom line is none of the legislation is valid or enforceable, airspace in the USA is controlled by the FAA and they take precedence over any local or state laws. A state might push through a bill that they thinbk is going to address their concerns but at the end of the day all they're doing is wasting time. On the issue of privacy concerns and who actually regulates airspace see this document... http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R42940.pdf in particular read the sections dealing with United States v. Causby
For an idea of how the FAA deals with states or localities passing laws trying to regulate airspace see this article... http://articles.latimes.com/2002/nov...cal/me-banners
While all of these proposed laws are certainly a field day for the media, it's all just white noise that will come to nothing. Once the FAA issues it's regulations on sUAS that will be what you need to be concerned with, any local legislation will be shot down pretty quickly by either the FAA or a corporate entity with a large vested financial interest and lots of lawyers."
Also, the most recent proposed federal legislation doesn't actually seem to bad. Just places limits on those filming/photographing private property, etc. http://www.lofgren.house.gov/images/stories/pdf/hr%20637%20poe%20-%...
As long as it's not a complete ban, rather a rational evaluation of the situation, I am ok with it. We don't ban alcohol or guns (yet) because some use irresponsibly. Should be the same with UAVs, UAS, RPV, FPV, etc
Count me in, when drones are outlawed, only outlaws will have drones.
Calling this a knee-jerk reaction is about the perfect outlook, my own devices I am building for survey and building inspection. The small percentage of people who might attempt to use such products for negativity can and will do so with or without a ban. Lesser APM knockoff's and other drone materials can be found readily and discreetly from many sources.
These bills, like others being worked on at Federal levels will only serve to hinder those of us who build responsibly, not protect the public from random craziness.
Gary, you may be right, there may not be much we can do; however, that will not stop me from doing my part to stop the insanity.
Between the Politicians, an uninformed public and a sensationalist media, what chance do reasonable, rational people have?
Sadly, not much.
What? Politicians drafting knee jerk legislation and ruling on matters they are clearly not experts on? Say it isn't so!
As sad as it is, more and more politicians seem to be fools only concerned with re-election and the next step up in their career.
I highly encourage all to make their beliefs known to politicians, only a perceived threat to their career aspirations can make this brand of people turn their course.