Don’t Let Local Anti-Drone Laws Keep you from Flying!

This sign in most cases is a paper tiger

Newton, MA—The City Council of this city enacted a highly restrictive ordinance over both commercial and recreational drones.  The most draconion parts of that law was just declared invalid by a federal judge.  

Among other things the council like many state and local governments recklessly went about regulating or restricting most drone activities such as:  

1.  Registration requirement for all drones with the city.

2.  Obtain “permission” from public or private property owners before any flights..

3.  Outlaws beyond line of sight flying.  

State and local politicians are either oblivious or antagonistic to the reality that they have zero jurisdiction over the airspace.  This is the mandated responsibility of the FAA.  They pass laws that result in arrests, search warrants and confiscation of property because of their arrogance and or ignorance. 

Article Six of our Constitution makes it quite clear that in case of a conflict between state and federal law, federal is always supreme.  Congress created the FAA and gave it  exclusive jurisdiction of the airspace.  

People victimized by these tyrannical laws have two ways to attack this monster:

1. If arrested they can furiously litigate the bad law in court.
2. By simply suing the offending government agencies seeking to enjoin their over-reaching laws.      

Of course if arrested, the local courts and prosecutor’s will offer you sweetheart deals in exchange for guilty pleas.  Unlike City Councilmen they have a better understanding of these bad laws.   I consider plea bargains in these cases as a nasty form of extortion.  

It will cost you a lot more money to litigate to win.  Rolling over and accepting a permanent criminal record is always the wrong answer here!

There are now two Federal Court cases affecting drone operators:  

1. Taylor vs. FAA.  This precluded the FAA from requiring registration of drone used for recreation. This new requirement was in serious conflict with existing Federal law.
2. Singer vs. City of Newton.  This case struck down the most egregious portions of the ordinance.  The plaintiff only challenged those portions of the law that affected him.

The Singer case does not really apply as a mandate nation wide however the case can be cited to various courts dealing with the same issues. The arguments made by Singer and the Court’s decision are very compelling.  

My guess is many local judges will bow not to the law but to the politicians that appointed them.  You could stand to be fined, jailed or placed on probation. 

Unfortunately what’s been left out of this argument is our Constitutional right to photograph and publish under the First Amendment. The media organizations should have challenged the bogus laws long ago.   

We also must deal with ignorant drone industry trolls that want to regulate recreational drone operators into non-existence.  The only acceptable motivation for regulation is safety.  The facts are despite millions of them out there no drone has crashed into conventional aircraft, been involved in death or serious injury.  Additionally no drone has been involved in any significants property damage.  

Many more windows are broken by softball players and golfers than drones!.  

This anti-drone hysteria continues.  It must be fought through education, litigation and safe flying.  Stand up for your rights while you still can!

Here is a copy of the Singer Ruling:
https://www.scribd.com/document/359718558/Singer-vs-City-of-Newton-Drone-Ruling

Drone Hysteria! Gullible Media Organizations have Been Hoodwinked Big Time by the FAA and DOT

Washington, D.C.—We have a full-blown crisis!  We are being told that government must suddenly regulate and register the well over two million drones used by hobbyists, photographers, filmmakers and other ordinary civilians.

For over two years now we’ve heard the media tell us how these little pesky devices will bring down airliners, invade privacy and destroy our way of life.  Pulling the puppet strings of the media has been the FAA and DOT. 

Chicago’s Mayor, Rahm Emanuel said it best back when he was Obama’s Chief of Staff, “Never let a good crisis go to waste!”  This drone crisis is nothing more that a manufactured one.

The FAA has showered the media with their “facts” in that they claim there are well over 700 cases of near misses with airliners and other conventional aircraft.

Missing from these statistics are a single fatality, serious injury or even a report of notable property damage.  Because drones have driven news stories like wildfire a child needing a Band-Aid on his nose from a drone propeller is automatically a national news story. 

I guess nobody in the media noticed that there is not a single incident where a multi-rotor camera drone every touched any conventional aircraft, ever.

More importantly there is not a single identified suspect, prosecution, captured drone, video or even a photograph involving these near miss reports!  Nearly everyone has a video camera in their pockets today but not a single image exists of drone misconduct? 

Now there is a sudden rush to regulate and register every little drone in America!  We are being told that this is being done in the name of public safety.  Is it about safety or just a case of government selling us on more government?  As you read this you know the answer, we’ve been had!

The reason for the sudden rush is simple.   As each year drags on and there are no significant accidents to report or legitimate cases of privacy invasions discovered the need for regulation is non-existent.  The taxpayers can’t then be fleeced over this manufactured impending doom.

Imagine the number of FAA and DOT agents that will be needed to register and inspect every drone in America?  Politicians will be putting their relatives, friends and supporters in well paying government drone chasing jobs! 

Then they will all take credit for the fact that there are no deaths, injuries or property damage as a result of their comprehensive drone enforcement activities!  That’s how our government works!

In the meantime the morons in suits running our shrinking news organizations that helped to create this Drone Hysteria must continue spending millions leasing helicopters and crews to get images.   Using drones would only cost a tiny percentage of what they pay now.

Conventional pilots run the FAA.  They are all aware that drones will be eliminating a significant percentage of their jobs.  They have an obvious conflict of interest here.  It’s in their interest to slow the drone technology down as much as they can.

FAA regulations were all written in blood.  They are based on actual deadly aircraft accidents.  When it came to our little drones the FAA departed from reactive regulation to one of prior restraint.  That’s un-American!  So is the FAA stranglehold on the commercial use of a drone. 

Will we wake up in time to keep the FAA in check?  I doubt it.