Why you need a shotgun: Reason # 284

We're all familiar with the usual reasons that ownership of a shotgun is virtually mandatory. For example, when your daughter's boyfriend comes to the house to pick her up for a date, it's important that he see you sitting at the kitchen table, cleaning your 12-gauge. And nothing beats a shotgun for repelling zombies.

Now this story comes to us from the Orangeburg, South Carolina Times & Democrat:

A remote-controlled aircraft owned by an animal rights group was reportedly shot down near Broxton Bridge Plantation Sunday near Ehrhardt, S.C.

Steve Hindi, president of SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness), said his group was preparing to launch its Mikrokopter drone to video what he called a live pigeon shoot on Sunday when law enforcement officers and an attorney claiming to represent the privately-owned plantation near Ehrhardt tried to stop the aircraft from flying.

"It didn't work; what SHARK was doing was perfectly legal," Hindi said in a news release. "Once they knew nothing was going to stop us, the shooting stopped and the cars lined up to leave."
He said the animal rights group decided to send the drone up anyway.

"Seconds after it hit the air, numerous shots rang out," Hindi said in the release. "As an act of revenge for us shutting down the pigeon slaughter, they had shot down our copter."

He claimed the shooters were "in tree cover" and "fled the scene on small motorized vehicles."

At The Volokh Conspiracy, this raises questions about "Drones, Privacy and Air Rights." We agree that there are interesting legal questions involving possible violation of FAA regulations, whether there would be a right-of-action against my neighbor spying on me this way, and operation of such a thing over public lands.

On the other hand, we also think it's important for all concerned parties to be aware that we've established a no-fly zone out here above our little patch of Fauquier County.