As Amazon works to launch a fleet of delivery drones, one man in Colorado is making it his mission to shoot them down—legally.  Philip Steel, whom Stephen Colbert has deemed a “courageous patriot,” has never seen a drone. But he’ll be ready when he does. In the next few years, Steel postulates, commercial drones will be Enemy No. 1. Hovering a few feet in the air, they’ll watch, record, and analyze Americans’ every move. Call yourself a non-smoker on your health insurance? A surveillance drone will soon prove you wrong, he says.   On Tuesday, Steel’s hometown of Deer Trail, Colorado, (population: 532) was poised to vote on an ordinance he wrote in July, one that would legalize drone-hunting licenses and allocate “bounties” for people who shoot down the aircrafts. Owing to a citizen protest, which moved the issue to district court, the vote has been postponed to April 2014.“It’s been a joyous couple months,” Deer Trail’s town clerk and treasurer Kimberley Oldfield joked to The Daily Beast Tuesday.

“Nobody wants to take on Phil, so they take on me.” What makes taking on Steel so difficult, in part, is that his staunch defense of the proposed ordinance is based on some inaccurate assumptions. According to Steel, the FAA’s 2012 Reform and Modernization Act (PDF), set to take effect in September 2015, will permit civil unmanned aircraft systems to infiltrate private airspace, all the way down to ground level. An alarming thought indeed, but one not based in reality. Drones won’t be flying over our backyards anytime soon—if ever.  The FAA’s legislation, which focuses on regulating large drones which will fly alongside the likes of 747s, will not allow these drones to fly below the national airspace (which begins at 400 feet). And it will only allow small ones to fly on a stringent case-by-case basis—for reasons like agricultural research, archeological mapping, and rescue efforts. Surveillance drones won’t be permitted to enter that zone without first obtaining an authorization certificate, which can take months.

The courageous patriot, it seems, is fighting an enemy that doesn’t exist. (Steel could not be reached for comment.)Despite these facts, Steel’s fight to shoot down the commercial drones of the future rages on. The tagline on his website, which he launched in July, reads: “If you don't want your drone to go down, don't fly it in town!!!!!” On his site, he sells $25 homemade “licenses” to shoot and kill drones (they bear no actual authorization).“We will serve a ruling elite who has already exempted themselves from any laws that they may pass.” The list of freedoms we’re in danger of losing, in Steel’s eyes, are endless. “‘Do you like to shoot? Play softball?’” he asks. “‘Do you want to build a house or barn?’”  Beyond uprooting our basic human freedoms, Steel predicts the drones will be used to enforce “any law.” Including, he told Colbert, “Obamacare.”For many in the unmanned aircraft community, Steel’s mission seems ridiculous. Beyond the fact that he’d be shooting down drones that may be used for good—archeological mapping, crop dusting, rescue efforts—founder of the Professional Society of Drone Journalists Matthew Schroyer worries about safety.

“I wonder about the safety of discharging weapons in public in the open air and the consequences of falling drones on property and individuals,” Schroyer notes. “I think that the reality of drones that we might see it in the future will become more associated with farming equipment,” he zYz. Meaning the good of these drones—below 400 feet or otherwise—is likely to outweigh the bad.   parrot ar drone loopingBy clicking "Subscribe," you agree to have read the Terms of Use and Privacy PolicySubscribeTuesday’s vote on the ordinance wouldn’t have been the legislation’s debut. black ops 2 escort drone glitchSteel unveiled his pride and joy in front of the town council in an unforgettable performance earlier this year that included a costume, nerf gun, and the theme song to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. ar parrot drone hmv

(The performance was captured by The Colbert Report; it begins at 4:55).  The town council members, whose expressions range from baffled to disturbed in the video, ended their vote in a tie—leaving the final decision up to the town itself. But as the December 10 vote neared, town resident Jessica Stoumbaugh felt it was a verdict too big to put in the hands of the 523 residents of the Deer Trail. parrot ar drone mode emploiSo Stoumabugh launched a citizen protest, which eventually landed it in district court. best drone reeds for naill bagpipesNow, Deer Trail town clerk Kimberly Oldfield says, the district judge will need “a final finding of petition sufficiency,” in order to set the election. parrot ar drone limitations“The town board would like to see it go to the people,” she says.  

While the court wrestles with the handling of the ordinance, Phil Steel’s likely to be found perched on the tree-house like structure he’s built to practice shooting drones with a shotgun. Perhaps repeating the message he sent to Obama during his Colbert special: “Go back to Kenya.” A statement nervously followed by his own question: “He’s from Kenya, right?” This is a list of episodes for The Colbert Report in 2014, the final year of the series. The final episode aired on December 18, 2014.The Newberry Springs Volunteer Fire Department's 2011 International 4,000 gallon water tender has a new home now in Deer Trail, Colorado. of 546 people, 54-miles east of Denver, turned some heads last summer in proposing the revenue generating idea of issuing town licenses to hunt airborne drones; pesty, unmanned surveillance aircraft that could, at any time, intrude upon the sovereign airspace, tranquility and privacy of Deer Trail.  Although the proposed ordinance was indefinitely

postponed to an upcoming public vote, Deer Trail did bag the Newberry Springs' fire truck. The logic and strategy behind the Newberry CSD's original purchase of the 2011 model truck, and investing tens of thousands of dollars into modifying the water tender, to only shortly thereafter place the truck for sale, isn't known; but for a CSD that only receives a couple hundred thousand dollars a year from the county for its operations, nearly half of one year's operating funds may have been lost over the sale's fiasco. Details on the fire truck's sale have been sketchy.  been consigned by the Newberry CSD to Fire Trucks Plus of Ontario, California.  to a Deer Trail news publication, the Tri-County Tribune, the June 27, 2013 edition shows a photo of the truck in Deer Trail noting that it had been delivered from California by two of the town's fire fighters. It wasn't until some months later that the Newberry fire department, thinking that the truck was sitting idle in Ontario, decided to place the truck back into local

service to justify the bank payments that the Newberry CSD was making.  until Newberry fire tried to retrieve the truck that the earlier sale and the alleged fraud wasUpon the discovery, CSD president Robert Royalty immediately placed control of the matter under the CSD's pricey legal counsel. Presumably, if the fire truck was properly insured, any loss of the vehicle could have been initially handled by the insurance carrier's attorneys; that Royalty has had a cozy and more comfortable relationship with the CSD's legal counsel; the CSD's counsel has seemingly acted as a hired gun protecting some of the actions of the 2013 Robert Royalty has also appeared quick to run matters through counsel so that sensitive details can be allegedly covered-up from the public under the veil ofWith new directors now seated as of last December, and a new president, hopefully the CSD board will become more transparent to the community. Between the fire truck's original acquisition costs, modification costs,

and bank payment costs, it has been estimated that the CSD has nearly $200,000.00 invested in theJust under $100,000.00 was still owed on a bank note that was held by Kansas StateIn order to acquire clear title, Deer Trail has paid that off, leaving Newberry Springs' equity investment of about $100,000.00 missing ! A minor portion of Newberry's $100,000.00 must be marked down as the CSD had the asking sales price on the truck reduced as an incentive to sell the truck in an Just what the truck actually sold for isn't known as the involvedWhat is known is the CSD's legal counsel's accomplishments don't appear that significant nor brilliant to justify the mounting legal fees as displayedThe 12-thousand-plus dollars in legal fees on the fire truck in December alone are continuing to grow in January. The Newberry CSD has been sensitive about negative statements regarding its selection of Fire Trucks Plus, claiming that many other fire departments used the dealer and were

also taken-in by the alleged fraud.  However, when government employees handle public assets, they hold a fiduciary duty of basic due diligence to use an escrow account, check backgrounds (Dunn & Bradstreet), and seek sufficient bonding. It is rumored that over two million dollars in fire truck sales may be missing from the dealership.  The chance of Newberry CSD recovering its money does not appear promising at this time. This past summer a children's summer program, free to the community and free to the children, was highly scrutinized and overly micromanaged by the CSD board before the promoters were allowed to simply rent the community service center building; yet, a valuable fire asset was turned over to a business that was never pre-checked.  In fact, there is a question of whether the original consignment with Fire Trucks Plus, to sell the fire truck, ever had proper The Newberry CSD's prevailing reckless attitude to big details while