They’re legalizing just about everything in Colorado nowadays
By Curt Cramer
Hunters in Colorado may be adding a new breed of game to their list by the end of the day – drones.
As of 7am Tuesday, polls had opened in the small town of Deer Trail in Adams County, Colorado with pending ordinance legislation on the ballot to issue actual hunting licenses to drone hunters.
The answer to your question: yes, this is not real. Not exactly anyway. As the town reported to AP, it is more or less a satirical gesture in opposition to the now growing number of federal surveillance programs. It is of course, illegal to shoot down multi-million dollar pieces of government hardware out of the sky, like any other plane or helicopter. People in town call it a novelty response showing displeasure, and are aiming to raise both money and publicity for the issue, by allowing for the slated $25 purchase of each “permit”, pictured above.
Anti-surveillance activist Phil Steel, a resident of the town and operator of droneshooters.com, was the major push behind the initiative when he proposed it last year. When the New York Daily News outlined the story in September, about 1,000 people had signed up to order their symbolic permit once the legislation passed. According to AP, Deer Trail’s town clerk, Kim Oldfield, said there are 348 registered voters, but many of those are likely inactive. Voting was steady after polls opened, and results are expected within hours of polls closing at 7 p.m.
After a quick visit to Phil’s website, you can tell the humongous sense of irony the man has. A link emboldened, “DRONE SHOOTING EVENT IN DEER TRAIL on February 22nd 2014!!!” was at the top of the page grabbing the attention at once. Upon researching, he requires everyone attending to have a permit, or at least a photocopy, or substitute purchase of a DroneShooters T-Shirt, and then says “there will be Drone shooting ammo available, but you are encouraged to bring your own”, leading to the next link describing the ammo, which is Estes rockets to be blasted into the sky – the ones kids use in science club after school.
A fun take on a serious issue, and the sincerity of Steel’s mission in regards to federal surveillance and the growing list of victims can be read in the “about” section.
-Curt Cramer (@CurtisRemarc)
