Gun-Firing Drone Raises Some Eyebrows

An anonymous reader writes: A video posted on YouTube showing a drone firing a gun in a wooded area has caused some controversy today. The short video shows a four-rotored custom drone with a special rig containing a handgun. The handgun proceeds to fire four shots, handling the recoil better than might be expected. The user who posted the video also submitted it to Reddit, where a commenter noted that the apparent use of a solenoid trigger would class the device as an automatic weapon under ATF rules.

Comments

Priorities

[Anonymous Coward]

This has two components, the handgun and the drone. I suspect the push will be for greater legislation of drones rather than handguns.

Re:Priorities

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Seems reasonable. I don't doubt that if the National Rotorcraft Association were a political force to be reckoned with they'd go after the handgun instead.

Screw the ATF

[mi]

use of a solenoid trigger would class the device as an automatic weapon under ATF rules

What's ATF? A bunch of busybodies seeking to control our use of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms — all perfectly legal things. Dissolution of that agency is long overdue — it should never have been created in the first place...

This is only a start

[heretic108]

(Apart from any observations about how technological advances are largely driven by porn and guns)...

I can see some people mounting camera-sighted scope rifles on their drones. Protecting the lives of controversial public figures has suddenly become a whole lot more difficult. Expect an arms-war of RF jamming and anti-drone drones, and countermeasures to these, in endless iterations.