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A new bipartisan bill would make it a crime to replace drones with weapons or use them to interfere with the police and military.
The four lawmakers behind the bill said criminal sanctions were necessary to ensure the safety and security of Americans threatened by the misuse of drone technology.
The Drone Act of 2022 will prohibit people from attaching weapons to a drone, removing identification numbers and anti-collision lights from drones, and using drones to interfere with law enforcement, military or emergency response activities.
It will also hand down 10 years in prison for anyone found guilty of flying contraband to prison with a drone.
“This law will help prevent increased risks to public safety and national security by creating a comprehensive federal penal code that prohibits the most dangerous uses of drones,” said Dina Titus, Democratic Representative for Nevada, who participated in the study. “Most importantly, it will expressly prohibit attaching a weapon to a drone.”
Democrat Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey and Republican Representatives Mike Gallagher from Wisconsin and Peter Meijer from Michigan joined Mr. Titus in drafting the bill.
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The use of drones and the deployment of drones in restricted areas is increasing. According to the bill, 766 drones were seen in restricted airspace in the first half of 2021, and 875 such drones were seen in the whole of 2020.
Army and law enforcement are on the market for drones and robots. For example, Ghost Robotics showcased their quadrupedal robot at a military show in Washington last month and hired lobbyists to help the company attract new customers.
A statement from the company cited the armies and defense units of the US and allied countries as partners of Ghost Robotics, whose products can be equipped with weapons. In February, the Department of Homeland Security said it was working with Ghost Robotics and would use its robots to help patrol the southwest border.
The Drone Act 2022 makes exceptions for state-authorized or otherwise licensed activities, such as avalanche mitigation.
Measures by American federal agencies to restrict the armament of domestically used drones have faced a difficult road. In 2012, an effort to prevent DHS from using taxpayers’ funds to purchase and operate drones passed Parliament but was excluded from an appropriations bill that was later passed into law.
According to Mr. Meijer, making sure the federal government had legal access to drone technology and not the bad guys was a key consideration for legislation.
“We must ensure that bad actors do not use drones to facilitate illegal activities and harm our society, and this is especially important on our southern border, where drug and human traffickers are known to use drones to commit crimes and support their operations.” said in a statement.
Mr. Gottheimer pointed to terrorists using high-tech as his legislative justification, and specifically mentioned “Facing the threat of ISIS-inspired terrorists” as part of his motivation to work on legislation.
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