A Small Colorado Town Might Start Paying Residents To Shoot Down Government Drones

Deer Trail, Colorado, a small town of 550 or so, may start paying its residents $100 for every government drone they can shoot down, reports Mashable.

Deer Trail resident Philip Steel is the prime mover behind this, writing the ordinance that will be passed or struck down on August 6.

Under the proposed ordinance, Deer Trail residents would be able to get what equates to a "drone-hunting license."

If they shoot down a drone and bring "identifiable parts of an unmanned aerial vehicle whose markings and configuration are consistent with those used on any similar craft known to be owned or operated by the United States federal government" to the authorities, they earn $100 a pop.

Licenses will cost residents $25 per year and Steel considers it at a huge business opportunity for the town, saying they'll sell "like hotcakes."

There's an extremely important caveat here, as town ordinance and federal law would bump into each other pretty aggressively on this one – anyone destroying federal property worth more than $1,000 (which drones most certainly are) could be slapped with up to 10 years in jail as well as a fine.