Tennessee Rep. Introduces Bill to Allow Property Owners to Shoot Down Drones Flying Above Their Land

U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow property owners to shoot down drones flying over their land.

The three-page bill, filed as H.R.1907, is called the Defense Against Drones Act.

Burchett’s Defense Against Drones Act would permit individuals to “shoot an unmanned aircraft using a legally-obtained shotgun if the individual reasonably believes that such aircraft is flying not more than 200 feet above property owned by the individual,” subject to applicable State law “relating to the discharge of a firearm.”

Under the bill, a property owner who shoots down a drone over their property would not be required to return the unmanned aircraft to its owner, even upon such owner’s request.

Under Burchett’s bill, individuals who shoot down a drone over their property would be required to report the incident to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) within 60 days if the drone’s registration number is identifiable.

Under the bill’s reporting requirements, individuals would have to report the address where the event occurred and the drone’s registration number to the FAA.

The administrator of the FAA would be tasked with issuing the necessary regulations to enforce the bill.

Upon introduction, Burchett’s bill was referred to the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Last month, after a subcommittee hearing on drones, Burchett signaled he would introduce legislation allowing property owners to shoot down drones over their land.

“The question of whether one of those things flys over my property and is taking pictures of my wife and daughter and me, we might have an ‘accident.’ I’m a little weary of these things and their ability to transport biologics to some of our enemies…We’ve got to get more aggressive about these things because it’s out of control,” Burchett said in a video posted to X at the time.

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.