Can You Shoot Down Drones In PA? What To Know

PENNSYLVANIA — The mysterious drone sightings that have baffled residents of multiple states since mid-November are prompting a universal question: is it legal to shoot down a drone in Pennsylvania?

The short answer is no, it's not legal anywhere in the United States for private citizens to shoot down drones. Pennsylvania residents who violate federal law face criminal charges, civil penalties or both. Drones that are shot at can be become missiles that endanger people on the ground.

Related: PA State Police Investigating Mysterious Drone Sightings

The question was initially raised by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, where multiple sightings of mysterious craft in the sky have been frustrating residents for weeks. Last week, Smith urged the Pentagon to authorize the use of force to bring down drones after they were spotted tailing a Coast Guard vessel off the Jersey shore.

“Why can’t we bag at least one of these drones and get to the bottom of it?” Smith said.

While the Federal Aviation Administration includes drones in its definition of aircraft under the Aircraft Sabotage Act, and it’s a federal offense to damage or destroy it, there are also many laws that limit where drones can legally fly. Because while shooting down drones places people in danger, drones themselves can place people, wildlife, aircraft, and property in danger when not flown in accordance with the law.

The FAA has its own "no drone zones," and Pennsylvania's unmanned aircraft law makes it a crime to fly drones in numerous areas, including over private property and "in a fashion that places another person in fear of bodily injury." It's certainly up for debate whether these sightings have inspired real fear in Pennsylvania residents, but there's little doubt they've been spotted over private property.

In addition to outlining strict guidelines for how to handle drones over state airspace, Pennsylvania law also supports the FAA's regulations and makes it clear that it is illegal to shoot down aircraft, including UAS (unmanned aircraft systems).

Pennsylvania is among nearly a dozen Eastern states that have reported drones buzzing overhead, some flying alone or in pairs but also in a cluster of drones. Some are as large as an SUV.

Sightings first appeared in New Jersey last month. They were not widespread in Pennsylvania until last Thursday night, Dec. 12 into Dec. 13, when sightings were reported across eastern Pennsylvania. More sightings occurred over the weekend and prompted calls for an investigation from Gov. Josh Shapiro.

The Pennsylvania State Police are now conducting their own investigation, and State Sen. Rosemary Brown has called for the FAA to allow Pennsylvania to deal with the drones directly.

“Current federal regulations tie the hands of state and local governments, preventing them from taking immediate action when drones threaten the safety and privacy of our communities,” Brown, who represents Monroe County, said in a statement. "This is about giving states the tools they need to protect their residents."

Political leaders are calling the federal government to deploy high-tech drone hunters using recently declassified technology to help unravel the mystery that has baffled and alarmed residents of the Northeast over the past four weeks.

This weekend, an airport was shut down for about an hour Friday in New York’s Hudson Valley because of drone activity in the airspace. Two men were arrested and accused of operating a drone “dangerously close” to Boston’s Logan International Airport Saturday night. Also, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, was shut down for about four hours late Friday and early Saturday because drones were too close.

“This has gone too far,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement after Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, New York, was shut down. Hochul supports reform legislation strengthening the FAA’s oversight of drones, and extending the same authority to select state and local law enforcement agencies.

In a news conference Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) urged the Department of Homeland Security to deploy high-tech drone hunters using the technology that was initially developed

“If the technology exists for a drone to make it up into the sky, there certainly is the technology that can track the craft with precision and determine what the heck is going on,” Schumer said.

The federal government has offered few answers about the mysterious unmanned flights. The Biden administration has come under criticism from President-elect Donald Trump for not dealing with the matter more aggressively.

In a call with reporters Saturday that was organized by the White House, senior officials from the FBI, Pentagon, Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies sought to assure people that the drones are not a national security or public safety threat, or the handiwork of a malicious foreign actor.

The White House has said a review of the reported sightings shows that many of them are actually manned aircraft being flown lawfully, echoing the opinion of officials and drone experts.

The federal Homeland Security Department and FBI also said in a joint statement they have no evidence that the sightings pose “a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.”