Via National Public Radio:

Beer Drone Can Buzz The Skies No More, FAA Says

by Bill Chappell

January 30, 2014 8:15 PM

Lakemaid Beer is brewed in Stevens Point, Wis., and distributed to several states in the region. But it was a very local delivery that put the company out of favor with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Minnesota-based company is receiving a flood of support and condolences after the FAA ruled that its beer delivery drone, which had only recently taken flight, had to be shut down….

A petition at the White House site:

We petition the Obama Administration to:

Force the FAA to issue an Airworthiness Certificate for Beer Drones (BUAV’s).

The FAA has recently revoked authorization for a struggling small business to deliver its product via Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. This innovative product-to-market technique allowed a small business to grow its brand and take advantage of a government-supported initiative to embrace UAV technology. The FAA has no standing to restrict the delivery of products by small businesses and choke economic growth.

Created: Jan 30, 2014

Issues: Economy, Small Business, Trade

Signatures needed by March 01, 2014 to reach goal of 100,000 99,298

Total signatures on this petition 702

Buzzed is the operative word, isn’t it?

Drones.

At the White House petition site:

We petition the Obama Administration to:

Instruct the FAA to allow commercial operation of small UAS outside of populated areas.

The FAA is hampering economic growth, job creation and scientific development by not allowing commercial entities to operate small unmanned aircraft systems. Current FAA plans will not allow commercial SUAS use until September of 2015.

We propose:

– Immediate action by the FAA to lift the blanket ban on commercial UAS systems under 10 lbs. outside of populated areas, under 400 feet and two miles away from airports.

– The creation and support of a self-regulating organization that will train and oversee SUAS operations, similar to the American Radio Relay League. This will allow the industry to quickly adapt while maintaining safety, security and privacy.

We could farm, evaluate habitat, find missing persons, respond to disasters, and monitor the environment more efficiently

Created: Dec 06, 2013

Issues: Job Creation, Regulatory Reform, Technology and Telecommunications

Signatures needed by January 05, 2014 to reach goal of 100,000 99,844

Total signatures on this petition 156

Only 156 signatures. This one isn’t quite setting the world on fire.

Previously:

HB 46: they need to prevent the government from spying on us through our toasters, also, too

Send in the drones clowns. There are priorities and then there are priorities. A bill, third read and passed on Thursday:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

[PERFECTED]

HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 46

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

0371H.02P       D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 305, RSMo, by adding thereto four new sections relating to aerial surveillance, with an emergency clause.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

           Section A. Chapter 305, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto four new sections, to be known as sections 305.635, 305.637, 305.639, and 305.641, to read as follows:

           305.635. 1. Sections 305.635 to 305.641 shall be known and may be cited as the “Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act”.

           2. As used in sections 305.635 to 305.641, the following terms shall mean:

           (1) “Drone”, any powered, aerial vehicle that:

           (a) Does not carry a human operator;

           (b) Uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle lift;

           (c) Can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely;

           (d) Can be expendable or recoverable; and

           (e) Can carry a lethal or non-lethal payload.

           (2) “Unmanned aircraft”, an aircraft that is operated without the possibility of direct human intervention from within or on the aircraft.

           (3) “Manned Aircraft”, an aircraft that is operated by a human on board the aircraft.

           (4) “Model aircraft”, an unmanned aircraft that is:

           (a) Capable of sustained flight in the atmosphere;

           (b) Flown within visual line of sight of the person remotely operating the aircraft; and

           (c) Flown for hobby or recreational purposes.

           (5) “Law enforcement agency”, any state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency in the state. The term law enforcement agency shall not include the Missouri department of corrections, or any state, county, or municipal fire department.

           305.637. 1. No person, entity, or state agency shall use a manned aircraft, drone, or unmanned aircraft to gather evidence or other information pertaining to criminal conduct or conduct in violation of a statute or regulation except to the extent authorized in a warrant.

           2. No person, entity, or state agency shall use a manned aircraft, drone, or unmanned aircraft to conduct surveillance or observation under the doctrine of open fields of any individual, property owned by an individual, farm, or agricultural industry without the consent of that individual, property owner, farm or agricultural industry.

           3. No person, group of persons, entity, or organization, including, but not limited to, journalists, reporters, or news organizations, shall use a drone or other unmanned aircraft to conduct surveillance of any individual or property owned by an individual or business without the consent of that individual or property owner.

           305.639. 1. This act does not prohibit the use of a manned aircraft, drone, or unmanned aircraft by:

           (1) A law enforcement agency when exigent circumstances exist. For the purposes of this section, exigent circumstances exist if a law enforcement agency possesses reasonable suspicion that, under particular circumstances, swift action to prevent imminent danger to life is necessary; or

           (2) A Missouri-based higher education institution conducting educational, research, or training programs within the scope of its mission, grant requirements, curriculum or collaboration with the United States Department of Defense.

           2. This act does not prohibit the use of a model aircraft.

           305.641. 1. Any aggrieved party may in a civil action obtain all appropriate relief to prevent or remedy a violation of this act.

           2. No information obtained or collected in violation of this act may be admissible as evidence in a criminal proceeding in any court of law in the state or in an administrative hearing.

           3. Sovereign immunity for the state of Missouri is waived for any civil action resulting from a violation of sections 305.635 to 305.641.

           Section B. Because of the need to protect Missourians from invasions of privacy in the state, section A of this act is deemed necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, welfare, peace and safety, and is hereby declared to be an emergency act within the meaning of the constitution, and section A of this act shall be in full force and effect July 1, 2013, or upon its passage and approval, whichever later occurs.

[emphasis in original]

Really. All the black helicopters need when they start identifying people for the big round up into FEMA reeducation camps are those Gadsden flag license plates.

Who voted for this paranoid fantasy?:

JOURNAL OF THE HOUSE [pdf]

First Regular Session, 97th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

FORTY-SIXTH DAY, THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013

[….]

On motion of Representative Guernsey, HCS HB 46 was read the third time and passed by

the following vote:

AYES: 087

Allen Anderson Bahr Barnes Bernskoetter

Berry Brattin Burlison Cierpiot Conway 104

Cookson Cornejo Crawford Curtman Davis

Dohrman Dugger Ellington Elmer Entlicher

Fitzpatrick Fitzwater Flanigan Fraker Franklin

Frederick Funderburk Gatschenberger Gosen Guernsey

Haefner Hansen Hicks Hinson Hoskins

Hough Houghton Hurst Johnson Jones 50

Keeney Kelley 127 Koenig Kolkmeyer Korman

Lair Lant Leara Lichtenegger Love

Lynch McGaugh Messenger Morris Muntzel

Neth Parkinson Pfautsch Pike Pogue

Rehder Reiboldt Remole Rhoads Richardson

Riddle Ross Rowland Scharnhorst Schatz

Schieffer Shull Shumake Smith 85 Solon

Sommer Spencer Stream Swan Thomson

Torpey Walker Wieland Wilson Wood

Zerr Mr Speaker

NOES: 066

Anders Austin Black Burns Butler

Carpenter Colona Conway 10 Cox Cross

Curtis Dunn Ellinger Engler English

Englund Fowler Frame Gannon Gardner

Haahr Harris Higdon Hodges Hubbard

Hummel Justus Kelly 45 Kirkton Kratky

LaFaver Lauer Marshall May Mayfield

McCaherty McCann Beatty McDonald McManus McNeil

Meredith Miller Mims Mitten Montecillo

Morgan Neely Newman Nichols Norr

Otto Pace Phillips Pierson Rizzo

Roorda Rowden Runions Schieber Schupp

Swearingen Walton Gray Webb Webber White

Wright

Medicaid or jobs anyone?

A pre-filed bill, from Representative Casey Guernsey (r):

HB 46 Establishes the Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act which prohibits unwarranted intrusion through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles commonly known as drones, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Guernsey, Casey (002)

Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2013

LR Number: 371H.01I

Last Action: 12/05/2012 – Prefiled (H)

[….]

I can’t wait to read the full text of the bill when it becomes available.

It appears that the republican controlled General Assembly is seriously working on a number one ranking for next year:

America’s 50 Worst State Legislatures

By Tim Murphy | Wed Dec. 5, 2012 3:03 AM PST

….(7) Missouri: “What in the world is happening in Missouri?,” asked The Atlantic’s Andrew Cohen in April. “Don’t state lawmakers there have more important things to do with their time, and more practical causes to advance on behalf of their many constituents, than ginning up one unconstitutional piece of legislation after another?” A cursory glance at the state Legislature’s 2012 activity reveals that the answer is an emphatic no.

Cohen’s concern at the time was HB 1534, which made it a crime for any federal official to attempt to enforce the Affordable Care Act while in the confines of the Show Me State-something that is many kinds of not legal. He might also have noted GOP state Rep. Shane Schoeller’s voter suppression bill, which would have made it impossible for members of the armed services to vote by absentee ballot (also many kinds of not legal), or GOP Rep. Lyle Rowland’s birther bill, which passed the state house in March. Rowland told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the timing of the bill-which would have required presidential candidates to provide a birth certificate to the secretary of state-was merely a coincidence and had nothing to do with President Obama.

Not content to write a bad idea into law, state Republicans decided to literally set it in stone. In May, GOP speaker of the House Steven Tilley inducted Rush Limbaugh into the Hall of Famous Missourians at the state Capitol-a move he announced only 25 minutes prior to the unveiling of the oversized bronze bust of Limbaugh’s head.

[emphasis added]

The odds are definitely good, and, since the right wingnuts are in control, definitely odd.