Last week, I wrote in my column that “So far, consensus around the FAA’s thinking indicates that…
CFIF on Twitter CFIF on YouTube
Some Domestic Drones May Get Rubber Bullets, Tear Gas

Last week, I wrote in my column that “So far, consensus around the FAA’s thinking indicates that domestic drones would not be approved to fly with weapons.”

That was in reference to the Federal Aviation Administration’s announcement that it will ease restrictions on civilian use of unmanned drones for use in surveillance and research.  The institutions most interested in using drones are law enforcement entities ranging from the FBI to local police departments.

Now, consider this:

Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Texas told The Daily that his department is considering using rubber bullets and tear gas on its drone.

“Those are things that law enforcement utilizes day in and day out and in certain situations it might be advantageous…[more]

May 23, 2012 • 03:32 pm

Liberty Update

CFIFs latest news, commentary and alerts delivered to your inbox.
Jester's CourtroomLegal tales stranger than stranger than fiction: Ridiculous and sometimes funny lawsuits plaguing our courts.
For Voting Rights, Don’t Keep Section 5 Alive
By Quin Hillyer
Wednesday, May 23 2012
In important court cases, it is the rarely the dissenting opinion that becomes a benchmark. In a case decided last Friday by the D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, however, Judge Stephen Williams issued a tour de force of a dissent, explaining why the federal government should not (in effect) hold entire states guilty of racial discrimination without current proof thereof. If, on appeal, the Supreme Court adopts his analysis, it could undo vast amounts of mischief carried out under the pretense of protecting voting rights. The case involves Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act – a…
 
Romney, GOP to Tell the Vulgar Truth about Joe Biden
Politico reports that Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee…
Read more...
Obama HHS: Private Insurers Must Now Credit ObamaCare When Mailing Customer Rebates
The Obama Administration may abhor free speech, but it certainly delights in government-imposed speech. …
Read more...
 
Domestic Drone Controversy Offers Conservatives a Chance to Stop Government Overreach
An announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration to ease restrictions on using unmanned drone aircraft…
Read more...
America’s Energy Future: Scarcity or Abundance?
The American left is uncomfortable with affluence. In the zero-sum world of liberalism, one person’s…
Read more...
 
Obama Team Courts Trouble
A plethora of recent news items show that the Obama administration’s various legal teams continue…
Read more...
Russian Threats of Preemptive Attack Vindicate Romney, Reagan on Foreign Policy and Missile Defense
Last week, a senior Russian general threatened a preemptive military attack against NATO missile defenses: …
Read more...
 
10 New Revelations from Obama’s Past
Over the past few weeks, Barack Obama’s often-elusive past has elicited renewed public interest…
Read more...
Why We Should Hate “Hate Crimes”
Hate may be a terrible sin, but is it really a crime? A horrible incident in Mobile, Alabama, April…
Read more...
 
Report: Multi-Million Dollar California Pension Fraud
How’s this for a Hollywood pitch?  A retired California city administrator drawing an annual…
Read more...
Marco Rubio, Rand Paul Point to Tension in GOP’s Foreign Policy Future
In many ways, the three-plus years since Barack Obama has assumed the presidency have been an era of…
Read more...
Question of the Week   
How many steps in each direction are marched by the sentinels while guarding The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery?
More Questions
Quote of the Day   
 
"Trying to figure out Valerie Jarrett’s mysterious hold on Barack and Michelle Obama is a favorite guessing game in the parlors and dining rooms of Washington. No other White House official in history has enjoyed such a unique relationship with both a president and a first lady, and yet the mainstream media have ignored Jarrett’s enormous influence over the shape and direction of the Obama…[more]
 
 
—Edward Klein, Author, Vanity Fair Contributing Editor, Former Newsweek Foreign Editor and Former New York Times Magazine Editor in Chief
— Edward Klein, Author, Vanity Fair Contributing Editor, Former Newsweek Foreign Editor and Former New York Times Magazine Editor in Chief
 
Liberty Poll   

Should the Obama administration authorize the use of aerial drones by local police agencies?