Can You Shoot Down Drones In MA? What To Know

MASSACHUSETTS — 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 Massachusetts?

Here's the short answer: It's not, nor is it legal anywhere in the United States under federal law.

While Massachusetts does not have any laws specific to private citizens and drone activity above or near their property, residents who violate federal law face criminal charges, civil penalties or both.

• Drone Sightings In Cape Cod, MetroWest Communities: What We Know

The question was initially raised by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, where multiple sightings of the unmanned aircraft have been frustrating residents for weeks. Last week, Smith urged the Pentagon to authorize 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.

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, even if it's flying over private property.

The Harwich Police Department, on Cape Cod, issued a statement confirming the presence of unidentified drones this weekend.

Harwich police said they received a report from a resident on Dec. 12 that 10 to 15 drones were flying around their neighborhood around 9 p.m. that day. An off-duty officer said they noticed similar activity earlier that evening.

Two people were arrested Saturday night in Boston for what police describe as a "hazardous drone operation" near Logan Airport.

Robert Duffy, 42, of Charlestown, and 32-year-old Jeremy Folcik of Bridgewater were arrested on Long Island in Boston Harbor.

Both men are charged with trespassing. Additional fines or charges could be added, Boston police said.

Political leaders are calling on 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. 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."