Can You Shoot Down Drones In NJ? What To Know

NEW JERSEY — 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 New Jersey?

Here’s the short answer: It’s not, nor is it legal anywhere in the United States under federal law. New Jersey residents who violate federal law face criminal charges, civil penalties or both.

The question was initially raised by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, a Republican from the Jersey Shore, as 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.

Dozens of mysterious nighttime flights started last month over parts of New Jersey, raising concerns among residents and officials. Part of the worry stems from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. FBI officials said they have received 5,000 tips about drone activity in New Jersey from a national tip line.

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

The Garden State does have some specific laws applying to drone operations, but nothing about damaging or interfering with drones. For instance, it is a third-degree crime in New Jersey to use a drone in surveillance of any correctional facility, and a disorderly persons offense to operate one while under the influence of drugs or with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit, under a bill passed in 2017.

It is also a fourth-degree offense to operate a drone (also called an unmanned aircraft system or unmanned aerial vehicle) in a way that interferes with a first responder "who is actively engaged in response or actively engaged in air, water, vehicular, ground, or specialized transport."

There was an incident in Somerset County where the reported presence of drones prevented a medical helicopter from landing near a vehicle crash scene, but so far no one has been identified as the operator of any of the mystery drones.

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 a technology that was initially developed to detect birds and prevent them from flying into airplane engines.

“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.”

The White House said there are about 1 million licensed drones in the United States, and an estimated 8,000 in the sky at any given time. Drones are increasingly used by multiple industries, among them agriculture, real estate, construction, insurance and telecommunications. They’re also used in search and rescue operations, disaster response and by law enforcement.

Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use, but they are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified.

Related articles:

• Feds Send Drone-Hunting Resources To NJ As Sightings Continue
• 5 Ways To Take Action On Drone Mystery: NJ Congresswoman
• State Police Would Get Drone Interception Powers Under NJ Rep's Plan
• Don’t Approach Downed Drones, Call Bomb Squad, NJ Says

The Associated Press contributed reporting.