Remote controlled Firing

Huh. That’s a carbon-fiber octocopter armed with a .45 Taurus Judge revolver. I wouldn’t have selected a revolver for this little stunt. I doubt that the drone can handle the kickback (I could barely handle the kickback). Maybe that’s why there aren’t any uncut shots of the contraption firing and actually hitting anything.

Actually, I wouldn’t have done this stunt at all given the fact that creating a remote-controlled trigger is illegal in most states. From the Fish & Game code of California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, etc etc…

3003. (a) It is unlawful for any person to shoot, shoot at, or killany bird or mammal with any gun or other device accessed via an Internet connection in this state.

And by “Internet connection” they weirdly mean “remote control”:

(f) For the purposes of this section, “online shooting or spearing” means the use of a computer or any other device, equipment,software, or technology, to remotely control the aiming and discharge of any weapon, including, but not limited to, any firearm, bow and arrow, spear, slingshot, harpoon, or any other projectile device.

That would make this remote controlled car gun illegal. And the law closed down this Texas company that let you hunt and shoot game from the comfort of your own home. I think that many people have an intuitive aversion to the idea of remote controlled consumer firearms. It causes one more level of removal from the consequences of firing.

But is the action of pushing a button or clicking a mouse really all that different from the action of pulling a trigger?

Reacting to the phenomenon of online hunting, this ethics expert thinks yes:

“The problem here is . . . the distance. It increases our sense that real killing is an anonymous activity,” said Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University in California. “You use something familiar, a mouse, to fire the weapon . . . much as computer games that involve shooting human or animal objects. Technically it’s possible. But as a society, do we want to do this?”