Drone Tax

Well...the drone tax is back.  When the FAA lost a case for mandatory registration of all RC aircraft over 250 grams (including recreational drones) earlier this year, the plan was shelved for the time being.  Rather that fight another legal battle, the FAA managed to get the mandate lumped into H.R.2801 - National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 that was just signed into law last week.  It is buried deep in the bill under section 1092 part(d) - Collaboration Between Federal Aviation Administration And Department Of Defense On Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

I really don't have too much of a problem being forced to register my DJI Mavic Pro for five bucks, but I'm not so sure I trust the motive by including the requirement in a defense bill.  While this is being instituted to provide some level of accountability for the huge amount of unmanned aerial vehicles being operated in the US (especially with recent skyrocketing drone sales), there have never been any major problems with them and it is doubtful that a terrorist is going to bother with the registration process if he is planning on using an RC plane or a drone for an attack.  Funny thing is...I own 8 guns and not a single one of them is required to be registered with the Federal Government. If only our forefathers had the foresight to add this to the bill of rights - "A well regulated bunch of YouTubers, being necessary to the enhancement of their creative content, the right of the people to keep and fly drones, shall not be infringed."  60,69,44,0,W