A teen's homemade armed drone has a Connecticut town freaked out

(Image credit: AP/YouTube)

published 22 July 2015

According to Connecticut state police, 18-year-old Austin Haughwout did not break any state laws when he fired a homemade armed drone in the woods on his family's property in the town of Clinton, then posted a video of of "flying gun" to YouTube. The Federal Aviation Administration and Clinton police are still investigation the legality of private armed drones — this one, which Haughwout's father says was created as a school project with a local college professor, fires a semiautomatic handgun.

Still, Clinton residents are pretty unsettled that one of their neighbors has a working armed drone. The FAA is examining whether Haughwout violated federal laws against reckless conduct, but at least locally "it appears to be a case of technology surpassing current legislation," said Clinton Police Chief Todd Lawrie. "It would seem to the average person, there should be something prohibiting a person from attaching a weapon to a drone. At this point, we can't find anything that's been violated." You can see the drone firing four shots, and the reaction of local residents, in the Associated Press report below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.