No. Shooting down a drone is a federal crime, even over your own property, and it is charged as a felony. It feels counterintuitive: the drone is over your land, maybe hovering near your windows. But under federal law, a drone is an aircraft, and the same statute that protects airplanes protects it.
Why It’s a Federal Crime
Under 18 U.S. Code Section 32, Destruction of Aircraft, it is a federal felony to destroy, damage, disable, or set fire to an aircraft in United States airspace. The FAA classifies drones as aircraft, so shooting one, jamming it, or knocking it down with anything from a shotgun to a thrown object falls within the statute. Penalties can reach decades in prison for aircraft destruction, and prosecutions have followed exactly this fact pattern: a frustrated property owner, a drone, and one shot.
Your property rights in Texas do not extend to the navigable airspace above your land. The airspace belongs to the public, and the FAA regulates it, which is why “it was over my yard” is not a defense to a Section 32 charge.
What About Texas Law?
Discharging a firearm also carries its own state-law exposure depending on where you are: discharging a weapon in certain municipalities, deadly conduct where the shot endangers others, and criminal mischief for the damage to someone else’s property, since the drone itself is property with an owner. A single shot at a drone can generate federal and state charges at the same time.
But What If the Drone Is Spying on Me?
Texas has one of the stronger anti-surveillance drone laws in the country. Chapter 423 of the Texas Government Code restricts using a drone to capture images of people or private property with intent to conduct surveillance, and it gives property owners civil remedies against the operator. The lawful responses to a harassing drone are:
- Document it: video the drone, note dates and times, and identify the operator if you can
- Call local police: drone surveillance and harassment can violate Texas law, and that is their lane, not yours
- Report to the FAA: unsafe or intrusive operation is an FAA enforcement matter
- Civil action: Chapter 423 and ordinary privacy claims give you courtroom options against the operator
Already Fired the Shot?
If you have already damaged a drone and agents or officers have reached out, treat it as the federal matter it is before you explain yourself to anyone. Statements like “I only meant to scare it off” are how a defensible situation becomes a charged case. The same federal statutes that reach shooting a drone also reach unsafe drone operation itself, and both ends of that statute are defended the same way: carefully, and early.
Common Questions
Is it a felony to shoot down a drone?
Yes. Destruction of aircraft under 18 U.S.C. 32 is a federal felony, and related state charges can stack on top.
Can I jam or net a drone instead?
Interfering with an aircraft’s operation, including signal jamming, raises its own federal problems. Jamming devices are separately illegal under federal communications law. Document and report instead.
Can police shoot down drones?
Counter-drone authority is tightly limited to specific federal agencies in specific circumstances. Even most law enforcement cannot lawfully shoot one down.
Talk to a Former Federal Prosecutor Before You Talk to Anyone Else
John R. Teakell spent over 12 years as a federal prosecutor before moving to the defense side. If a federal investigation has entered your life, the next phone call you make matters. Request a free, confidential consultation at teakelllaw.com/contact-us or call (214) 523-9076.