© Vanguard Defense Industries via Associated PressSWAT team members are posted next to a ShadowHawk drone in Texas. Worried about violations of civil liberties, at least 19 states are considering limits on how the unmanned craft can be used.
For the people of Deer Trail, Colo., November elections usually are reserved for electing town board members and state and federal lawmakers.
But in November, residents of the small town will decide whether to license the nation's first official "drone hunters."
On Tuesday night, the town board split evenly, with three members voting "yes" and three voting "no," on an ordinance that would have made it legal for residents to apply for licenses and then shoot unmanned aerial vehicles out of the sky in exchange for a $100 cash reward.
The controversial measure now will appear on the November ballot, leaving the decision up to voters in the town of about 550 people.
Some Deer Trail officials and residents - along with many others across the nation - fear that the rapid rise of domestic drones poses grave new threats to personal privacy. Echoing the concerns of privacy groups, civil liberties activists and many state and federal lawmakers, those pushing the Deer Trail ordinance argue that citizens must resist the unprecedented surveillance capabilities brought by drones.