Now legal for police to fly drones armed with weapons in North Dakota

With the last-minute push of pro-police lobbyists, it is now legal for the North Dakora law enforcers to fly drones equipped with "less than lethal" weapons such as tasers, pepper spray and tear gas.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - During a hearing in March, Representative Rick Becker (R), author of the House Bill 1328 draft, said, "This is one I'm not in full agreement with. I wish it was any weapon. In my opinion there should be a nice, red line: Drones should not be weaponized. Period."

Although the first draft of the bill clearly states no weapons were to be present on police drones, lobbyists found a loophole allowing the use of non-lethal weapons.

According to The Daily Beast, the bill clearly stated its intent "to require police to obtain a search warrant from a judge in order to use a drone to search for criminal evidence." However, Bruce Burkett of the North Dakota Peace Officer's Association was allowed to amend the initial bill, including the weaponization of the drones.

After he was allowed by the state committee to amend HB 1328, Burkett restricted lethal weapons but specified the access and inclusion of less-than-lethal rubber bullets, pepper spray, tear gas, tasers and even sound cannons on drones. The problem is that these less-fatal arms can still kill people particularly because they are modeled and made with close combat in mind.

"When you're not on the ground, and you're making decisions, you're sort of separate. Depersonalized," Becker explained during the trial.

The Guardian reported police have killed at least 39 people using tasers in 2015 with less than half the year remaining.

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