Rand Paul, doing things I approve of:

As the Pentagon leads the push to integrate military drones into domestic airspace by 2015, Senator Rand Paul, R-Ken., is promoting legislation to curb the use of drones in the United States.

At issue is the future of the U.S. military’s unmanned aviation training programs in the United States and the privacy rights of Americans. The Air Force plans to bring an estimated 500 large drones from overseas war zones to the United States by 2015, while the Army plans to buy up to 120 new drones in coming years, according to Steve Pennington, director of bases, ranges and airspace for the U.S. Air Force. In an interview at his Pentagon office, Pennington said the military needs to fly these massive unmanned aircraft at home  to prepare U.S. troops for future combat missions overseas.

“We in the Air Force and DOD [Department of Defense] believe the vast majority of the unmanned aircraft can be integrated” into U.S. airspace,” he said. “They can fly just like a Cessna or a 737.”

The expected influx of drones in U.S. airspace by 2015 prompted Paul to introduce legislation this week called the Preserving Freedom From Unwarranted Surveillance Act, which would  ”prohibit the use of drones by the government” in the United States unless authorized by a warrant. The only exceptions identified in the legislation, first proposed by Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., are the use of drones for patrolling of national borders and “when law enforcement possesses reasonable suspicion that under particular circumstances, swift drone action is necessary to prevent “imminent danger to life.” The Paul-Scott legislation does not make any provision for military unmanned aerial vehicles flying in domestic airspace, as envisioned by Pentagon officials.

Hmm…this seems like an awfully important issue. And I applaud Paul for doing something on it, the description of the bill actually sounds entirely reasonable, even in the exceptions. Unfortunately, I very highly doubt any law like this will pass. I don’t think the public sees crime as presenting the same threat as terrorism, but over the past decade police departments have been spending enormous amounts of money on military hardware, and I suspect before long, every department will want a drone. And while there’s the possibility that drones would cause some form of backlash, the public has not exactly had a civil liberties backlash in them for some time now.

Still, I wish Paul luck in this.