The three huge differences between current drones and previous remotely controlled air vehicles are 1) drones are stable and 'self flying', with on- board gyros and GPS. 2) They are nearly silent (compare this to a typical size '60' remote control helicopter, using a 0.6 cu. in. alcohol fueled engine). 3) They have outstanding, real- time video telemetry systems.
Anyone can fly a drone, that is not the case for R/C aircraft, especially helicopters, which require a significant amount of skill. R/C aircraft cannot self- fly, and must be in relatively close physical range of the pilot so that he / she can not only see the vehicle but see what it is doing (attitude, direction, etc.).
The FAA has been working on regulating drones for some time and a ruling is expected shortly. This is because little Johnny can get his new drone, set it to go to 500' autonomously, and send it up into the path of people- carrying aircraft landing at the airport next door.... not good. Drones using lithium battery power can lift significant amounts of weight and again have excellent video on board; those two together make a rather effective weapon when the drone is used to drop objects onto 'stuff'. This most recent development with a drone carrying and firing a pistol has much more possibilities; given a video system and the drone's ability to very accurately hover, it is only a matter of time before this combination is used as a weapons platform.
I certainly do not foresee millions of drones shooting millions of people or causing international incidents or anything of the kind. But I do believe drone accidents, drone 'on purposes' and other assorted problems will show up as drones become more commonplace.
All of that said, I am in no way anti- drone and frankly think they are the coolest things since tomatoes in cans. If or when Amazon gets the green- light to deliver products with drones, I will be the first one to order the cheapest thing that a drone will deliver and wait outside for it to appear. :-) I am merely saying that along with drones will come drone problems, exactly the same way cars brought us car accidents and electrical power brought us electrical fires and accidental electrocution. Both of those last two are considered more beneficial than harmful so we tolerate the damage they do to reap the benefits they yield, and I think it will be the exact same way with drones. But I also believe they will be regulated and controlled in the future simply because they do open up new avenues of.... potential miss-adventure.
Brian
Privately owned radio controlled aircraft have been around for more than half a century. But for reasons I don't fully understand (maybe it's due to youtube), radio controlled quad copters have caught the public eye and now "something has got to be done about them...". I guarantee that there have been guns fired from RC model aircraft more than 50 years ago. I saw someone in the 60's rig bottle rockets on an RC aircraft (didn't work very well as the airplane out flew the rockets). Not much of a leap from there to a tube with propellent and projectile. I predict that this will fan the flames of the brewhaha over "drones" and possible legislation but bathtubs will still kill infinitely more people than drones.