New laws affect drones, domestic violence deaths, massage parlors

A number of state laws take effect Friday, including a pair that limit where drones can fly.

Posted 5:39 p.m. Nov 28, 2017 — Updated 11:13 p.m. Nov 29, 2017

RALEIGH, N.C. — A number of state laws take effect Friday, including a pair that limit where drones can fly.

Other new laws will make it easier to prosecute domestic violence homicides, crack down on illegal massage parlors and revenge porn and toughen penalties for gang affiliation.

House Bill 128 bans drones from the airspace 250 feet over or 500 feet outside any prisons, jails or other correctional facility. House Bill 337 subjects model aircraft to the same rules as drones, although model aircraft users are still exempt from the state’s permitting requirements.

The new laws allow more latitude for the use of drones by emergency management, including thermal and infrared imaging where a drone could be used to identify body heat within a disaster area and aid in rescues.

Drone pilots in the state, and across the country, are required to register with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Recreational drone users must always fly below an altitude of 400 feet and may not fly within 5 miles of an airport or near emergency response efforts or other aircraft. Recreational drones may not weigh more than 55 pounds, and night flying is not recommended, even if a drone is equipped with lights.

Those using drones for commercial purposes face even more restrictions.

Also new on the books are Britny's Law, under which prosecutors can use previous convictions for domestic violence and stalking as evidence of premeditation, allowing them to pursue first-degree murder charges in cases where a domestic abuse victim is killed. The legislation is named for Britny Puryear, a Fuquay-Varina woman who was killed in 2014 by her boyfriend after a four-year abusive relationship.

Senate Bill 548 gives the North Carolina Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy more power to regulate massage parlors and hold owners accountable for illegal activity, while House Bill 138 would allow judges to impose longer sentences for crimes if someone is a gang member.

House Bill 98 makes vandalizing fire trucks, ambulances or other first responder equipment a crime, while House Bill 399 makes it illegal for anyone to disclose nude or sexual images of a person without that person's consent and with the intent to identify the person and cause harm, as well as punishing anyone who obtained such images without the depicted person's consent.

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