William Merideth had just finished grilling dinner when he saw a drone hovering over his land. So he did what he said any Kentuckian would – he grabbed his shotgun and blasted it out of the sky.

Downing the quadcopter, which had a camera, was a way to assert his right to privacy and property, the trucking company owner said.

John Boggs, the hobbyist who owned the drone, told authorities he was trying to take pictures of the scenery. He argues in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville this month that Merideth didn’t have the right to shoot the craft down because the government controls every inch of airspace in the United States.

For decades, the issue of who controls the nation’s air didn’t matter much to everyday Americans. But drones, which can take off or land almost anywhere, are igniting a debate over exactly who owns the air above ordinary homes and lawns.

The issue is becoming more urgent as drones crowd America’s skies: The Consumer Technology Association estimated 700,000 were sold last year.

Every inch above the tip of your grass blades is the government’s jurisdiction, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

But common law long held that landowners’ rights went “all the way to Heaven.” And today, it’s clear that they have some rights. After all, developers and even cities sometimes sell off rights to the air above their buildings. And if a neighbor has a tree limb hanging over your fence, you generally can chop it off.

The rise of air travel initially sparked questions about where those rights end and flyable space begins. The issue reached the Supreme Court during the 1940s, when a farmer won a suit against the government over military planes’ taking off and landing from a nearby airport. The planes, he said, forced him out of the chicken business.

But the justices didn’t define a precise aerial boundary for landowners in United States v. Causby, leaving a gray area Boggs is hoping to clear up.

Boggs is asking the court to rule he’s entitled to $1,500 to cover damages to the drone. More important, he wants a judge to decide whether his drone was trespassing on the air over Merideth’s property or whether it was flying within the jurisdiction of the federal government.

In 2012, Congress tasked the FAA with integrating drones into America’s skies. The agency expects to have the rules finished by June.