Despite White House directives rolling back regulations affecting most industries, drone proponents are clamoring for more federal rules as the way to open up the skies for unmanned aircraft.

The counterintuitive stance stems from the fact that until roughly a year ago, commercial drones effectively were barred from U.S. airspace due to safety concerns. Since then, the Federal Aviation Administration has given limited approvals for small, remotely piloted aircraft weighing up to 55 pounds.

...