I think the regulations largely stem from domestic security/military policy that views aircraft as potential armaments. Whether that constitutes a conspiracy theory or not is left as an exercise for the reader. [1] What I find interesting about FAA regulations beyond the common idea that their effects are an obvious inevitability is that FAA regulations suggest how a world without the right to repair might look. In particular how the inhibition of the user's right to repair may play out in regard to self driving cars.