Flying Lawyer got to the heart of the matter when he said
The manoeuvre is not irresponsible; doing it may be, depending upon the circumstances
When confronted with this type of logic, is it any wonder that joe public takes the view that he doesn't give a f*ck about the semantics, just stop people in light aircraft flying over my house because it is DANGEROUS.
And there are many MPs who are only too happy to take up the anti GA cause, who understand how to argue a brief (and many of whom are or were lawyers.)
BTW, I'm not anti laywer, my own 'profession' of consultant fights for an equally lowly place in the mind of the public when asked to grade our probity.
John Fletcher Moulton said in another age that ethical behaviour was represented by 'obedience to the unenforceable.'
IMHO that's a pretty good premise for life and also RIABs.