Re: Boobytraps and the American Legal System

[Rabid Wombat <wombat@mcfeely.bsfs.org>]

On Tue, 23 Jul 1996, Timothy C. May wrote:
> 
> Agree, very foolish to ever plant boobytraps in one's own home.
> 
> Still, I remember vividly in college when the court case was decided
> involving a guy in Florida who was tired of being burglarized and the cops
> doing nothing about it: he rigged a shotgun to go off when someone broke a
> window and entered. A perp did, was shot, survived, and the case went to
> trial.
> 
> The boobytrapper was found guilty of some serious crime--I don't recall the
> details (this was circa 1972).
> 

Set-guns are illegal in most, if not all jurisdictions (IANAL), as it is 
generally illegal to use deadly force to defend property. I would expect 
that any "booby-trap" would fall under the same legal category.