17 Dec
2003
17 Dec
'03
11:17 p.m.
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.