(Missouri) Deputy finds 10 homemade cannons in booby-trapped garage

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | 3/18/02 | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

[rface]

Ashland, Missouri

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

He went to the Wile E. Coyote/Rube Goldberg school of weapons design.

[scooter2]

Damn, now I'm going to have to dig up all those land mines in my front yard.

[Travis McGee]

Today's chuckle.

[chaosagent]

Well, it probably would have stopped the burglaries!

[Blood of Tyrants]

Stupid move.

[Joe Boucher]

Now that's one book I'd buy.

[Gaston]

The deputy was keeping an eye on the unlocked garage, in the 6000 block of Sycamore Lane because of past burglaries.

Couldn't he have tried locking the garage before resorting to such drastic measures?

[Chad Fairbanks]

I don't see what the problem is... it's the guy's garage, he can booby trap it all he wants, imho...

[Eric in the Ozarks]

A case from Iowa, known as the Briney Trapgun Case, back in the 1970's went to the US Supreme Court.
A farmer had suffered a series of breakins in a rental house he owned and so he set up a shotgun to go off at the next person to pry open the door. The thief (the guy he suspected of previous B&E's)got in and received the blast, crippling his legs.
The thief was sentenced to four months in the county jail, but the sheroff ended up selling the farmer's property to satisfy the thief's damage claim, upheld by the high court.

[Free Trapper]

I wonder if the guy nearly got his burgler.

[dead]

It's a really stupid plan, when you consider that most burglars don't walk in and hit the light switch.

[KC Burke]

Here in Missouri, we may be a little back-woodsie, but you don't want to try our patience. There was this dude in Skidmore.... oh, well, that's a very long story.

[TOMH1]

Generally speaking, these are called man traps. Most jurisdictions frown on them. You can get into a heap of trouble with them. Because thay are unattended, there is no way to determine who might get caught by it. How about your local, unpaid, volunteer fireman, with a wife and 3 kids, responding to a fire call at the location.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Exactly.

[tacticalogic]

There was this dude in Skidmore.... oh, well, that's a very long story.

Yep. Old Ken Rex McElroy. Then there's the one's who just disappear. Never seems to happen to lawyers though. There's some things even a hog won't eat.

[gridlock]

There is no death penalty for burglary in this country. Iran or Saudia Arabia, perhaps, but not here. If the booby trap is unmanned, then there is no threat to life or limb here that would justify using deadly force. Basically this setup, if it worked out as intended, would kill somebody in order to protect stuff.

I understand that people might get frustrated, but this is not the proper response.

However, if you are in your home or business and somebody is breaking in and you suspect there may be danger to you or yours, empty the magazine, reload, call the cops, and then check on the perp.

[Publius6961]

I don't see what the problem is... it's the guy's garage, he can booby trap it all he wants, imho...

I used to think so too, but.
Sometime in the recent past burglars got themselves a union or something.
Blowing them away noe is gonna get us in a whole lot more hurt than his burglary.

[Publius6961]

How about your local, unpaid, volunteer fireman, with a wife and 3 kids, responding to a fire call at the location.

How about if Sister Teresa and her butch burglars show up?
Anything is possible, but the odds of a fire happening during a period of a series of burglaries is a far-fetched crummy excuse to prevent people from protecting themselves.
Yes, I know the courts agree with you. I still think it's wrong.