The first thing I actually wondered was, what laws govern booby traps in Washington?
If I own a house, can I construct a snake pit?
An oubliette to drop burglers into?
Poison darts from the walls? Electrified floors? A self-sealing house that turns itself into a panic room if someone breaks in until the police arrive?
@5 IANAL but I don't think it is legal to setup booby traps if you intend to use them to hurt a robber. Remember if someone mugs you on the street you can't just blast them on the spot unless they were threatening you. Robbery isn't enough to just ice somebody on the spot.
'Spring Gun' laws, designed to prevent exactly the sort of thing that happened here, are on the books in all states. The theory is that you can't rig a device to do something that you legally couldn't do yourself. So since you can't legally kill, or even hurt someone just for their being on your property, you can't rig a gun to protect that vacant property.
This idiot shot himself, but historically there are many cases of 1) "Dern' kids always vandalizing ma farm!" 2) "Got it! I'll rig this shotgun to cover the door of my vacant farmhouse! That'll fix em." 3) Dern kid loses life/limb. 4) "Whaddya mean I'm being charged with attempted murder?".
So yeah, that snake pit? That's what we call a property hazard, that you as the owner would be liable for when little Jimmy falls in. Especially if it's visible from the outside and neighborhood kids know about it. Then it's also an attractive nuisance. Oubliette for burglars? Unlawful imprisonment. Poison darts? Murder/Attempted Murder/3rd Degree Cliche. Panic Room for you? Perfectly fine, perfectly legal (assuming it's up to code). Panic room to trap burglars? Unlawful imprisonment again. Electrified floors are probably ok if they are clearly marked and guests are properly warned... Think about, for example, an electric fence. Legal, but there should be signs.
@7 Clearly the solution is big MASSIVE SIGNS on my property line warning of IMMINENT ELECTROMAGNETIC DOOM, so that I can mount metal plates over every square inch of my house and electrify the holy hell out of them.
But then I'll be cleaning up a lot of dead birds...
Well, yes. I suppose you could put giant Tesla coils all around your house, constantly shooting out 15' lightning bolts. But then you're really entering into attractive nuisance land. Kids love a good show after all.
Not to mention actual nuisance, when your neighbors tire of the noise, constant smell of ozone and charred bird, and intermittent brown-outs.
"PC" is just a copout used by people who don't have a valid argument.
The so-called "Darwin Awards" are bullshit that totally distort how selection works, and drags Charles Darwin's good name down in the mud with creepy eugenicists and Ayn Rand kooks.
@ 1) That's why he's the runner up.
If I own a house, can I construct a snake pit?
An oubliette to drop burglers into?
Poison darts from the walls? Electrified floors? A self-sealing house that turns itself into a panic room if someone breaks in until the police arrive?
'Spring Gun' laws, designed to prevent exactly the sort of thing that happened here, are on the books in all states. The theory is that you can't rig a device to do something that you legally couldn't do yourself. So since you can't legally kill, or even hurt someone just for their being on your property, you can't rig a gun to protect that vacant property.
This idiot shot himself, but historically there are many cases of 1) "Dern' kids always vandalizing ma farm!" 2) "Got it! I'll rig this shotgun to cover the door of my vacant farmhouse! That'll fix em." 3) Dern kid loses life/limb. 4) "Whaddya mean I'm being charged with attempted murder?".
So yeah, that snake pit? That's what we call a property hazard, that you as the owner would be liable for when little Jimmy falls in. Especially if it's visible from the outside and neighborhood kids know about it. Then it's also an attractive nuisance. Oubliette for burglars? Unlawful imprisonment. Poison darts? Murder/Attempted Murder/3rd Degree Cliche. Panic Room for you? Perfectly fine, perfectly legal (assuming it's up to code). Panic room to trap burglars? Unlawful imprisonment again. Electrified floors are probably ok if they are clearly marked and guests are properly warned... Think about, for example, an electric fence. Legal, but there should be signs.
Otherwise it's that whole 'murder' thing again.
But then I'll be cleaning up a lot of dead birds...
Not to mention actual nuisance, when your neighbors tire of the noise, constant smell of ozone and charred bird, and intermittent brown-outs.
"PC" is just a copout used by people who don't have a valid argument.
The so-called "Darwin Awards" are bullshit that totally distort how selection works, and drags Charles Darwin's good name down in the mud with creepy eugenicists and Ayn Rand kooks.