# Is it legal to boobytrap your own property? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 4, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425 "2013-12-04T02:04:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Joe\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/fbc32d/32.png) [@Joe\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_King)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/1 "2013-12-04T02:04:00Z")
I am watching a prepper show and the guy who owns the land buried boxes with swivel tops and three inch spikes on the bottom to pierce the foot. Seems possibly irresponsible. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/2 "2013-12-04T02:08:39Z")
Breathtakingly irresponsible, in fact. Great way for self-righteous douchebags to learn their personal philosophy does not mesh well with the legal system. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/3 "2013-12-04T02:13:24Z")
Probably not. [Here’s a link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katko_v._Briney) to a wikipedia summary of _Katko v. Briney_, from the Supreme Court of Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/4 "2013-12-04T03:09:18Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Probably not. [Here’s a link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katko_v._Briney) to a wikipedia summary of _Katko v. Briney_, from the Supreme Court of Iowa. Also [Mantrap - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantrap) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/5 "2013-12-04T04:44:00Z")
A couple of previous threads on the subject: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14865476](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14865476) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13226988](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13226988) And there`s lots of juicy legal cites in this one: > **[Legal liability if a dog mauls or kills a burglar?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=376499)** > > The following question popped up on another message board I frequent, and I figured the legal eagles here might find it interesting. Suppose I own a Doberman. While I’m at work one day, a burglar forcibly enters my house. My dog, territorial... ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/6 "2013-12-04T05:00:03Z")
> [@Joe\_King](#): > > I am watching a prepper show and the guy who owns the land buried boxes with swivel tops and three inch spikes on the bottom to pierce the foot. > Seems possibly irresponsible. In the brave new PC world we live in probably/ definitely NOT legal. After all, the bad people that would steal from and hurt us are just poor misunderstood darlings. Just be glad that you live in a country where you can still shoot a bad person if he threatens your life. Where I come from, the wooses have taken away our right to even have a handgun. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/7 "2013-12-04T05:29:29Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > In the brave new PC world we live in probably/ definitely NOT legal. After all, the bad people that would steal from and hurt us are just poor misunderstood darlings. . . . Bullshit. Nobody says this. This is a childish and cartoonish libel. (But…keep it up. It reveals conservative ethics for what they truly are: shallow.) Traps are illegal because they lack the ability to discriminate. They’re equally likely to injure someone who is trying to go cross-country to find someone with a telephone so they can call for help after an accident. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/8 "2013-12-04T05:43:48Z")
More importantly, emergency services do have a right to enter your property without your permission – because you might be unable to give them permission at a time when you need help. For this reason alone, booby trapping is usually illegal. If your traps were, for instance, to seriously maim or kill a firefighter, you would be in a dreadful world of hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/9 "2013-12-04T05:55:55Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > In the brave new PC world we live in probably/ definitely NOT legal. After all, the bad people that would steal from and hurt us are just poor misunderstood darlings. > > Just be glad that you live in a country where you can still shoot a bad person if he threatens your life. > Where I come from, the wooses have taken away our right to even have a handgun. > [@Trinopus](#): > > Bullshit. Nobody says this. This is a childish and cartoonish libel. (But…keep it up. It reveals conservative ethics for what they truly are: shallow.) > > Traps are illegal because they lack the ability to discriminate. They’re equally likely to injure someone who is trying to go cross-country to find someone with a telephone so they can call for help after an accident. > [@For You](#): > > More importantly, emergency services do have a right to enter your property without your permission – because you might be unable to give them permission at a time when you need help. For this reason alone, booby trapping is usually illegal. If your traps were, for instance, to seriously maim or kill a firefighter, you would be in a dreadful world of hurt. And I believe they’ve always been illegal, even since way before the “PC world” came along, “PC world” apparently being code for “any world in which I can’t have my own way and be my own law.” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/10 "2013-12-04T06:53:03Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > In the brave new PC world we live in probably/ definitely NOT legal. After all, the bad people that would steal from and hurt us are just poor misunderstood darlings. > > Just be glad that you live in a country where you can still shoot a bad person if he threatens your life. > Where I come from, the wooses have taken away our right to even have a handgun. It must be truly terrifying to live in your world. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/11 "2013-12-04T08:05:25Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Bullshit. > > **Nobody says this. This is a childish and cartoonish libel.** > > (But…keep it up. It reveals conservative ethics for what they truly are: shallow.) > > Traps are illegal because they lack the ability to discriminate. > > **They’re _equally_ likely to injure someone who is trying to go cross-country to find someone with a telephone so they can call for help after an accident**. The highlighted part. ↑ is untrue as stated. Painting with an almost unbelievable broad brush. The OP asked a simple question. It has been answered. I do not understand the reaction to an opinion obviously not from this country. IMO, facts & education would be a better response. YMMV 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/12 "2013-12-04T08:13:04Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Guest > > > > Join Date: Jan 2001 > > Quote: > > Originally Posted by Doggo View Post > > In the brave new PC world we live in probably/ definitely NOT legal. After all, the bad people that would steal from and hurt us are just poor misunderstood darlings. > > > > Just be glad that you live in a country where you can still shoot a bad person if he threatens your life. > > Where I come from, the wooses have taken away our right to even have a handgun. > > > [@](#): > > > > It must be truly terrifying to live in your world. I must wonder at the anger and snark at someone who thinks it is better to be here than where he is. You are anti - immigration by legal means? You want to make even more people have a bad impression of citizens of the USA? :rolleyes: Just my opinion and all that… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/13 "2013-12-04T08:43:01Z")
Duly noted and filed appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/14 "2013-12-04T13:43:45Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > I must wonder at the anger and snark at someone who thinks it is better to be here than where he is. You are anti - immigration by legal means? You want to make even more people have a bad impression of citizens of the USA? :rolleyes: > > Just my opinion and all that… 😛 I was referring to his paranoid and bizarre mental state, not his citizenship status. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/15 "2013-12-04T16:01:47Z")
I have a friend who has traps on his property and I dread the day he injures someone. I have talked to him about innocent people being hurt and what will happen to him legally. His response was, I was stupid and if the law wants him they won’t take him without a fight. You will probably see him in the news someday. I won’t go anywhere near his place now. I think he put up a sign of some kind warning that his property is not safe. Yeah, I know he needs professional help, the VA tried but have given up. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/16 "2013-12-04T17:16:52Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > In the brave new PC world we live in probably/ definitely NOT legal. After all, the bad people that would steal from and hurt us are just poor misunderstood darlings. > > Just be glad that you live in a country where you can still shoot a bad person if he threatens your life. > Where I come from, the wooses have taken away our right to even have a handgun. WTF are “wooses” or is that some weird typo? … regionalism? 😕 Also, jeez, \*\*GusNSpot \*\*… was the giant red font really necessary? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/17 "2013-12-04T17:21:04Z")
Going back to Katko v. Briney, were either of them charged with a criminal offense? If not, why not? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/18 "2013-12-04T17:26:44Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > … > > Traps are illegal because they lack the ability to discriminate. They’re equally likely to injure someone who is trying to go cross-country to find someone with a telephone so they can call for help after an accident. Good point. Killing or injuring in self defense is widely permitted in the US, but generally held to a test of reasonableness. If you shoot a trespasser who was armed with a crowbar and shotgun and clearly was up to no good, then you’re probably ok. Shooting some eight-year-old children who were playing Capture the Flag and forgot to ask you if it would be ok to hide their flag in your rose garden, not so much. An automated trap isn’t going to distinguish these situations. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/19 "2013-12-04T17:38:52Z")
I’m pretty sure that “man traps” have been illegal since pre-colonial times, at least. I doubt they’ve ever been legal at any time the United States has existed. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425/20 "2013-12-04T18:12:12Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Duly noted and filed appropriately. May I use that? 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-boobytrap-your-own-property/675425.md?page=2)