John Gilmer wrote:
Lest anyone else be tempted, booby-traps are outlawed in every
jurisdiction and have been since the Magna Carta. to the Pooh.

What's outlawed are "man traps" which are often called "infernal
devices" which KILL or seriously wound anyone who trips it.

An electric fence is FAR short of this. It's can't kill. It just
"shocks." It's quite acceptable to keep animals from "pushing" on a
fence and, indeed, have been used to keep dogs on the "right side" of
a property line.


You're probably right. Still, the company that makes Tasers has had to
defend its claim that "Tasers can't kill" several times in civil courts. So
far, they've won them all but that doesn't stop people from trying.

Next, an "infernal device" can be construed to be anything that acts
unexpectedly and sets in motion a train of events that causes a foreseeable
peril. Suppose someone is doing something hazardous (Plutonium,
Nitroglycerin, "just putting the tip in," etc.) and a Whoopie-Cushion goes
off !