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Comment by njharman | Hacker News Reader

Is it illegal to booby trap your property?

Yes. The basic idea is that you cannot do via a trap what you couldn't do in person, which I think is sensible. If you are not allowed to shoot someone who merely sets foot on your property, then you are also not allowed to rig a shotgun to a tripwire that does the same thing.

The relevant case is Katko v. Briney.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katko_v._Briney

It is very illegal. Like, violating the Geneva Conventions level illegal:

https://definitions.uslegal.com/b/booby-traps/

It's true that booby traps are not allowed by the Geneva convention but that convention only applies to conduct in a war. I'm curious what law applies in the US.

The Geneva part was a bit of a joke.

The laws vary by state, some allow you to use traps as long as they don't cause serious harm, while others don't let you use them at all. No state allows you to set a lethal booby trap.

Here is the California law about them: https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2005/pen/12355.html

I imagine the castle doctrine would apply. Kevin McCallister could have justifiably killed the burglars in Home Alone. It was actually rather nice of him to just use non-lethal booby traps.

A civilian booby trapping their lunch in a non-wartime setting is not a Geneva Conventions violation level of illegal.

The question was about booby traps on your property in general, not about food.

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