Depending on where people live, they may not always feel very secure in their homes. Although that’s the last place this issue should apply to, those who have to live with frequent break-ins or dangerous animals know this feeling all too-well.
And when the problem becomes overwhelming, some people might be tempted to build traps to show any intruders that this isn’t the house for them. But while that solution might work in Home Alone , the consequences can be far more dire in real life.
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And one tragic case from Maine makes this unfortunately clear.
The idea of rigging up doors with a gun trap is not a new phenomenon, and neither are the legal consequences for doing so.
Ever since the 1971 case of Katko v. Briney, it’s been determined that using a “sping gun” like this is only remotely justifiable if it prevents life-threatening felonies of violence.
Since the Brineys did not actually live at the property they had rigged with a shotgun trap in this case, an Idaho court ended up ruling against them.
However, the case of 65-year-old Ronald Cyr of Van Buren, Maine illustrates that homeowners don’t just take a legal risk by using these traps.
As ABC News reported , Cyr returned home only to be shot by a handgun as soon as he opened the door.
As police would eventually learn, however, that gun was part of a trap.
Specifically, one that was designed to shoot at anyone entering Cyr’s front door. As the Van Buren Police Department wrote on Facebook, Cyr was able to call 911 and report that he had been shot.
However, police weren’t aware of the existence of the handgun trap until they responded to the call.
Although officers and border patrol agents rendered assistance before the ambulance arrived, Cyr would eventually succumb to his injuries and pass away.
Afterwards, police discovered that this handgun device wasn’t the only trap Cyr had armed in his home.
As ABC News reported , this led authorities to contact the Maine State Police Bomb Squad.
Police did not specify the nature or the number of additional traps on the premises.
With Cyr now departed, police are left without answers to key questions in their investigation.
Namely, the reason as to why Cyr had set up so many traps in his home. Another mystery concerns how he triggered the trap on his front door and whether he had recalled it was there.
h/t: ABC News
