I remember reading, not so many years ago, about a man who had had a series of burglaries of his mobile home, which always occurred when he was out of town. The police (surprise! surprise!) were no help. He decided on self-help.

He built a shotgun trap in his mobile home, with the gun loaded with buckshot and aimed at the door. Then he did what I suppose he thought was the humane thing: He posted a prominent sign outside that door, "Shotgun trap inside! If you break in, you WILL be shot!"

The burglar took advantage of the man's absence and, if he read the sign, ignored it, and was killed. The homeowner was convicted--I don't know whether manslaughter or murder.

Dave Oesterreich