A man was shot to death by the handmade device he made to protect his home
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Source: cnn
Updated 2:05 PM ET, Sun December 1, 2019
By the numbers: Gun deaths in America
(CNN)A Maine man was killed by a device he made for the front door of his home, police say.
Ronald Cyr, 65, called 911 on the evening of Thanksgiving Day and reported he had been shot, the Van Buren Police Department said.
When officers arrived, they discovered a device on the front door of the man's home that was designed to fire a handgun if anyone attempted to enter, the department said.
Police found other unknown devices around the house and contacted the state's bomb squad.
After an hours-long investigation, authorities determined Cyr -- who later succumbed to his injuries --- was hit after an "unintentional discharge of one of his homemade devices," the department said. .....................................
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/01/us/maine-man-booby-trap/index.html
I am glad no on else was killed.
Link to tweet
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jpak
(41,757 posts)I can't imagine what his life was like to make him booby trap his house like that.
Poor guy.
riversedge
(70,214 posts)GanjaGrower
(83 posts)But after reading some of the wiser replies it seems like paranoia/mental illness could have definitely been a factor.
Piasladic
(1,160 posts)I wish we had better ways to deal with this.
louis-t
(23,292 posts)People that promote fear to sell guns are horrible people.
sakabatou
(42,152 posts)bottomofthehill
(8,329 posts)That takes a special kind of stupid to die in your own boobie trap.
MarianJack
(10,237 posts)One less knob in the world. I say Darwin Award WINNER.
Fortunately, nobody else got hurt. I live in Maine and we usually don't lock the door if we go shopping or out to eat or to a movie.
RESIST!
Turbineguy
(37,328 posts)The overall crime rate in Van Buren is 74% lower than the national average. For every 100,000 people, there are 1.99 daily crimes that occur in Van Buren. Van Buren is safer than 92% of the cities in the United States. In Van Buren you have a 1 in 138 chance of becoming a victim of any crime.
https://www.areavibes.com/van+buren-me/crime/
Sounds like another victim of "conservative news".
Canoe52
(2,948 posts)sop
(10,177 posts)I once asked him why he felt the need to carry a gun while walking his dog around the block in broad daylight. We lived in a very nice neighborhood with very little, if any, crime, but he was convinced there were snakes under every blade of grass. The fool said something about violent MS-13 thugs taking over the country, and one couldn't be too careful these days. Too much FOX News will make you very afraid.
ArizonaLib
(1,242 posts)that you called him on something so foolish. Those idiots have a list of boxes they check to show off their tribal allegiance. One being a sidearm while doing yard work in front of the neighborhood, similar to a hair band video of a girl in a bikini washing a car in slow motion.
TeamPooka
(24,225 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,340 posts)magicarpet
(14,150 posts)Die by the booby trap...
Crime rate Van Buren, Maine negligible.
Fascist Fux Nuz zombie.
Yes indeed.
SunSeeker
(51,551 posts)The Mouth
(3,150 posts)One of my co-workers was going on and on about how he'd like to booby trap his home, I finally had to remind him about these people called FIREFIGHTERS.
I really don't care about the corporeal existence of a burglar or thief; ( I've nothing worth killing anyone over, but neither can I assume anyone attempting egress into my house isn't also a threat to my corporeal existence). But unless you are a special forces operative in a war zone, you're an idiot for setting traps. One is most likely to kill a kid, a pet, or an emergency services worker.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)At least partly for this reason.
Aussie105
(5,395 posts)about how many other people are so afraid or paranoid about the real world out there that they have to fortify their homes with potentially lethal booby traps.
But a gun doesn't discriminate. Just because it is YOUR gun and it makes you feel safe and/or powerful, the chemical reaction set off by pulling the trigger will throw that piece of metal out the end and it will travel in the direction it is pointed at. 'Good guy' or 'bad guy', it won't care.
I imagine he died with a surprised look on his face.
Probably safer (for you) to install some burglar alarms and keep a baseball bat close by.
But yeah, Darwin Award coming his way. May have raised the average IQ of his neighbourhood a bit, as well.
Sancho
(9,070 posts)People Control, Not Gun Control
This is my generic response to gun threads where people are shot and killed by the dumb or criminal possession of guns. For the record, I grew up in the South and on military bases. I was taught about firearms as a child, and I grew up hunting, was a member of the NRA, and I still own guns. In the 70s, I dropped out of the NRA because they become more radical and less interested in safety and training. Some personal experiences where people I know were involved in shootings caused me to realize that anyone could obtain and posses a gun no matter how illogical it was for them to have a gun. Also, easy access to more powerful guns, guns in the hands of children, and guns that werent secured are out of control in our society. As such, heres what I now think ought to be the requirements to possess a gun. Im not debating the legal language, I just think its the reasonable way to stop the shootings. Notice, none of this restricts the type of guns sold. This is aimed at the people who shoot others, because its clear that they should never have had a gun.
1.) Anyone in possession of a gun (whether they own it or not) should have a regularly renewed license. If you want to call it a permit, certificate, or something else that's fine.
2.) To get a license, you should have a background check, and be examined by a professional for emotional and mental stability appropriate for gun possession. It might be appropriate to require that examination to be accompanied by references from family, friends, employers, etc. This check is not to subject you to a mental health diagnosis, just check on your superficial and apparent gun-worthyness.
3.) To get the license, you should be required to take a safety course and pass a test appropriate to the type of gun you want to use.
4.) To get a license, you should be over 21. Under 21, you could only use a gun under direct supervision of a licensed person and after obtaining a learners license. Your license might be restricted if you have children or criminals or other unsafe people living in your home. (If you want to argue 18 or 25 or some other age, fine. 21 makes sense to me.)
5.) If you possess a gun, you would have to carry a liability insurance policy specifically for gun ownership - and likely you would have to provide proof of appropriate storage, security, and whatever statistical reasons that emerge that would drive the costs and ability to get insurance.
6.) You could not purchase a gun or ammunition without a license, and purchases would have a waiting period.
7.) If you possess a gun without a license, you go to jail, the gun is impounded, and a judge will have to let you go (just like a DUI).
8.) No one should carry an unsecured gun (except in a locked case, unloaded) when outside of home. Guns should be secure when transporting to a shooting event without demonstrating a special need. Their license should indicate training and special carry circumstances beyond recreational shooting (security guard, etc.). If you are carrying your gun while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you lose your gun and license.
9.) If you buy, sell, give away, or inherit a gun, your license information should be recorded.
10.) If you accidentally discharge your gun, commit a crime, get referred by a mental health professional, are served a restraining order, etc., you should lose your license and guns until reinstated by a serious relicensing process.
Most of you know that a license is no big deal. Besides a drivers license you need a license to fish, operate a boat, or many other activities. I realize these differ by state, but that is not a reason to let anyone without a bit of sense pack a semiautomatic weapon in public, on the roads, and in schools. I think we need to make it much harder for some people to have guns.
Lucky Luciano
(11,255 posts)Japan has similar rules about gun ownership, but most people dont care about guns in Japan and very few have guns. They, of course, have extremely low rates of gun deaths.
packman
(16,296 posts)If you don't mind, I'd like to use it with a back-and-forth I'm having with a gun worshipper in our local neighborhood blog site.
Canoe52
(2,948 posts)cstanleytech
(26,291 posts)Evolve Dammit
(16,725 posts)Ilsa
(61,695 posts)It also helps to have someone close, emotionally, to call him out on his bullshit ideas. This is probably someone others thought of as "normal" with healthy paranoia. It certainly wasn't healthy.
bucolic_frolic
(43,161 posts)TheFarseer
(9,322 posts)Your Bobby trap kills a burglar and YOU go to jail because that is totally illegal. Worst case scenario you kill your wife, kid or yourself
cntrfthrs
(252 posts)must be a trumper...
Lucky Luciano
(11,255 posts)GoneOffShore
(17,339 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,590 posts)Glad he didn't kill an innocent person instead.
zanana1
(6,113 posts)truthisfreedom
(23,146 posts)Or anywhere, really. Except a Rambo movie.
Doodley
(9,088 posts)AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Omaha Steve
(99,628 posts)Not important news of national interest only.
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