act of the Gunpowder Incident, leading Governor Dunmore to flee the city to a British warship and declare the Commonwealth of Virginia in a state of rebellion. In 1981, Rene Seiptius and two friends attempted to flee from East Germany to West Germany. While they managed to avoid land mines, they did trip a spring-gun, killing one of Rene's friends. Another case is McComb v. Connaghan in which a 19-year-old burglar was killed by a spring-gun that was set up by the property owner who was a repeated victim of burglary. Alternatives Alternative traps are mines such as the crowd control munition, gas mine or the directional mine, such as the SM-70, which was used on the inner German border to prevent refugees from escaping East Germany. Crowd control munition and gas mines can be less lethal, while concussion mines are meant to kill. The latter are thus only used in military perimeter defenses. See also Mantrap Booby trap Katko v. Briney Sleeve gun Sentry gun References External links Methley Archive - Spring-guns in Methley Park to deter trespassers Area denial weapons