Hey everyone, I’m from Brazil and had a random thought. If I were living in the US, is it legal to use a remote-controlled turret for home defense? Curious to hear what people here think.
A turret with just a camera is totally fine. But if it can attack in any way, then no, it’s not allowed. Booby traps are illegal even if they’re in your own home.
Hayley said:
A turret with just a camera is totally fine. But if it can attack in any way, then no, it’s not allowed. Booby traps are illegal even if they’re in your own home.
What if the turret just yells insults at people?
Hayley said:
A turret with just a camera is totally fine. But if it can attack in any way, then no, it’s not allowed. Booby traps are illegal even if they’re in your own home.
If it’s operated by someone and not automated, that could be a grey area.
Hayley said:
A turret with just a camera is totally fine. But if it can attack in any way, then no, it’s not allowed. Booby traps are illegal even if they’re in your own home.
Would it even count as a booby trap if it’s controlled remotely? Probably breaks a bunch of other laws anyway, but maybe not the booby trap ones. When I read the question, I thought it meant fully automated.
Hayley said:
A turret with just a camera is totally fine. But if it can attack in any way, then no, it’s not allowed. Booby traps are illegal even if they’re in your own home.
If it only targets actual threats and not random people, then it wouldn’t be a booby trap. For it to be legal, you’d generally need to be home, watching the situation, and only use it if you feel your life is in danger. For example, if you see someone sneaking up with a weapon, you might be able to justify it.
It’s a no-go for anything that could cause harm. These kinds of devices are treated like booby traps under the law.
Cruz said:
It’s a no-go for anything that could cause harm. These kinds of devices are treated like booby traps under the law.
If you’re actively controlling it and can justify force at the moment, it could be legal. Booby traps work automatically, but a device you’re controlling might not fall into that category. Just don’t have it firing at random people walking by.
If it’s just a camera, no problem. But for anything weaponized, that’s a hard no. In most states, guns must be stored securely when not in use, and a remote-controlled turret doesn’t qualify. Even in states without strict gun storage laws, anything that acts like a booby trap is a no-go.
I have a couple of remote-controlled cameras that can follow movement, and my neighbors joke about how creepy it is when they walk past. But adding weapons to something like that? Not happening.
What about a turret that sprays bear spray or paint? You could control it from inside a safe room. Aiming for the face could mess up goggles or masks and stop someone even if they’re geared up.
I checked into this once. It’s definitely illegal if you’re not home.
Neal said:
I checked into this once. It’s definitely illegal if you’re not home.
Actually, there are ways to make it legal, but they wouldn’t work for home defense.
Neal said:
I checked into this once. It’s definitely illegal if you’re not home.
Even if you are home, it’s still against the law.
Neal said:
I checked into this once. It’s definitely illegal if you’re not home.
Even if you are home, it’s still against the law.
Probably for the best. Letting regular people have remote-controlled gun turrets sounds like a terrible idea.
@Christian
But it would be so cool though 
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Eduardo said:
@Christian
But it would be so cool though
Yeah, until someone hacks it. Imagine someone taking over your turret like they do with smart doorbells. Pretty sure there’s a sci-fi show about exactly this kind of nightmare.