ULPT Stop Political Sign Theives.
Posted by DreamInMonoVision@reddit | UnethicalLifeProTips | View on Reddit | 108 comments
As more and more political signs are stolen from front yards in America I’m reminded to share my recipe for stopping that. Regardless of your political beliefs, most people agree stealing is wrong. So here’s how to stop it.
First you’re going to need some glass. Doesn’t matter the color but the clearer the better.
Crush up the glass into a fine powder and mix with glue.apply the mixture using a paint brush. Once dried the glass and glue will be clear. Another way to do this is to use spray adhesive and then imbed the glass like you’re putting glitter on a school project. The crushed glass will cut anyone’s hands trying to remove the signs. Add some ground anchors and they pull harder increasing the likelihood of them not repeating it and now you know who’s going around stealing shit.
NotThatSpecialToo@reddit
Don't do this.
Someone did a similar thing with Razor blades glued to the bottom and a city worker cut his finger to the bone trying to mark gas lines.
Jesus, you partisan fanatics are just getting worse.
Election year just needs to get the F over with.
BigMikeInAustin@reddit
What is partisan about this?
NotThatSpecialToo@reddit
only an INSANE partisan would tell people to cover their political signs with broken shards of glass or other booby traps.
Partisan morons stealing signs too.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Nah not partisan at all. Just a person tired of thieves.
NotThatSpecialToo@reddit
And YET you didn't say "yard signs" and instead specified political signs?
You are also a liar.
itwasbread@reddit
This guy is essentially coming in here to bloviate about how he feels thinks petty crime should be met with corporal or even capital punishment without trial and somehow seems to think that’s not a political viewpoint
BigMikeInAustin@reddit
You still don't explain why partisan has anything to do with this.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Because it isn’t and they know it.
NotThatSpecialToo@reddit
Not sure how I could be more clear there.
WillyWanka-69@reddit
I love how you also provided us with solid, credible statistics that support your claims
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
It’s all around you buddy. Not noticing doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. I’m not your news source. It’s been documented by others. What color is the rock you live under?
bowhunterb119@reddit
What if it’s some stupid kid? Do you really want to be in a headline about “(your candidate) supporter slices up child’s hand over yard sign prank”?
My parents had yard signs growing up and they got stolen enough I would sometimes camp out with a super soaker or whatever… I actually did catch some of them and it was always kids roughly my age. Like junior high/high school age.
Glitter, paint, heck even electricity I could probably laugh and and say they deserved but if you slice up some kid’s hand you’re going to look like a monster and probably go to jail
Cobaltorigin@reddit
But the supporter didn't slice up the kids hand. The kid grabbed something sharp that he shouldn't have touched in the first place.
itwasbread@reddit
If I leave my wallet in my yard and cover it in Anthrax is it justified to kill a kid? Shouldn’t have touched it after all.
Cobaltorigin@reddit
What's this about justification? You shouldn't set traps for people, but you shouldn't touch other people's property either. Why are you guys so hell bent on empathizing with thieves?
itwasbread@reddit
Because that’s how empathy works lmao. People with functioning empathy understand that possibly permanently damaging someone’s fingers is disproportionate punishment for taking a low-cost, non-necessity item with no functional purpose other than aesthetics.
Cobaltorigin@reddit
People with functioning empathy know who to have it for and who not to. Ignorant people think it's for everyone, and cynics rarely have any.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Yes. Allowing society to continue to steal isn’t the answer either.
itwasbread@reddit
Let me get this straight. You think it’s acceptable to kill or maim teenagers for stealing what $30 signs?
bowhunterb119@reddit
This is the same age where kids will go TP their buddies house or doorbell ditch. They aren’t thinking like that. To them, this may be a prank on that same level.
Maybe they heard all about George Bush and his quest for oil and think they’re doing their part to stand up for the environment or bring the troops home by taking his sign down. They’re 12, and that’s how their brains work. They can’t vote, but they CAN go take his sign as a joke. Kinda like stealing the football rivals mascot or whatever. They’re simply not mature enough to think “this is someone’s property, I shouldn’t touch it”. Plenty of things might teach them this lesson that are harmless; cutting up their hands is way over the top and will only make you look bad
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
12 year old need to be taught not to be trash humans. If their parents can’t or won’t… you better be tough if you’re going to be stupid.
MenacingBanjo@reddit
Exactly. Similar situation: My kids kept having trouble with math. They needed to be taught this stuff. They needed to be tough, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let them grow up to be stupid. So I drilled their palms to the school desk until they got the math questions right.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
I’m figuring you’re the type of guy that eats corn on the cob the long way… that’s wildly different and you know it.
itwasbread@reddit
What the fuck does this even mean
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
You’ll figure it out next time you eat corn on the cob.
bullfighterteu@reddit
Booby traps are illegal in all 50 states
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
It’s not a booby trap. It’s akin to an electric fence. Don’t mess with what’s not yours and no issues.
itwasbread@reddit
You’re a psychopath dude
Dlorn@reddit
Electric fences have to be clearly marked.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
And yet we live in a world where they aren’t…
Ashirogi8112008@reddit
A sign with a rough texture isn't a boobie trap, if a person doesn't examine the sign and determine the best practices for handling it then that's on them.
It's hardly different from picking up a scythe by the blade and trying to claim that it was a boobie trap because you grabbed it on the wrong spot in the wrong way.
itwasbread@reddit
If you glue glass shards to something expecting someone to grab it you could render their hands effectively useless for a significant period of time. Under what possible definition is that NOT a booby trap
BigMikeInAustin@reddit
What about DC and Puerto Rico and Guam?
Cobaltorigin@reddit
I didn't say they were.
Aggravating_Act0417@reddit
I don't think most kids are going to touch election signs unless they're dirtbag parents tell them to.
Not saying it's right. Just making a point.
NatashaBadenov@reddit
If I was a shitbag teen right now, every Trump sign would be gone from the city. Do not underestimate pissed off youth.
itwasbread@reddit
You don’t think there are like 14-17 year olds with political opinions? Or hell ones that would just steal it for the sake of doing a prank?
Stubborn_Amoeba@reddit
I listened to a podcast ages ago and they were explaining that ground glass is essentially sand and pretty harmless.
They were discussing the urban legend of putting ground glass in someones food to covertly kill them. It just doesn't work. Glass is only dangerous when it's got sharp edges, ie, in shard form.
And even still, if i put some substance in your food with the texture of sand, you'd know after one bite.
Sadly, if I ever want to kill someone, ground glass isn't the way to go. I think the same can be said for securing political signs, even if we ignore the ethical issues.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Yeah, you don’t have to turn it back to sand to glass a sign or poster or door knobs. But yeah someone said it on a podcast so I guess it must be true.
Expert_Swimmer9822@reddit
Setting booby traps is illegal and doing it on your own property is doubly stupid because it makes it way easier to prove you did it.
Just put your stupid trump signs in your window so we can throw rocks at it.
Virel_360@reddit
How do you know he’s a Trumpster? I’ve seen several posts on popular about people complaining about their Harris signs being stolen in red states.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
What if he’s neither? Ohh the scandal…
Expert_Swimmer9822@reddit
Lol
SteveRamboson@reddit
Party of peace and joy!
Expert_Swimmer9822@reddit
I'm not part of either party, but I do know which side is more likely to not care about the consequences of setting up booby traps like this, so it was an easy guess which one OP probably prefers.
Which party did you mean? :)
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Ohh which one did you pick for me? I love this game!
Expert_Swimmer9822@reddit
My decision has been reinforced by your lack of reading comprehension lmao
thecuzzin@reddit
Agreed... far easier just putting razor blades in the sign 🤣
Expert_Swimmer9822@reddit
Not sure what that accomplishes, that's not how yard signs work. But intentionally placing blades in a place where it's likely someone would accidentally touch them meets a certain legal definition, so most booby trap ideas are only 1) going to not hurt the intended target, and 2) ensure more legal trouble for you than if you just, say, stood physical guard over your sign and punched anyone that looked at it funny. Legally speaking. (IANAL)
CummyMonkey420@reddit
Fuck it bro just install a clay pigeon shooter loaded up with piss disks to slice up some bitches
cbarrr92@reddit
That’s a good way to get your ass beaten ran over or shot lmao
Expert_Swimmer9822@reddit
You're gonna have to be quick if ya wanna get me. Gonna have to wait by that window ALL DAY AND NIGHT with your shotgun ready, Cletus.
cbarrr92@reddit
Oh buddy it’d be the last thing you ever did lmao ain’t no safe spaces irl 🔫
AbruptMango@reddit
There's no trap, as such. It reminds me of someone I know who has a spray bottle filled with a poison ivy mixture to put on her signs- it makes them inhospitable to people touching them and that's about it. No one is inviting anyone to touch them, and political signs don't qualify as an attractive nuisance.
workitloud@reddit
Pepper spray on sign. Simple.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
The pathetic thieves have more sympathy than a homeowner trying to protect his own property apparently. Murica.
itwasbread@reddit
It’s cheap corrugated plastic on cheap metal pole. No one gives a fuck about that dude just buy another one
-Cabby-@reddit
Nah, just dumping a ton of glitter on your poster is better.
It gets people's attention, isn't illegal, and will have the sign stealer finding glitter in random places for over a month (as opposed to the week or so it takes for their hand to heal).
Ashirogi8112008@reddit
It may get people's attention, buy that is in no way not illegal.
Throw your trash bag out of the window in front of a state trooper and tell me again how littering isn't illegal
-Cabby-@reddit
Because it's on your own property?
Albeit some would call political signs trash, OP could probably pass it off as an art piece.
itwasbread@reddit
Would probably depend on your yard size, if it could get into your neighbor’s shit easily then it’s an issue
EnthusedPhlebotomist@reddit
How is dumping glitter on a sign gonna do anything but make your yard glittery forever?
Ashirogi8112008@reddit
Not to mention getting the ticket for littering
privatefrost2@reddit
Maybe glue then add glitter? Not all the glitter will be trapped under a layer of glue so some will come off on the thief's hands.
kendromedia@reddit
It’s difficult. If you “protect” it using razor blades, electric capacitance current,etc.. you really have to consider possibly injuring the wrong person, yourself and possibly someone innocent after you toss or abandon it. That shits expensive and might get you a .22 to the nuts when you’re walking out the door to go to work in the morning.
You could coat it in vasoline, mine the immediate area with dog feces, install a short range motion controlled sprinkler…..
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
So no lasting memories. Just wipe the dog shit off your shoes and go about your day as a sign stealing urchin? Seems very American. Yeah… I’m going go with this is why the prisons are full and still so much crime. Y’all are lazy and apathetic to your own property.
kendromedia@reddit
No, we have kids that like shiny signs and public workers that tend to touch discarded items.
Don’t worry, after the first few weeks, the nightly line will get shorter and the visitors will be less frantic. The train won’t have as many cars but it’ll take much longer for each car to pass. They remember what makes one wince. They’ll do it trice per visit. They’ll keep one from hemorrhaging to death but they won’t give the cause a moment’s thought much less attempt to stop visitation hours.
That’s if you’re lucky. People who would booby trap something outside of a locked gate are usually fair game anyway. They are very susceptible to “random” calibers of things coming through their sheet rock. It’s not the first stupid thing they’ve done that was intended to harm others.
Heaven forbid their child has to tell them why they suddenly don’t like dad’s favorite shirt, or the smell of his favorite cologne, or why they have a panic attack when they hear the happy birthday song. They’re so worried about the safety of their siblings and where each one is every moment of every single day.
Politics are a funny game until you actually drag the crazies out of the woodwork.
Do you think any of the potential consequences above weren’t based on a case I read in law school?
StrangerFeelings@reddit
You know, booby traps are 100% illegal right? This just skips over the ethical redline straight into illegal.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
You know stealing is illegal right… woah!
StrangerFeelings@reddit
Yes, I know it's illegal, but when booby trapping something the thief will win the case 100%
WalkingGodInfinite@reddit
How many thieves turn themselves in after they were caught stealing?
StrangerFeelings@reddit
You'd be surprised at how many cases a thief gets to walk away if something was trapped.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
You can walk away from the law but the scars on your hands is a public warning to others.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
If they have to go to the hospital and tell them why their hands are mangled… it’s be pretty easy to see who is a piece of shit thief. Some places take your whole hand for this, it’s a deterrent in a lot of the world, yet here the vast majority are okay with people stealing their things.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Sounds like your justice system doesn’t do justice very well… which is why people would resort to glassing their signs. Letting the perpetrators win the moral argument is classic America.
StrangerFeelings@reddit
It's actually for public safety to stop booby trapping. If you set up a trap in your house to stop thieves and say for example and EMT needs to go into your house and it injured/kills the EMT you are liable for it even though it was for the thief originally.
If some one needs to grab your sign (for whatever reason, doesn't need to be stealing)and gets cut because you trapped it then your liable for it.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Y’all come up with some wild scenarios to continue to be victims. Yes the EMT s going to have to remove the sign… wow. Don’t touch why isn’t yours and there won’t be an issue. Also I’m not a monster, I’d tell EMT,s Fire, and maybe some cops before they touched it, but for the most part they arrive with cut resistant gloves because you know their job…
Tepigg4444@reddit
ethical life pro tip: stop buying political signs, signaling your support for a politician outside your house is deranged and totally fucking up society
Confident_Resolution@reddit
i think this goes beyond unethical and is straight up illegal...
PandaDad22@reddit
Why not both ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Hey guess what? Stealing is illegal too. Pass it on.
01101110-01100001@reddit
what if their sign is endorsing a felon? theyre basically saying theyre cool with crime...
NightMgr@reddit
If the sign endorses a felon then you’re free to use thermonuclear weapons sufficient to render the county uninhabitable for 40,000 years.
Just read “the exception to booby trap” addendum to the penal code.
JudicatorArgo@reddit
Still equally illegal, booby trap laws don’t care about what’s written on your booby trap
Mostcoolkid78@reddit
If you only allow one side of democratic expression, is it really democracy?
Kinda_Constipated@reddit
I don't think so. Traps are illegal but barb wire fences are legal because they aren't traps. I don't think this counts as trap.
Confident_Resolution@reddit
It's premeditated, concealed, and Intended to Injure....that combination would probably take it out of the definition of reasonable protection of property.
SimpleDebt1261@reddit
Concertina wire is not legal for use in most residential applications. Usually only legal on commercial property. That said, local laws will vary.
Darwins_payoff@reddit
Barbed wire is clearly visible, and is meant as a deterrent. Big difference.
xSaturnityx@reddit
are u ok
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Define ok? Yeah, I don’t like thieves. Have seen and heard of a lot of sign thefts. I don’t care about the politics involved just the stealing. Lots of respondents think it goes too far. Fuck them for supporting thieves.
marklikeadawg@reddit
Electrify the signs.
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
See everyone’s ok with electricity. But they fail to use the right amperage to make the suspect stop permanently from stealing. Enough juice and they won’t ever think of stealing again. But glass… dear god what a monster…
bowhunterb119@reddit
People are probably ok with electricity on the level of those joke pens that scare the hell out of you.
Nobody is going to be ok with an amount that rips someone in half and leaves their smoking corpse in your yard. Why would you even want that? It’s messed up enough if it’s the evil tweaker you are fantasizing about but what if it’s a kid? What if a dog or a deer or something brushes against it?
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Wow, it’s like no one understands how to limit the electricity to a specific level that isn’t cute and joking but says “get the fuck away from my stuff”. America has become very soft with regards to crime.
bowhunterb119@reddit
Dude, we probably share similar opinions on a lot of things including politics, and including crime. My disagreement is that your solution is way over the top, likely to harm children, and ultimately will make the rest of us look as bad and unhinged as you are when it goes wrong and the news reports on the person harmed by your booby trap
DreamInMonoVision@reddit (OP)
Im not political. I don’t support politicians in any way. I don’t buy signs. I don’t vote. I couldn’t care less which asshat the 30% of Americans are voting for. I just have having things stolen and Americans have legitimized and support thieves in every capacity of life. I don’t. If a kid steals, they learn not to. If an adult does, same lesson later in life.
Salty-nutter@reddit
Buy both and see what happens
mycatisgrumpy@reddit
Aside from the fact that this is illegal, do keep in mind that when you put up a political sign, your actions are representing that candidate. Stop for a moment and think whether they would want you to maim some random dumbshit with hurt feelings and poor impulse control, and whether you are helping or harming the candidate by doing so.
Also, stealing signs, whatever side you're on, is such a pathetic display of weakness. Grow up.
Wise_Monkey_Sez@reddit
This isn't a "pro" tip, it's a tip that will get your dumb ass arrested for illegally booby trapping your property. This is up there with "razor blades under your car door handle" in levels of illegality and stupidity.
If you want to do this cleverly then just buy a motion activated light and link it to your garden sprinkler. Point the light at your sign, and if someone steps onto your lawn to get your sign they get soaked. Most people lose interest in politics when they're soaking wet, and you get a laugh at the soaked person rushing back to their car.
But frankly the entire "I need to advertise my political choices" thing is just stupid. Nobody in their right mind will walk past your sign on your lawn and go, "Wow, I was undecided before, but that spiffy poster on that person's lawn REALLY CHANGED MY MIND!!"
It's just a trick to get you to spend money on something unnecessary and then get butthurt when the inevitable happens and someone with a different view steals it. Stop being an idiot.
Aggravating_Act0417@reddit
And preload the hose with piss. Or food coloring.
Wise_Monkey_Sez@reddit
Food coloring? Naah. Liquid Lawn Colorant (Liquid Green Grass Lawn Spray). You can pick it up at walmart for about $3.
Nothing suspicious about using this in a lawn sprinkler. Completely normal and not a booby trap whatsoever.
NecroBelch@reddit
Enjoy house arrest
itwasbread@reddit
Legitimately don’t think this is an issue most people have ever thought about. I know one chick from my high school did this like a singular time, literally the only instance Ive heard of
JudicatorArgo@reddit
Stealing/defacing someone else’s political signs is fucked up, but booby trapping a sign is an r/illegallifeprotip, don’t do this
flat-moon_theory@reddit
This is just advise on how to speedrun yourself into felony charges. This is illegal as fuck not just unethical. Do not do this
MarathonRabbit69@reddit
The problem is that most of the traps are illegal, but….
Buy a motion detector. Use it to switch on a 20kW lamp or multiple 10’s of thousands of lumens strobe. Bonus for adding a police siren mp3 played at high volume and “Stop you are under arrest for terrorism”
Then have a shotgun prepared with rock salt (non lethal, but memorable) and protect your domain.
Once you have a motion detector or even just a simple interrupt switch, there are lots of scary but totally legal and non-lethal traps one can set, from paint launchers to just photographing and calling the cops.
Suspicious_Kale44@reddit
You’re gonna need a shovel.