Gun-powered mousetrap

On August 21, 1882, James Alexander Williams from Fredonia, San Saba County, Texas filed United States patent No.269,766.

[1][2] The patent application suggests that the device might also be used to kill or injure "any person or thing" that makes opens the door or window that it is attached to.

[1] The patent application was approved on December 26, 1882[1] and James Alexander Williams said "The object of my invention is to provide a means by which animals who burrow in the ground can be destroyed, and which the trap will give an alarm each time that it goes off, so that it can be reset.

"[2] US Patent 269766, awarded December 26, 1882, to James Alexander Williams of Fredonia, Mason County, Texas, describes a frame with a pistol or revolver secured to it, and a spring, levers and rod which would activate the gun's trigger when an animal stepped on a treadle in front of the muzzle, killing the animal.

[3] The gun-powered mouse trap proved inferior to spring-powered mousetraps descending from William C. Hooker's 1894 patent.