Close, but backwards. DC can cause your muscles to lock, but because AC's actual voltage varies, the muscle spasms between contracted and relaxed, letting you get your hand off. But in both cases, don't be surprised if one your buddies wacks you with a stick to save your butt.

But, nothing is written in stone. The big question that people don't think about is the current path that is taken through the body. If the heart or spinal column are in the way, there is real change it's "good night Irene". We also need to worry about the duration of the exposure, the wattage, because that factors in the seriousness of the burn.

And also how moist your skin is- dry skin is a pretty good resistor, moist skin... well, let's just say that powers of ten come into play with the comparison. That's why just brushing a cattle fence with the back of your hand just stings, but if you fall for the redneck dare and pee on it, they'll hear you scream in the next county- those things are DC. You're house has AC, so you'll yelp and swear and have something go numb, but most of the times you are ok. It's that fluke you have to be afraid of.

General rule of thumb, treat every circuit as if it were live until you know otherwise. It's just like a firearm. Although I'd never thought of using an inductive current sensor like that- attach it to the end of your staff, and you've got a pretty good sniffer if you have to cross rubble.

Oh, and the 1mA to kill has to be across a certain nerve in the heart, or in your brain stem. Again, the current path and skin resistance are major factors, but people have been killed with household and others have survived direct hits with lightning. Fun is playing with breakdown voltages, which is the point at which solid matter just kinda disappears. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />