diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index fed70ff..fd426f1 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
         "php": ">=5.3.0"
     },
     "autoload": {
-        "psr-0": { "pjdietz\\WellRESTed": "src/" }
+        "psr-0": { "pjdietz\\WellRESTed": "src/" },
+        "classmap": ["src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Exceptions/HttpExceptions.php"]
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Exceptions/HttpExceptions.php b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Exceptions/HttpExceptions.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c18bc5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Exceptions/HttpExceptions.php
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace pjdietz\WellRESTed\Exceptions;
+
+class HttpException extends WellRESTedException
+{
+    protected $code = 500;
+    protected $message = "500 Internal Server Error";
+}
+
+class BadRequest extends HttpException
+{
+    protected $code = 400;
+    protected $message = "400 Bad Request";
+}
+
+class ForbiddenException extends HttpException
+{
+    protected $code = 401;
+    protected $message = "401 Forbidden";
+}
+
+class UnautorizedException extends HttpException
+{
+    protected $code = 403;
+    protected $message = "403 Unauthorized";
+}
+
+class NotFoundException extends HttpException
+{
+    protected $code = 404;
+    protected $message = "404 Not Found";
+}
+
+class ConflictException extends HttpException
+{
+    protected $code = 409;
+    protected $message = "409 Conflict";
+}
diff --git a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Handler.php b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Handler.php
index 686399f..070fb10 100644
--- a/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Handler.php
+++ b/src/pjdietz/WellRESTed/Handler.php
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 namespace pjdietz\WellRESTed;
 
+use pjdietz\WellRESTed\Exceptions\HttpException;
 use pjdietz\WellRESTed\Interfaces\HandlerInterface;
 use pjdietz\WellRESTed\Interfaces\ResponseInterface;
 use pjdietz\WellRESTed\Interfaces\RequestInterface;
@@ -43,7 +44,12 @@ abstract class Handler implements HandlerInterface
         $this->request = $request;
         $this->args = $args;
         $this->response = new Response();
-        $this->buildResponse();
+        try {
+            $this->buildResponse();
+        } catch (HttpException $e) {
+            $this->response->setStatusCode($e->getCode());
+            $this->response->setBody($e->getMessage());
+        }
         return $this->response;
     }
 
@@ -51,6 +57,10 @@ abstract class Handler implements HandlerInterface
      * Prepare the Response. Override this method if your subclass needs to
      * repond to any non-standard HTTP methods. Otherwise, override the
      * get, post, put, etc. methods.
+     *
+     * An uncaught HttpException (or subclass) will be converted to a response
+     * using the exception's code as the status code and the exceptios message
+     * as the body.
      */
     protected function buildResponse()
     {