I had to shoot at a guy tonight

Get ready for next time. Tape the flashlight to the forearm of a good rifle.

It's OK to miss as long as you get close. Nothing beats the muzzle blast of a 30-06...

Anyone who come on yer property after dark without announcin themselves proper like was up to no good and deserved what they got.... But gawd dang man, hurlin lead at a perfectly good tractor? What was you thinkin?

Shooting someone for walking around in the open on a Sunday afternoon would be too much. If I read that right this guy was sneaking around in the dark.

Ummm...that's the point of shooting at someone.

I'm alarmed by this, too.
(And I have defended home and family with a shotgun, btw.)

But to think someone deserves to die for stealing gas??? Even ignoring the dumb-kid-prank, or neighbor-looking-for-a-child scenarios... I can buy that this was just a common thief.

My own safety? My family's? You bet!
But I don't own anything that is more important than someone's life. Not even a thief's.

(And my sheriff's office is 35 miles/45 minutes away, before anyone tries to tell me I don't know what it's like!)

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

I've not walked a foot in your shoes, Old Vet.

I am thankful you and yours are all okay, and right now, I think that is all that matters.

I hope you sleep well tonight.

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I LOVE DONUT BALLS

i dont like to think tooo much before i speak ... heehee ... i like to be just as surprised as you are.

No kidding.

But why would you WANT to kill someone, someone that was not threatening you, why is the first thing to try to kill someone. Thats a HUGE decision to make, if you kill someone, and they are out in your yard, unarmed, etc. Then if they have a family, something.....killing someone is not a game

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Recognize the beauty in things, in creation, even when thats difficult to do.
Be loving, show compassion. Create while we're here.
Enjoy this life, be in this life but not be of it.

Can't resist My understanding to be in Old Vet's back yard you got to want to be there Anyone with one eye and half seance at two in the morning when shined with a light would put their hands in sight an yell hey i'm drunk or i'm stupid don't shoot . If anyone has any business on his place or mine for that mater at that time of night with out announcing their business they need to be confined to the rubber room somewhere

200' shooting at a still target is no challenge many can do that got a S&W 44 mag will do it any time . Hope a meth head don't come to any houses that think the way some have posted as they could wind up with the whole family killed .

Had a man at 1 30 beating on my door got up to see who it was had 44 behind my back flipped on the porch light opened inside door guy started in wife's dog hit the door faster than i could draw he yelled i;m closing it i'm closing it i said i though you would that dog saved him .He said i was just coming in to use your phone . Told him wife would make a call for him to stand there or the call would be to the undertaker he was drunk an doped up .

My guess is if Old Vet wanted him dead he would be . Remember a 9mm is pretty worthless on a doped up person . Twenty foot is to close to let a trespassing stranger get to you till you know their story or condition.If he was smart enough to run he was smart enough to of been home in bed

Old Vet, don't worry so much about it, you did what you had to do. The fact that he didn't answer when you called out to him justified the shooting at him. I have shot at so many crack heads in my yard it aint funny anymore. If they steal from you once they figure they can keep doing it. I've shot into the bush without seeing them, but I could hear them. After a few months of sleeping with the window open so I cna hear them, I sleep light, I don't have any more problems. I'm not good aim with a gun so I am not worried about hitting them, but it does scare them.

Texas Castle Doctrine allows you to use lethal force to protect your property (your castle). Sheriffs prefer them dead rather than wounded.

Less paperwork is what I've heard.


Man, woman, or child. Teach em to respect other people's property and to know the dangers of lurking around after dark. Bad decisions can lead to bad endings.

That is why I don't go to Michigan.I like Arkansas and Texas they have the best laws for self defense.

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God must have loved stupid people because he made so many of them.

I didn't want to kill anybody. I was made to shoot not allowed to talk. It is a huge decision but you only have a few seconds to make that decision and it is made by training and the laws that apply not by comities and talking about an then acting on you guess. If they have a family they should have though about before they put them self in that position I can't think about their family and friends and what they will do if he dies I have enough trouble thinking about MY family and what the will do if I am killed. You have no right to own a gun for any reason if that is the way you really think.You need to have 911 on speed dale. I don't have 911 at all. When I called the sheriff it was a long distances call and It was a 11 digit call.

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God must have loved stupid people because he made so many of them.

If I'm approaching a farm house in the dark because I'm stranded flat tire out of gas whatever and I'm close to the house AS SOON AS I HEAR that screen door squeak open I would be saying "hello! hello! I need your help hello!" making my presence known so as NOT to get shot. And NOT crouching down trying to hide in the shadows. If I'm doing that then I must be there up to no good.

If I was the one on the porch with the gun, I'd be shooting too.

Heck if I could walk somewhere within 30 minutes to an hour after breaking down in the middle of the night, I WOULDN'T approach a farmhouse to ensure I don't get shot and killed!

Anyone is welcome to knock on my door at any hour. It is the ones that are sneaking about In my back yard that I need to worry about. You can't get to my back yard from the road unless you passed my house and there will be a light on somewhere so you can't miss it in the dark.All of this happened while I was sitting out waiting on the sheriff that was supposed to come for another reason. And when I said Hello the man that is when he hunched over and went to his pocket. He may was going to give me some change or he might of had a gun. I don't know for sure but at 2 am I rather doubt that he was going to give me some Change.

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God must have loved stupid people because he made so many of them.

I agree with you Old Vet. You don't have minutes to reason out the situation when you have called out to the person and they don't answer and then they seem to be going for their pocket. If you stood there not wanting to shoot and waited to see what they were going to do you could have been dead. Never handle a gun if you are not prepared to use it and never use it if you are not prepared for the consequences of your actions. I am glad no one had to die that night though.

ErinP, nobody "deserves to die" for swatting a bee, or texting, while they're driving, either. Nobody "deserves to die" for committing any stupid, reckless act, but they do. Seems like sneaking around Old Vet's place in the wee hours of the morning and making what appears to be an aggressive action is a pretty stupid, reckless thing to do. People need to be careful about what they ask for. Sometimes they get it.

I just can't get rid of this vision in my head of it maybe being some guy taking a leak against your tractor tire and you shooting at him from over 200 feet away. When it looked like he was crouching and going for something in his pocket maybe he was just trying to zip up his pants. If he wasn't taking a leak before you shot at him I bet he did wet his pants when you started shooting at him.

.

Ever heard the saying "never judge a man till youve walked a mile in his shoes?" Like I said the first time, YOU WEREN'T THERE! You obviously never had to make split decisions before. As far as them having a family? If you're talking about the guy's parents, they should have raised him better. Wife and kids? he should've been a better role model.

Killing someone IS NOT A GAME. At times, it's necessary. If more people spent less time crying about the feelings of Mr. Criminal this country would be a lot better place to live. The prisons would be not be overcrowded too.