"I've got a shotgun. Do you want me to stop 'em?" On November 14, 61-year old Joe Horn saw two men breaking into his neighbor's home. He called 911, told the operator what he could see through his window. As Horn watched the men, he grew more and more agitated, saying he was going to go outside and shoot them. When the men left the neighbor's home, Horn went outside and did just that.

Now, Texas gets to argue over the hero or villain status of Joe Horn in the public square (a debate made more volatile by concerns that race was been a factor), while weighing the merits of that state's recent adoption of Castle Doctrine (aka "Stand Your Ground" Law). First adopted by Florida in 2005, Castle Doctrine is now law in 19 of 50 states. So what does this mean for Joe Horn? Public accusations of vigilantism aside, what Horn did is arguably legal under Texas law ... or, at least, it would be had he shot the two men after dark.
posted by grabbingsand on Dec 5, 2007 - 181 comments

96 Minutes... 40 years later. Texas Monthly has an article that, through eyewitness accounts, tells the tale of Charles Whitman. Forty years ago today--before 9/11, Columbine, Oklahoma City, "going postal"--Whitman perpetrated an act of public terror that impacted the national conscience. It all began when he killed his mother. Then he started typing a letter that, after he killed his wife, he finished hand-writing. Then he went to the Tower with a small arsenal and began the slaughter. Over 96 minutes he killed 13 more people and wounded 34 others until off-duty Officer Ray Martinez made it to the top of the tower and killed Whitman. (more inside)
posted by dios on Aug 1, 2006 - 71 comments

The Blissful Life in Utopia
SUGAR LAND, Tex. -- This is the home of Britton Stein, who describes George W. Bush as "a man, a man's man, a manly man," and Al Gore as "a ranting and raving little whiny baby." Forty-nine years old, Stein is a husband, a father, a landscaper and a Republican. He lives in a house that has six guns in the closets and 21 crosses in the main hallway.

Diary of a Freeper. Fascinating read. Insightful.
posted by nofundy on Apr 28, 2004 - 130 comments

Heaven-or-hell argument ends with shotgun slaying
An argument over who was going to heaven and who was going to hell ended with one Texas man shooting another to death with a shotgun, police said Monday.
So now we'll never know who was right - or does murder 1 and effective suicide suggest a spell in the "other place"?
posted by zimbobzim on Jul 30, 2002 - 18 comments