The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - (TX) Man shoots boy he said was stealing his chickens

kjm · April 20, 2001, 04:56 PM

God Bless TEXAS!!!!
Yes they probably were fighting cocks. While it is illegal to fight them in Texas, Mexico is just a few hours away, and there's big money in the cock-fights. $100.00 is probably cheap compared to what they could have made the man either fighting or if he has a good name, in selling the grown birds. Just because it is illegal in Texas though doesn't mean it doesn't happen all the time. It is perfectly legal to raise fighting chickens here, you just can't fight them. There is always a cockfight on farms and such. Dog fighting while even more disgusting is usually heard about on the news at least twice a year.

As for shooting the boy in the back:
1. If HE wouldn't have been STEALING, he'd be going to school today.
2. If HIS MOTHER would have been keeping tabs on the child, and not let him run around with a 20 year old theif, he'd be alive today.(Apparently from the news, he was fatherless: SURPRISE! SURPRISE!)

I don't buy this "blame the shooter" stuff. I put the monkey on the parent's back and the theif's back. While I probably wouldn't convict or indict the man (he was legally right), I would want to see CPS looking into the boys home, and see charges filed against his parents. Maybe this fits Negligent manslaughter criteria. Either way, it doesn't matter if he was stealing $0.10 chicks or an elephant. The theif was in the wrong, and in Texas, theifs are held to account for their actions.

If I catch someone in the act of stealing ANYTHING from me, there is liable to be trouble, but if it is after dark, I'm probably going to shoot. Morality means that you don't do some things (stealing, killing, lying...) and you expect others not to do them to you.

I just hope that this man doesn't incur any types of civil suits to defend himself from 'cause he did nothing morally wrong.

April 20, 2001, 04:56 PM	#12
kjm Senior Member Join Date: December 24, 1999 Location: College Station, Texas Posts: 1,871	God Bless TEXAS!!!! Yes they probably were fighting cocks. While it is illegal to fight them in Texas, Mexico is just a few hours away, and there's big money in the cock-fights. $100.00 is probably cheap compared to what they could have made the man either fighting or if he has a good name, in selling the grown birds. Just because it is illegal in Texas though doesn't mean it doesn't happen all the time. It is perfectly legal to raise fighting chickens here, you just can't fight them. There is always a cockfight on farms and such. Dog fighting while even more disgusting is usually heard about on the news at least twice a year. As for shooting the boy in the back: 1. If HE wouldn't have been STEALING, he'd be going to school today. 2. If HIS MOTHER would have been keeping tabs on the child, and not let him run around with a 20 year old theif, he'd be alive today.(Apparently from the news, he was fatherless: SURPRISE! SURPRISE!) I don't buy this "blame the shooter" stuff. I put the monkey on the parent's back and the theif's back. While I probably wouldn't convict or indict the man (he was legally right), I would want to see CPS looking into the boys home, and see charges filed against his parents. Maybe this fits Negligent manslaughter criteria. Either way, it doesn't matter if he was stealing $0.10 chicks or an elephant. The theif was in the wrong, and in Texas, theifs are held to account for their actions. If I catch someone in the act of stealing ANYTHING from me, there is liable to be trouble, but if it is after dark, I'm probably going to shoot. Morality means that you don't do some things (stealing, killing, lying...) and you expect others not to do them to you. I just hope that this man doesn't incur any types of civil suits to defend himself from 'cause he did nothing morally wrong.