Stoned And Obsolete

 What's Fort Worth? A fair question, answered by most folks with the simple explanation of "a city in Texas." But what about a true cost/benefit analysis of the fifth largest city in Texas? Everything, we are told, is bigger in Texas, so we can assume that all the good things that exist within its city limits are just that much better than good things found in other municipalities outside the Lone Star State. And, one might conclude, things that skew a little odd would read all the more strange when viewed from a perch outside Longhorn Country.

Like the story of Miguel Chavez. Mister Chavez died a week ago. So far, nothing that peculiar. He was forty-two years old, which might seem a little young, but it was the manner in which he died that starts to twist the narrative. Last Monday, Miguel showed up at a party and shot at least one of the guests. As yet, this seems like a pretty awful way to spend a Monday night, but in the United States more than a hundred Americans die from gun related violence. 

Every day. So there's nothing confounding about that incident in and of itself. 

Here comes the interesting part: Outraged witnesses to the shooting took out after Miguel Chavez, and when they caught up to him, they stoned him with landscaping bricks found nearby. Stoned him. He kept shooting while he was being chased. Three more were injured, but the bricks did their work. When authorities arrived, Chavez was pronounced dead at the scene. 

So let's take a moment to examine the environment in which this took place. A little over a month ago, a  law was passed in Texas making it legal to carry a gun without a permit. Or training. Or a reason beyond the desire to kill someone. Or something. Going to a party unarmed seems like a pretty bad idea in this habitat. What are you going to do if you find yourself in a public setting without a gun?

Look for the nearest heavy object. Something you can bash the bad guy with. Under Texas law, you are allowed to use deadly force to defend yourself, so charges are unlikely to be filed against the stoners. Remember: when landscaping bricks are outlawed, only outlaws will have landscaping bricks. 

Texas.