Originally posted by shamroc
It's terrifying, no question whatsoever, but I contend that Texans WOULD be more likely to shoot than Most People:
http://www.break.com/index/brave-neighbor-kills-2-robbers-911-call2.html
shamroc 
Yes, I certainly agree with you, Shamroc, and all this has tapped into something I rarely ever speak of.
On the subject of the "spirit" of that which makes True Texans, Texans...
The core culture has not changed all that much from the early days when there was no "federal" government at all.
...Only the small strained Texas government which did the best it could and often times that wasn’t very much.
And, the harsh deadly land and weather which literally killed or forced its surviving peoples to place great need and value on looking out for the lives and welfare of each other and visitors.
In other words, if we didn't look out for each other no one else would thus we were good as dead ourselves.
In a way, true Texans are like one big extended family who are welcoming and hospitable to each other and visitors.
The deadly nature of the land and climate and the very thinly spread government of Texas, forced its people to either die or toughen up and be self-reliant early on and that spirit was, and still is, blended into the core of true Texans even to this day.
When one visits Texas communities away from the big city culture, you are met with a big smile and handshake and welcoming and a kind of fathering/mothering nature to help you and protect you and keep you safe as if you were a long lost relative.
Would we shoot something or someone trying to kill you? Yes.
And, we expect the same from each other in return. That's how it is.
That is why I was totally floored no one stood up and took that shooter out and why I would have shot him dead myself to save others, given the means and opportunity to do so.
True Texans are not bred to live and die like a herd of sheep... not even us women.
I also think that is why many of us true Texas women are often attracted to men who are rugged and self-confident survivors and value them for who and what they are. That's probably why I have always had a thang for cowboy types in general... can't help it.
It isn't about pride unless you consider beating the odds something to be proud of; it's about core survival and pulling together.
This is also why I feel such a particular kinship for the Russian women who fought and died beside their brave men during WWII... what these men and women did side by side was about core survival on their own rugged and deadly lands fighting to simply survive and protect each other against a common enemy; pulling together to survive as a people.
It's the same kind of spirit in another time and place... half a world away.
TIGERESS
