A Danish journalist almost ended up in the middle of an international incident not far from President Bush's ranch Saturday. (Photo credit: Kaare Sorensen/Nyhedsavisen).
CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) - A Danish journalist came this close to getting shot Saturday by an elderly woman packing a pistol near President Bush's ranch here in what was easily the strangest incident I've ever witnessed covering the White House.
It all started so innocently as I sat with a group of Danish journalists just down the street from Bush's ranch during a visit by Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The two leaders were having lunch on the ranch, so I was waiting at a nearby historic one-room schoolhouse with White House staff to interview Rasmussen after the meal. Then the prime minister was going to do a brief press conference with the Danish press corps.
Terkel Svensson, a writer for the Danish News Agency, could not get wireless Internet access at the schoolhouse to file a story. But Svensson could get his cell phone working so he called his editor in
Copenhagen and started wandering across a quiet country road as he chatted away.
"I was just so occupied dictating my story that I didn't really see where I went," Svensson told me later. "I was just walking and talking."
What Svensson didn't realize was that he had stopped walking a couple hundred feet away, on the front lawn of an elderly woman. An elderly woman who looked through her window and didn't like that a strange man was standing outside her house. An elderly woman who had, um, a gun.
Next thing you know the woman is outside, no more than a few dozen feet from the journalist, demanding that he leave. "Suddenly she comes out and she says, 'Get off my property. You're trespassing,'" recalled Svensson.
Svensson was too preoccupied to notice the pistol, and was not aware that Texas law gives homeowners leeway on using a weapon when someone is trespassing on your property. All of us journalists across the street were too far away to see the pistol at first, until a Danish photographer with a telephoto lens announced to a bunch of us that there was indeed a weapon in the elderly woman's right hand.
As word spread that the lady had a gun – which she did not use – I can tell you it's a severe understatement to say White House and Secret Service officials were a bit concerned about the fact that they had just dodged an international incident. Ditto for Svensson, who was alarmed when he safely crossed the street and was shown dramatic still photos of the lady holding the gun.
"I will show the photos to my wife and children," Svensson told me. "They thought I was on a safe trip."
CNN was not able to reach the woman for comment.
–CNN White House Correspondent Ed Henry
From CNN Politics
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What kind of secret service do we have? If someone has a weapon and
can shoot a man within rifle range of the president?
I don't like Bush, but for God's sake, I certainly don't want him killed'!!!!!!
Actually if Cheney was hunting, you'd probably not be as safe as you were the other day. He tends to shoot first and asks questions later (or waterboards people instead of asking them).
I guess the journalists will stay out her property now.
Being in your own little world as you wander about the landscape is unsafe, even if you are on the phone, and even if you are a journalist. How about you media stay the hell off of people's private property.
All i can say to this is stupid Texans!!! This is why we need very strict gun laws in this country.
Obama Richardson 08!!
Well that was no good. Maybe it's better if Anni get's her gun!!!!
america the land of gun nuts....way to go rednecks. I am so glad i live in europe now where this kind of thing is not tolerated even the least little bit..
....with the danish prime minister right across the street no less can't wait to see those pics all over the news tommarrow
This just goes to show how incredibly dumb some Texans can be. Most people would step to their door and demand the stranger leave. If you live in another country and are reading this comment, please understand that not all Americans are like this idiot. Most of us don't own guns and most of us don't come out of our houses brandishing one.
Texans...
Shoot first and ask questions later.
I need to invite that lady to join me at the local caucus on Tuesday to scare off the "Hillary hating" Repugblicans pretending to vote for Obama.
Of course she may one of them...so maybe not.
Good luck on your trip.
Wow! Talk about taking America's image in the world down a notch! While people should be able to defend their life and property there is nothing about a man stopping in front of your house while talking on a cell phone that is threatening. Texas really needs to reexamine its laws because even though she didn't use her gun, she threatened the man's life for literally no reason at all. I can think of all kinds of benevolent reasons to approach someone's house. Someone could be selling girl scout cookies, circulating a political petition, a new neighbor stopping by to introduce themself, etc. Bringing a gun out without a threat invites tragedy. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Lucky for this journalist Dick Cheney wasn't around
The elderly lady should have fired a warning shot to get the moron reporter's attention to get off her property.
Good for her. It is her property. I would do the same thing if a foreigner was on my property with out advance notice. I might have even made him get off my property.
Don't mess with Texas!
Talk about a misleading headline!
This is not a "gun incident." It's an ignorant self-absorbed inattentive journalist incident. I'm sure that if you told the story from the point of view of the residents around the ranch you would get a completely different idea of what happened. I'll bet the people that live in the area REALLY like having those herds of journalists around!
Given the potential for confrontation, the old lady simply decided to have a gun in her hand for self-defense, rather than a baseball bat, a can of pepper spray...or a lawyer on retainer.
Well what you expect an old lady living so handy to Bush's Ranch would be totin?
Good for her! Personal property means something somewhere. She didn't shoot him; she merely took precautions to defend herself. Well done, ma'am!
Welcme to America! Where the men are men and Grandma packs heat
You americans are very strange, the outside wolrd is laughting at you.
Dont mess with a Texas granny.
hahaha, i love Texas!
It must be something in the water that makes those in that neighborhood so violent and thirsty for innocent blood.
In Texas, and the rest of America, it's called private property for a reason. I'm sure many land owners around the Bush property are very tired of the endless amount of people & traffic for the past 8 years. By now I'd be making myself clear to anyone that I was not putting up with people coming onto my property.
The US government should certainly have someone always around being sure the press and other official people are staying out of trouble.
From your story, it seems the Danish press guy hesitated, she should not have.
Welcome to Texas....now go home!
Was Cheney there?? We could have had a regular shootout....doggone it!
Only in Texas can somebody "legally" come out and shot somebody for walking by or close or on their property. Sounds like good judgemnt to me. Wonder if this old lady told Bush to go into Iraq
another argument for stricter gun control laws. Its insane that someone would feel the need to use a gun for something that would have easily been solved by putting up a fence.
Wow–another reason gun laws are too lax. Old ladies shooting foreigners. A great way for America to be viewed by the world. Come to Texas...We'll shoot Ya!
The moral of the story "Don't mess with Texas" or Texans.
To bad she didnt make him dance, the press needs to be humbled a bit. You all think you can do anything you want, guess he might think about that but i doubt it.(air head)
This is one singular thing I hate in America: GUN CULTURE!
More power to the old lady packing heat. If you lived near a celeb I bet you would be very wary of strangers as well. As for the reporter, ignorance of your surroundings is very stupid... the lady may have overreacted but at the same time, she has the right to defend herself and her property. She obviously views this guy as a threat and with all the protesting and everything else that must go on near Bush's ranch I can't say I blame her for this.
Good for her! Stay off the lawn.
WE TEXANS ARE A TERRITORIAL LOT, AND ARE NOT MELLOWED WITH AGE. GRANTED, I WOULD HAVE SHOWN MORE RESTRAINT IN THE DISPLAY OF MY OWN PERSONAL FIREARM, BUT I HOPE THAT VISITORS, JOURNALISTS, TOURISTS, AND THE SUCH, WILL BE MORE AWARE OF THEIR SURROUNDINGS FROM NOW ON. SHE MAY NOT BE AS FORGIVING NEXT TIME!
This pretty much sums up everything that is wrong with America...
welcome to america, land of idiots with guns
Ah, nothin' like good ol' Texas hospitality! Sure makes me glad I live somewhere the sun hasn't baked all the sense out of our brains.
Another big "who cares" story from CNN, the leading name in good journalism.
Not to undermine the importance of the story, but was it written by a field amateur?
Statements like "A Danish journalist came this close to getting shot" don't make sense in print.
This is why every Tom, Dick and Harry does not need a gun. If we had better gun control laws and worked to keep them out of the hands of criminals we wouldn't have incidents like this.
Welcome to the US of A. This incident just goes to show that we can't get any more barbarian in this country! Fortunately the senile woman didn't choose to shoot him down. What a laughing stock we make of ourselves...
The journalist is very lucky that he didn't go hunting with Dick Cheney, then his life would have been in real danger.
This is why we need to have gun control laws. We don't need senile and paranoid old ladies going around with a loaded pistol.
When in Texas, if a little old lady tells you to get off her property – GET THE HELL OFF HER PROPERTY!
How... uh... charming. So much for baking cookies... packing pistols is the trend for today's well-armed grandmas. What an ugly country we've become.
So why not get the elderly ladies opinion, Ed?
Did it occur to you that she's had people as likeable as Cindy Sheehan in her neighborhood, too? The way the international press write about Waco, I'd say she's probably right to be skeptical of a foreign journalist 'wandering' (i.e. not bothering to observe signs, markers). You're making a pretty big leap in conclusions by suggesting there would be an international incident. My gut tells me that your pompous 'international media' buddies aren't the kind that respect rural landowners.
Act like a gracious guest, you'll be treated like one. The way you 'characterized' this lady tells me you aren't the least bit interested in both sides of the story.
That's her right to do if the journalist was on her property as was indicated by the "article". The journalist should watch where he is going next time.
The heat in Texas must make people crazy. Someone accidentally stumbles onto your property, and you draw a gun on them. Preemptive strike?...This also explains the way President Bush is "thinking"...
For most people, the common sense thing would be to say "Excuse me, can I help you?" in such a tone that would imply: "Speak, or go away."
I don't live in one of these co-called "stand your ground states", but even if I did, it would be unfathomable of me to grab a gun and walk outside and threaten somebody to get of my property without knowing what they're doing there.
She should also know that, living next to the President of the United States and all, that there are going to be strange people on wireless devices, speaking strange languages, walking all over the place.
I think this lady over-reacted, and I can only imagine the problems that would have resulted from an elderly woman shooting a Dane who was talking on his cell phone.
DONT MESS WITH TEXANS....is that how they say it.
This ridiculously written article seems to vilify the lady, the state of Texas, and the USA. The journalist was all wrong, all the while, and should have been respectful enough to remove himself much sooner than he seemingly did. I can sympathize with the older lady, as my own grandmother lived alone for many years. The older she got, the more afraid she became. This lady had every right to defend her life while acting against an insensitive jerk. What a pathetic spin Mr. Henry has put on this.
How about she uses a Megaphone next time? It's just a thought.
Like neighbour, like neighbour!!!!!
I don't blame the elderly lady for protecting her property. The Danish reporter needs to be less self-absorbed and more cognizant of his surroundings.
Bush's strange actions draw alot of strange people..!!
She had a gun ... simply for self defence!!
the postershot for gun control
I really wish Texas would just secede already.
That seems about right for Texas. He's lucky the old lady didn't shoot him. However, if she was in jail John McCain would have one less voter in the fall – so maybe not such a bad thing.
Good. Maybe the idiot reporter will be a little more careful in the future. Otherwise, if he didn't like it he can Go Home.
Foreigners need to bone up on Texas law before they go wandering across the terrain. They need to remember that bullets don't care who you are. Bravo, lady!!!
If he got shot, she'd be on solid legal ground for the hole in his body.
What a Welcoming message to send to our Danish friends !!!!!
This story seems a bit biased. I see nothing wrong or unusual in a home owner being legally armed on her own property, it would be stupid to do anything less in this situation. I say good for her. A strange man person standing in my front yard would receive a similar welcome.
Sounds like someone needed to pay better attention to their surroundings. That being said, I doubt the old lady would of really done anything unless the reporter seemed threatening somehow. That being said, the old lady certainly had the right to point that gun at him for being on his property.
Welcome to America
Here it comes. A wave of anti-gun hysteria because some guy couldn't pay attention to where he was going.
I'm interested to see how Bush gets blamed for this since he has so far been responsible for high prices at the pump, any number of terrorist attacks and my personal favorite was the time he caused that hurricane should be interesting to see the leftist take on this one.
-A tidal wave of anti-gun posts
or
-A tidal wave of people wishing the old lady would use the gun on the President
or
-Some ridiculous comparison to Dick Cheney
or
-Demands that we apologize to the entire country of Denmark for this
Only in Texas.
Heck ya! Good for her! Not saying that this gentleman was a threat...but very easily somebody could be..and how is she to know the difference? He is awful close to her house..somebody i didnt know was wondering that close to my house i would be apprehensive as well.
I'm not sure what you normally write, but this piece reads like a blog entry more than a news story. The story is entertaining, but the first-person narrative was jarring. Consider this constructive criticism.
the old woman's a foolish hick!
Nearly another tragic example of the insanity of the gun laws in this country.
I'd rather trust an armed Texas grandma than I would Obama with his finger on "the button".
Oh...this will be good for our image in Europe.... It figures that she lives near W. It appears they share the same pholosophy about strangers in that part of the country. Apparently everyone is the enemy. Good thing Granny didn't start an international incident.
I can see that most of those who've commented so far know little or nothing about firearms. It was a pistol, not a rifle or a shotgun. Pistols tend not to be particularly accurate beyond a few feet, unless it's a long-barreled pistol with a special scope. That is NOT the sort of pistol that granny would have been holding unobtrusively.
Bottom line is that there was a strange man strolling around on granny's lawn. She had a right to tell him to leave and she had a right to have a firearm on her person in case said strange man turned out to be a wacko. She apparently did not point it at him or threaten him with it in any way. No harm, no foul, and I'll bet granny doesn't have any more problems with journalists wandering on to her property.
You know why everyone hates america right? And why everyone thinks you're stupider than a bunch of bricks right?
Cheney's mom needs to chill out!
She had every right to protect her property and herself he could have been a nut job. She is elderly living in the country and if it were my mother I would want her to be able to do the same.
This probably happens all to often living close to the President's ranch. I'm sure all these people are just sick of the populous showing up and sneaking on their property either to protest or to photograph the President. I for one am sick of the prying eyes of the media in everyone's lives.
Bravo to this young lady! If Denmark and other Europeans don't like it than stay in Europe.
Idiot Europeans and other socialists/communists (xiaoli, chinese?). This sums up everything that's wrong with YOUR countries. Trust your government fools, in America power is in the hands of the people.
Life, Liberty and Property.
Good for the lady. Media people do not own our world;
especially foreign media people. Watch the hell where you wander,Old Boy !!!
He should have been more aware of his surroundings. When in foreign countries I pay extra special attention to my surroundings.
She was well within her rights, and as long as we keep the likes of Hillary or Obama out of the White House citizens can count on being having the right to defend their property.
Kyle's point is literally that having guns is good and using them against the possibility of someone being a threat is acceptable. This is why we lead the world in gun deaths. When people who think Danish people are a threat, and they have guns and intend to use them, thats when a people are too stupid to handle the right to bear arms. You people need to live in a city. Thousands of people will walk by you every day, you'll realize nearly everyone is good and is not gonna mess with you, and then you can go back home realizing that your ways are predicated on a simple belief that people are inherently bad, which is just so fundamentally wrong it hurts.
If some man was standing on my lawn, I would go out to see who it was as well. This old lady doesn't have the strength to overpower a would-be threat though, so she brought an equalizer with her.
Pay attention and this won't happen to you.
In most other civilized countries the journalist would have been asked if he knew where he was going and if he needed directions. So glad I don't live there anymore...so typical...fear and money are the only motivators for most Americans (Bush got into the White house using this knowledge to the full extent)
If any American honestly believes what this lady did was wrong, maybe it's time you took a few moments to reflect on the people and character that built this great nation.
You may not personally wish to own a firearm, or even own property, period; but don't for one moment infringe upon the ability of any law-abiding United States citizen to do so.
The way the liberal left has gotten so engulfed in forcing these whiny "politically correct" standards down our throats and into our lawbooks should be very disturbing to any of America's voting contingent.
And far as how other "utopian" societies are viewing this incident – perhaps it's time they take a little stroll back to say 1938 and how different things may have been if more grannies were packing heat.
And why the grannies of America had to send their grandsons over to Europe.
You Europeans would stand with your hands in your pockets when your cities burn and your wife and children are being attacked.
Europeans have lost their survival skills and expect others to save them.
We bailed your butts during WW2, next time, don't call us, we'll call you. Maybe.
My family sacrificed a LOT during that war, you ungrateful louts.
This article seems to be stretching, hoping to manufacture an incident out of irrational fear of civilian firearms. The woman saw a man acting strangely and out of character for the neighborhood. An adult male can be a significant threat to an elderly woman. She took the precaution of arming herself and told him to leave. She apparently did not brandish the weapon and the reporter by his own admission did not even notice the gun. Would it be preferable for her to hide in fear in her house? Did the reporter speak to armed secret service men during his visit? Was he is danger then? No, and he wasn't in any danger from the old lady with the gun either.
I find it interesting that few people stop to think that maybe this was an old lady who was possibly at home by herself when some strange guy came wandering around her house (and who knows, it might've looked like he was looking around).
The point being, there's definitely two sides to this situation. The article never said she drew the gun nor threatened to use it. Simply, that she had it.
What else is an old lady going to do if there's a strange man on her lawn? If she came out and told him to go away and he had said "no," she'd be pretty screwed, to put it bluntly. The gun was precautionary.
Watch out for little old ladies carrying guns!
if u come against us in Texas (real or imagine) , we will mess u up
you just bring out a gun without even a friendly: "please leave" first? what kind of nuts do you have in Texas? America?
A lot of the comments that have been left here just make me laugh. Everyone one is afraid of guns or even the idea of someone owning one. The old lady was not wrong by going out to see who was on her property and being armed. Innocent as it was, the journalist didn't need to be where he was.
And for the record, Texas is covered in guns and it isn't a madhouse. If you don't like guns, live elsewhere.
Neeeee HAW!!!! BANG BANG SHOOT SHOOT ...Gotta love them there Texans!
Whether you guys like it or not, the lady was perfectly right for what she did. It is her right to protect herself and these journalists had no right being on her property. Maybe in other countries you guys don't have such a thing as "private property," but here in Texas and in the USA we have such a thing.
Sure, I may have not used the same tactics as the lady, but then again I am an able-bodied male. I would have simply walked outside (with my concealed handgun of course) to figure out what these strange guys are doing.
People like this old lady keep criminals from going on a rampage here in Texas. This is why you notice that states like Texas have lower crime rates than other states which do not allow law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves from criminals.
Don't Mess with Texas!
I'm glad that he didn't get shot...but this just represents the MAJOR problems we face with the Republicans, old ladies, and the lack of gun control. One man can fix these crazy old ladies and other menaces to our society... Barack Obama!!
OBAMA '08
Journalistic arrogance never ceases to amaze. How about respecting people's property?
I don't care how "distracted" I've been in my life, I keep off of private property and so should you. Shame on you for blaming the old woman.
This is not a "gun incident", it is an "attention deficit" incident, i.e., the journalist was not paying attention and wandered onto private property which was occupied by an elderly lady who did not know anything about his intentions. The lady did not fire the gun. The person who was not being safe in this situation was the admittedly absent-minded journalist, not the concerned and sensibly prepared elderly property owner.
In Texas there is a particular kind of poisonous snake known as a rattlesnake. The rattlesnake is named for the rattle at the end of it's tail that it shakes in warning when it feels that it is in danger. It is a dangerous snake, but yet a very good snake. It not only helps control the rodent population, but also has the courtesy to warn those who invade it's space before striking them. This warning allows the ignorant and unware to correct their mistake of not paying attention to where they are going.
I think that it would be wise for this journalist to rethink his criticism of this incident. Were he to be confronted by a real criminal, he might find himself lucky to have that "gun totin' granny" around.
He was not THAT close to the house. As you can see he was much closer to the sidewalk. If this woman was that concerned or annoyed with all the strangers spilling over from her very famous neighbour's home she should have put up a fence and a gate or at least a sign!!
It is ridiculous that so many people are saying that they would have done the same thing. If you see someone suspicious lurking around your house, are you going to confront him/her with a gun??!! Wouldn't it make more sense to lock yourself inside and call 9-1-1??!! Especially if you are an old lady.
Seriously people need to think about the very real repercussions that could have happened had she shot him. Sure, according to the law she would have been within her right, but what about her conscience. Would all those saying that they would have done the same thing be able to live with themselves knowing that they had shot a father/brother/son just because he wasn't paying attenting to where he was going? Not because it is legal to do something means it's the most sensible option.
There's nothing wrong with being apprehensive and exercising caution but there's many things go awfully wrong when people overreact and this lady did just that.
"Texans…
Shoot first and ask questions later."
Isn't Bush a Texan?
Isn't that what he did in Iraq?
I didn't see anywhere in the article that the woman pointed the gun at him, she may have just had one in her hand at her side. It shows that the woman knows how to handle the gun, by not pointing it at someone unless she was ready to use it.
The reporter should recognize that people do have property rights.
CNN, your headline is VERY misleading!
I personally wouldn't have shown the firearm like she did but she still didn't do anything wrong. She was merely seeing who was on her land and brought protection, she didn't shoot him.
America isn't ugly because of this.
Seems now that an armed lady asked a man to get off her property, everybody wants to ban guns. If you read the story again, you could make a case for banning cell phones. People don't watch what they're doing when they are on them, especially while driving. And yes, the journalist wasn't driving, but he should have been more aware of what he was doing.
As a Texan, I'm appalled at the way this woman handled herself but I'm even more appalled at a good lot here that think we're all a bunch of cowboy redneck hicks that will shoot anything that moves. This woman used poor judgment – It doesn't mean the rest of us do!
ATTA GIRL, GRANNY!! I weigh 330 pounds, do heavy weightlifting and compete in amateur sumo: if this dumb Dane had walked onto my property, I'd have made a fence post out of him. If you can't live with the idea that Americans are entitled to defend their lives, liberties and property, then move to bleepin' Europe and don't come back.
What a stupid, lame-brained over reaction to someone in your yard.
What if he was a cop? He would have had to kill her.
Better to have a gun and not have to use than to not have one and in a situation where you need to use it. She is elderly and lives by herself. What else does she have to protect herself from idiots who roam on her property? A broom!!??
This woman had a right to demand that the clueless journalist get off of her lawn. People need to pay attention to where they are going. That journalist could have been a burglar or a murderer for all the old woman knew.
Everyone here that is arguing for more gun control really needs to get their head out of their rear end.
Ah yes, and if Granny takes a trip to my state and absent-mindedly wanders on to my lawn, I'll run out toting a gun and threaten to shoot her. Hope the Secret Service investigates as they should with someone this goofy and with a loaded weapon that close to our president!
Foreigners are hilarious to watch when encountering Americans with guns. We have visitors from Luxembourg sometimes and when we go somewhere and the pistol is in the car they still wonder how that can be legal...but in AZ it sure is.
Wow, and to think I was going to move to Texas.
Do you suppose there's something wrong with the water in Crawford?
What a crack-up. Those blaming the journalist are probably the same folks that scream "You can't do that to me, I'm an American" when they're in Europe. I've never felt the need for a gun when asking people to get off my property.
Maybe we should just give Texas back to Mexico.
To John G Charleston SC, I don't remember hearing about Bush getting blamed for Hurricane Katrina, although there's enough wind blowing out of Washington that I could see one getting those two incidents confused!
The part that Bush had some control of was helping in the aftermath, which I'm sure if you look around Louisianna even today, you'd have to admit was handled kind of poorly.
Judging by the previous mealy-mouthed, hand-wringing comments left by other readers on this story, it appears that I was right the first time: this writer really WAS aiming for the high school demographic, or at least the intellectual equivalent thereof.
I think that journalist needs to pay more attention to what he is doing.
I can't blame the lady. How else is she going to defend herself? She's 70 years old! Is she supposed to threaten him with a cane? How did she know who this guy was? What kind of person just walks across someone else's lawn, anyway? Maybe it is different in Europe, but I have always thought walking across someone else's lawn was a privilege reserved for dogs and children who don't know any better yet. How did she know he wasn't someone trying to do her harm? What was she supposed to do – call 911 and hope the police would show up in half an hour? God didn't make men equal – Samuel Colt did.
God bless America.... now get the heck off my yard before I shoot ya!
Once again reporting only what they saw from their point of view & accusing an innocent senior citizen of wrong doing . Reporters do say the man was walking back and forth looking for signal. From her point of view it would appear as someone possibly casing her home or getting ready to invade her home itself. The woman took the approach to stop this foolishness whatever it may have been now outside before it could possibly come inside or escalate. Bravo for her for having both the sense and the courage to address the issue in a controlled manor. Maybe if law abiding gun owners were in the area of our recent shootings at malls & schools they would have confronted one of the shooters before they shot & killed needless numbers of innocent Americans.
When WORLD PEACE comes we can get rid of all guns. In the mean time everyone should carry a gun. Criminals would not know who they could accost and crime would go down.
By the way. we only have his word that the journalist was really looking for signal, all criminals have a good excuse ready if they happen to get caught.
Dear Ohio.......................He who laughs last!!!!!!
I'm sure entire hordes of the media have taken more than a few liberties, some of them probably of an indecent nature, on her property and the property of others in that area during the last 7 plus years. She's probably fed up with it all and Mr. Head Up You Know Where was the last straw. Go Granny, keep the 4th estate honest!
for all the people that agree with the old lady. If this had happen to an American any play in the world you would have said the people who live there are nuts. Example Cuba or France
Texans take care of themselves. Can you Imagine living next to Bush, makes me go burrrrrrrr.
Is defending the sancity of YOUR LAWN really worth threatening a person's LIFE? He was talking on a CELL PHONE you GUN NUT IDIOTS.
This woman obviously has problems with PARANOIA if she thinks a man talking on a cell phone is a threat.
A normal person (or at least a civilized one) would stay in the safety of her home and call the police.
TEXAS: a primitive backwater country within a country.
Denmark please accept a sincere apology from America. It's not your journalist that was the problem, it was the issue she felt her property was threatened. There is no further explanation and Thank God no one was harmed.
Fear, pettiness and violence:
What a wonderful culture.
How Christain of her.
Crawford Granny Packing Heat! - News @ 11!
Heh. In some parts of the world wandering around aimlessly can still end with you in somebody's stew pot. There's no indication that she pointed the weapon at him or threatened him with it in any way: She simply was an old lady living alone and a strange man, acting strangely, was wandering around her front yard. It was a perfectly reasonable response.
Perhaps from now on the reporters will be a bit more aware of their surroudings.
Clearly this is an ideal example of the gun control issue....she didn't shoot the idiot walking to her house...gun controled.
"Texas it's a whole other county" why can’t we make it more than a slogan!
ONLY IN AMERICA.
This story is really blown way out of context. The picture shows she does not have the gun drawn on him. It's her property. I grew up in a rural area myself, and let me tell you, if something happens to you on a ranch where nobody's around, you may not see help for days. Good for this woman to stick up for herself. So what if she had a weapon. And how did this guy get that close to her house and not know he was on private property?
As a Texan, have to say I ain't surprised.
Southern Hospitality has been replaced by gun bearing Grandmothers who presumably was busy watching Wheel of Fortune before she saw a foreigner outside her window...
The silly thing is that I bet she also is a bible toting grandma as well. Too bad she didn't get the Good Samaritan story...
"Get off my property!" was the message she surely got.
Texas is a very different 'country'. I still remember all the trash cans on rest stops off interstate highways in Texas... Each of them says "Don't mess with Texas!"
If you are stopped by the police, the first thing they ask is "Do you carry any firearms with you?" Other than that, Texans are friendly straight shooters. They cook great 72 oz. steaks. It's free if you can finish eating it and the whole dinner on stage in one hour. If not, you pay $50. A fun place to earn your next month's rent by betting with all the customers!
HEY! ITS A DANE IN A SUIT
GET OUT YOUR M16'S OUT YEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW
Perspective from the rest of the planet: bizarre.
don't mess with texas? hell,don't go to texas!!
Did she threaten to shoot him?
Sounds like she wanted to get him off her property and took the precaution, when she went out, in case he got obnoxious–more obnoxious, I mean.
Gotta love Texas
As bad as this guy was distracted by walking with his cellphone, we have thousands of morons talking on their cellphones while driving.
where i come from, killing a total stranger for accidentally walking into your yard is not considered very Christian. were i texan, i would be ashamed, not making jokes. the comments are scarier than the story!
First off, I think Bush is our worst president ever, and I generally vote Democrat.
That being said, there's nothing wrong with her coming out of her house with a gun. Its weird, but there's nothing wrong with it. And the "gun violence" problem in America is not the guns itself. Other, much more peaceful countries, have higher gun-ownership rights than we do. We just have a lot more crazies who tend to use them improperly.
Also, Manuel made a comment about Hillary-hating Republicans voting for Obama. If they are, then they sure haven't learned the "fool me twice, ye can't fool me again" lesson. McCain is much more likely to win an election against Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama. If Republicans truly wanted to affect the Democrats' chances of winning the White House, they would be voting for Hillary to lose decidedly against McCain.
I think the lady should go to jail for having a gun. She should go to jail because if it is legal to have a gun everybody woulld be shooting each other all the time. Guns should not be legal where ever you live. Thats why I think this lady should go to jail.
From : Willie Perez
Too bad the old lady didn't shoot.. The media believes they are above the law and have the right to stalk actors and others, I think its time people take their rights back and tell the media to !@#$-off!
What if it was just a bunch of kids running through her property. That happens everyday in all the civilized parts of the country. Would that crazy old woman pull a gun on them?
Private/Personal property. Give me a break.
Of course the bushie gun lovers think this behaviour is OK. What the hell is wrong with you people?
Give us that Texas woman's phone number so we can call her to do something about the horde of incredibly rude cell phone users who feel it their right to wander indiscriminately through restaurants, offices, sidewalks, parks, giving everyone around an earfull of their chatter.
Looks like the moonbats are having a field day over this.
The lady was on her own property, confronting an unknown threat. Unless she was blessed with some psychic ability there was no way for her to determine what this person was doing or was about to do.
She took appropriate precautions, and obviously never pointed the pistol at the reporter. By the evidence in the photo she merely had it in her hand.
The people posting negative things about this should google "Raging Against Self-defense". It will provide you guidance on correcting your obvious mental issues.
I wish people would quit freaking out over this. She didn't point the weapon at him, she just had it on her person, which is completely legal in Texas if the gun is registered and you have a license.
And for those of you saying Texas should secede, I believe it was Sam Houston who said, "Texas can survive without the Union, but the Union cannot survive without Texas."
Bravo you self-righteous old bag. Bravo. You can't be too careful when your private property is being invaded. Calling 911 is for wimps. Blow everyone away. Everyone. Threatening people's lives with guns is patriotic.
I'm glad the gun lobby makes moments like this possible. Keep buying politicians NRA. Keep propogating fear, paranoia, and vigilantism. I feel safer knowing that I can blow someone away over a misunderstanding and that everyone can do the same to me.
All you libs can just kiss our TEXAS Grits
I find it hard to believe that one could wander onto someone's property after crossing a road and not have a clue that he had just done so. I hope this fool does not have a driver's license. That's a great defense to use in any court of law. "I was on the phone and had no idea how I wandered into your store or how your merchandise got into my pocket." I also think it is funny how you lefties react. You want to take away our right to bear arms. You also think that wire tapping criminals is invading your privacy. You want to regulate not only other's constitutional rights, but anything that you do not agree with you would also like to see banned. Funny. Isn't it you LEFTIES that think we have too many rules and regulations but want to impose even more life controlling regulations. Here's what gets me... You want to ban the death penalty, but preserve the right for a woman to have an abortion? WHAT? You protest companies like Ford and Hummer for polluting the atmosphere, so you set fire to their dealerships. Huh? Great counter-measure. Join the left now. Now is the time to protest. Find something, anything to complain about even if it's hypocritical. If they say white, you say black. Just protest, protest, protest. Now is the time kids.
How was this threatening? She didn't aim the gun; she probably just brought it with her for "just in case". So to those of you who have said she drew the weapon on him, can you please point this section out? I believe she did good. Police will make contact with you for similar incidents, if you are acting your looking suspicious or just simply don't belong.
So someone wanders into your front yard, and you can shoot him? I own guns, and I think this is stupid.
Moral of the story?? This is exactly why Americans are seen as violent by the rest of the world. In the rest of the world, it IS OK for a person to inadvertently walk on to someone's property. Such incidents end with a "sorry" and possibly a handshake. Only in America do people pull out guns and shoot at each other.
Uncivilized, is what it's called.
All morons with the "Don't mess with Texas" comments and other macho wisecracks do not realize how completely ignorant they sound.
Rednecks with guns – we are not laughing with you, we are laughing at you.
That says a lot!
I'm waiting to see how the righteous conservatives are going to blame the leftists for a wave hospitality remarks and how society treats other people.
The image says enough of how those righteous conservative live their lives as if every one is out to get them, and they need to accost every one by waving a pistil at them. If a mistake would have occurred, I'm sure they would end up saying she forgot to take her pills today, in their defense, as if that makes using the tools of the trade okay.
Or they would get defensive about remarks on gun restraint.
Or they would get defensive about remarks on being kind to our neighbors.
I don't think kindness it a word the righteous conservatives can grasp very well.
Did no one read the news today? A woman and two children were killed in the morning on another remote Texas ranch. If you have never lived in the country, especially as an elderly lady, perhaps on her own and vulnerable, then you don't know what you are talking about.
She was certainly within the law and taking care of herself. She did NOT fire, and it is ludicrous for this moron reporter to suggest that it was "this close". More people should stand up for themselves. Good on her and good on Texas.
I believe this was a prelude to a full out Danish invasion.
It's not as if she shot at him. A little old lady living along is not going to have time to run back in and get a weapon if she finds that the stranger in her front yard has foul intentions. She was prepared to defend herself, nothing more.
I'm from Houston and all I can say is DONT MESS WITH TEXAS !!!
Good for the little old lady.
I loved all the anti-gun whacko comments. Just keep living in your fantasy world where you think the police will protect you from the criminals.
It's not the job of the police to protect you. Their job is to try and catch the criminal AFTER they commit a crime. This is not a slam on the police. They do a great job, but they can't be everywhere all the time.
Bottom line ... people have to protect themselves and their loved ones. No one else can or will.
I'm not American, and you people need to re-read the story. At no time does it say she POINTED the gun at the journalist. She simply had it in her hand. There was a stranger on her property and she went out to investigate. The gun was there in case she needed it. He ran off like most Europenas do at the first sign of conflict and that was the end of it. Big deal
Reject – refuse, rebuff, decline or to deny.
Denounce – criticize something publicly and harshly; charge someone with wrongdoing;
Announcement of the end of an agreement
I get a giggle out of those of you whose sense of fairness was offended because nobody reported the lady's side of the story. Sure, another reporter should have just strolled across her lawn and approached her front door...
I live in a civilized country. Here, people are safe to walk onto my front lawn (or anyone elses) in broad daylight without being threatened with firearms. We let them use the phone, we give them a drink of water, we give them directiions, we buy girl-scout cookies, we contribute to the Heart and Stroke fund. What the heck is the matter with you mean-hearted, angry, xenophobic, gun-toting Texans?
Next time watch where your walking, this is how we do it in The United States, and if you dont like it, we'll bomb you. Any questions?
Hire this woman for the Mexico Border!
Well, you Texans just ought to know, that Obama is one big "gun Control" guy and while serving in the Illinois Senate, supported gun cotrol legislation. You guys go ahead and vote for him, if he is lucky enough to win, you will just have to give up your guns. Maybe he will not even let you hunt.
I do hope the media does talk to the lady... It doesn't sound like the lady should have pointed a gun even if the guy didn't know where he was walking..
Yes, the guy should have been paying attention but like most of us, we don't.
The Secret Service should have spoken to the lady.. How far is her home from Bush's ranch? Too close for me!! No, I don't like Bush either but don't want him to be hurt.
To those that are complaining about "stupid Americans", "redneck Texans" and "loose gun laws". . .when's the last time you saw a picture of someone from Gaza, Israel, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc who wasn't holding a gun or standing near the smoldering remains of a recently detonated bomb? This woman had a pistol, which she most likely has a permit for, not an AK47.
This is precisely why gun ownership is a gun thing. The reporter got off the property and nobody was harmed. Only retards believe in gun control. As I only prove by asking the questions:
1) Do you think the criminals will obey the laws. Their answer is ALWAYS NO.
2) So why do you think the next law will work. The idiots never have an answer.
Good for the old lady. BTW, she is not old just Texas-crazy.
Wow, being absent-minded is a shooting offense now? Wandering onto someone's lawn is good for a face-shooting, right? For those idiots saying, "What she did was quite alright"...what ever happened to calling 9-11. He made no threatening movements and I seriously doubt she could have taken the guy talking on a phone as a threat. You gun nuts are freaks.
I bet screwy George Bush did'nt know anything happend, Just like he did'nt know the price of gas is almost $4 a gal.!!!!
In Texas, wandering on to someone's property is considered a huge deal, and threatening someone with a gun isn't a big deal. The civilized world tends to have different rules.
I don't know what is funnier, the woman in this story threatening a news journalist for wondering while talking on a cell phone, or some of the comments here praising the ignorant and gun-touting behavior. Whoever wrote the second amendment must be rolling in his grave.
Let's not make more about this than it was. It was a little scare but nobody got hurt. Anybody who travels a lot overseas will have a few of these stories where someone almost got into serious trouble.
ive never been to texas
What else can you expect, in a country where Bush could get elected second time, even after all his mistakes was known.
Who is more stupid, the stupid himself or the people who elected him twice?
Bravo, nothing more to say.
It's Texas. They are still in the 19th century there. These people are knuckle draggers. It's the environment that produced George Bush.
No, not "only in Texas".... Geez, people here are clueless. In the majority of states in the USA what this woman did is LEGAL and justified. It is in our Constitution. If you don't like it, write your US congressmen or state legislators and ask them to ratify a new amendment taking guns away from people, but if you do so make sure you take them away from everyone, including criminals AND law enforcement. If we can't have them, they don't need them.
Also please stop being so ignorant. Law abiding citizens who possess guns are victims are far fewer crimes than those who don't – period, and by an enormous number.
The notion that banning all guns will make us safer is ignorant as well. There are far more dangerous things out there than guns. Maybe we should ban those too.
Simply put, guns save way more lives than they kill, and statistically speaking almost always only criminals kill others with guns. Ban guns and criminals wil still have them.
You think she is nuts, you should see the guy down the street.
Oh, how stupid we hicks from the United States look. Why haven't we given up our rights to own property and tools. For you intellectuals that have never been outside of urban areas, firearms are seen more as tools for living than as weapons for killing people in rural areas (there is a reason that the popular model of Ruger's Mini 14 is the "Ranch Rifle.") When your dog starts barking at something you know there is something that needs your attention and may or may not be a threat. Badgers, cougars, coyotes are all things that your dog will bark at, and also can have rabies. The reason that carrying a firearm with you in urban areas and in Europe is that we don't have the luxury of having made any animal that may be a threat extinct in the area.
I kind of understand why urbanites may see the need for gun control locally, but it shouldn't be a national issue because South Dakota is a much different place than NYC. I just ask that you be a bit more open minded for people from places you don't understand. I'm perfectly fine not carrying a firearm down the streets of your city, but don't tell me I can't carry a revolver when I'm hiking in areas with mountain lions.
Funny how you sorry Dems and foreigners condem an old lady for protecting herself. She lives in the country and maybe all alone . How many times has this happened before to her. Rape ,robbery and killing happen every day in our cities to older citizens but you dont hear much about it thanks to the gun hating media and Democrats . These people have a right to protect themselves and a firearm is faster than your local police. As for CORY IN MARYLAND , you think a thug is going to worry about gun laws ? when someones breaking down your door what ya gonna do, call the cops ? their 10 minutes away , oh i forgot it will never happen to you !? Real Americans take care of themselves , Liberals and Democrats want someone to take care of them . FACT– Britains crime rate has increased 400% since they confiscated all the guns from law abiding citizens, But the criminals have guns !!
Texas is a different kind of place. If you don't like the rules (or lack thereof), don't come here.
Been here 13 years and like it better by the day.
I love living in Texas, you break into our house, we have the right to shoot you. Should you get away, we have the speedy death penalty. Other states should catch up.
My elderly parents lived in Rural Texas and always packed heat around the ranch. No one bothered them in 70 years. And I never had to worry about them because they were insured by Smith & Wesson. I live in Arizona and I purchased the same insurance policy.
If you want to go somewhere where the laws are such that this cannot happen, go to Washington DC (yep, sure thing). Tell me, where would you be safer walking the streets at night? Rural Texas or downtown DC?
Listen up all you criminals: "You must obey the law." There, that ought to make them take notice and turn themselves in.
Stop and think how many crazies want an encounter with President Bush and who likely plague that area in Texas. Granny didn't shoot the disrespectful reporter, she only made it very clear she didn't want to be messed with.
You also might want to check the statistics in England and Australia now that gun owners have had their weapons confiscated for the most part. That is sure working out fine.....if you are a thief or mugger. On the other hand look at the statistical results (if you care about facts) where concealed carry laws have gone into effect. Crime is down. Facts are such pesky things aren't they?
I like the last line in the story...
"CNN was not able to reach the woman for comment."
Probably the whole reason the lady was mad in the first place is that she is tired of the media circus that constantly invades her small town. I'm sure from her point of view the world could use a few less journalists!!
Wow!! Thanks for letting us comment on these mindless articles, CNN!! How about you let us comment on some issues that actually mean something? Oh wait, I guess you'd actually have to start covering news that actually means something...
Absolutely no reason to introduce a gun into a situation where a man is talking on a cell phone in BROAD DAYLIGHT, even if he happens to be standing on your lawn. And there were obviously other people around (the journalists across the street). It doesn't take more than 2 brain cells to figure out he was a foreign journalist.
Remember the Japanese exchange student who knocked on the wrong door? DEAD, because of Texas gun culture paranoia. Thank God it didn't happen again.
Yee haw.
That photo was taken with a telephoto lens. Look at how close that guy is to her house! If I were an old woman living out in the country and had some foreign-speaking stranger practically at my doorstep, I'd go out with a gun and tell him to get the hell off my property too. Those journalists need to learn some manners... and it would help if they did a little research on the customs and laws before coming to an unfamiliar area.
There was another story from Texas today about another person with access to guns that felt they were being infringed upon. A 16-year-old girl and 3 friends shot her mother, father, and two brothers because her perceived rights to date were not respected. Only her father survived. The NRA would have fought all the way to the Supreme Court for her right to have guns right up to the point she pulled the trigger.
Do you think maybe she has seen her share of crazies living that close to the Bush ranch? She did nothing wrong. She did not threaten him. She simply had it with her if she neeeded it. She didn't. This time. Thank God for the second amendment.
u have to understand that this old lady is probably sick and tired of people around her house, as it sounds like journalists are always in the area. give her a break, she can do what she wants to.
Europeans can use this as a lesson. The United States is filled with morons almost as stupid as their president.
They should be on their guard in all third-world nations.
You know, She did not know who he was or what he was doing there. As far as she knew, he may have been there to hurt her or burglarize her home. the way I see it she did what any normal red blooded American would do. I am from Oregon and they do the same thing there as in Texas. Oregon Legislature though is trying to get rid of the rights of Gun Owners. Alot of that is because of the Homosexuals who want their rights to do what they want and they figure that their lives are endanger because of the Gun owners. Good, let them think that. As for this incident, Great! I am pleased that people are taking a stand for their rights for a change and not backing down from a Facist Government who wiretaps our phone calls, monitor our emails, you name it! Maybe the Secret Service and that idiot that they are protecting will take note now and realize just who runs this country.
Maybe she thought it was an immigrant crossing the border.....to avoid things like this in the future we should re-deploy our army in Iraq and put them on the border with orders to kill anthing that crosses the border....problem solved YAY!
The lady should be sent to the psych unit. She's going to shoot someone just for walking on her lawn? Nut cake idiot.
You are surprised that a reporter was standing on someone's property in Texas and they got a gun pointed at them? Is this supposed to be news?
Gotta love American gun control laws. Crazy.
and this ladies and gentlemen is why we should never fear an invasion from the south. The old ladies from Texas will eliminate any invading army.
She appears to have never raised the weapon nor "drew" it as you so ignorantly state.
She was an old woman, likely home alone, when a strange man came onto her property and started wandering around her house.
She came out and asked him to leave, and he ignored her.
Yes, she had a gun, as she was well within her rights to do.
This isn't even an issue, yet you make it out to be a big deal.
The commenters here who have a problem with the woman's actions are entirely out of line and uninformed.
Seems pretty simple to me.
When in a foreign country, don't just wander up to people's front doors without paying attention. No big deal.
She asked him to leave, was ready to protect herself if need be. He left. No troubles. She didn't aim at him, she didn't fire at him...so what?
And just because the President lives nearby doesn't give the Government the right to take away her Constitutional Rights as a citizen.
Orion
i am a texan and a proud one. we have one of the lowest violent crime rates in the world. do you know why? because we are allowed to protect ourselves and our property. compare that with washington dc where they have the largest concentration of democrats and the highest rate of violent crime in the nation and the strictest gun laws. enough said.
Clinton News Network, I am writing here as you have deleted my other comments. I am finished dealing with so biased and censoring a network.
You can thank the GOP and Bush for this. Backwater Texans.
Okay, how do you become so preoccupied while talking on the phone that you wander onto someone's front yard. What was the reporter really doing?
...um, don't mess with Texas.
And here we a have it. The perfect example of Democrats and Republicians. Democrats are the ones that think she is wrong and the Republicians support her. Who is better to defend our country. I will take take Granny over Clinton and Obama anyday!
God bless America! If old ladies will pull guns on intruders, imagine the hell that an invading army would face!
I know many Americans who do not lilke guns, and who will not support situations like this. However, there are some, perhaps to many, who believe everyone showing in front of their house is a maniac who wants to hurt them. Somehow, these are the ones who portray to the rest of the world that the US is a country of fear. Imagine yourself in a country road with a car broken, talking at the phone to get help, and approaching that house in the road to get directions. BANG!
A granny packing heat.. yawnnn
Reporters.. do find something else newsworthy. Go see what Darfuf looks like now, talk about poppy growing in Afghanistan, in short, something mature.
Anyways, what more can we expect from the great CNN who has fallen to new lows.
Pull your act together and concentrate on important, not trite like Britney's antics or Danes running wild on lawns looking for wireless signals.
The way crime is lately you have to be stupid not to have a gun. A little old lady certainly has a right to be nervous about a man standing on her property for no apparent reason.
I'm glad I read this article.
For a moment I thought Dick Cheney was campaigning in Texas!
I think too much heat and sun in Texas, boiled away what little brains the old hag had left.
Toting a gun in broad daylight no less, to a guy on a cellphone, just because he happened to have strayed onto your property !
This incident and the 16 year old girl who killed her mother, brothers and tried to kill her father because they wouldn't let her date someone. Both happened in Texas. Why am I not surprised.
Oh get off already.... it's not like the elderly woman was waving the thing in this guy's face and threatening to shoot him. He was safe, just someplace he didn't belong. Get your head out of the clouds and pay attention to where you are and stop acting like media people walk on water or something.
Reading all this reminded me of bicycle touring through Europe a few years ago... When my bike broke down and I approached a farmhouse to ask for help, I'm grateful no one pulled a pistol on me because I looked 'out of place'. Hopefully my many friends over there will forgive our paranoia and we'll look hard at what we've allowed our culture to become.
Sounds like Barbara skipped some of her Alzheimer meds.
You gotta love Texas.
CNN bias for all to see.
Hillary Clinton and John McCain in the page header, where is the Democrat front runner? Why show the 11 straight loss Hillary and not Obama.
When reporters ask an audience or someone, ( what has Obama accomplished ?), there is no negative to that in my opinion! You can follow it up in the next moment with ( what has Hillary or John Mccain accomplished ), and they still will not know. So the question is mute, I would think.
Uh to all the 2nd ammendment/ property-rights freaks on this blog.. a fence anyone? If she's so concerned about her property why not put up a friggin fence? Even a small one.
However, I got to say that the reporter wasn't the brightest bulb in the bunch either. Doesn't he realise that in the USA is the land of paranoia; goodness, you never know what some person in a 2 piece suit talking on the phone right near the president's ranch might be up to.
Best to shoot the sucker, just in case.
She is old and was defending herself using the best method. She probably did not even raise the gun but held it just in case.
Exactly what I would have done if I was her. She probably has had to deal with a bunch of freaks in the last 7 years.
And stop refering to politicains as "Leaders". It makes you sound stupid and childish.
A lot of rural folks here in Texas are usually a very long way from local law enforcement. That is why so many of us have guns and take defending our property very seriously.
If you are an elderly person and a strange man is loitering in your front yard and a 911 call means that a deputy might show up in about 30 minutes, then yeah... you're probably going to end up on the business end of someone's gun.
We aren't gun nuts,we just know how to defend ourselves... you have to when you live out in the sticks.
Take it as a lesson learned... oh and welcome to Texas.
As someone who grew up out in the country near the Texas/Mexico border, I think Granny acted appropriately.
How stupid – many on here would advocate shooting someone who had no harmful intent. Shame on you. That is a terrible sentiment.
it's possible the elderly lady THOUGHT that the man's cell phone (or laptop, or whatever else he was carrying) was a weapon, and got scared. she could also easily have alzheimer's or another condition which would cause her to not think clearly... she could be living by herself, and have grown up in a wilder texas, which is why she feels she needs a gun for protection... i think more information needs to be gathered on why she brought out a weapon, so the rest of the world won't think texas is crazy...
That's what I call GUN CONTROL.
Sounds like she handled the situation appropriately. She didn't shoot the guy, from the picture it doesn't even look like she pointed the gun at him. I'm sure the anti-gun folks would have shown that picture if she had.
Well done ma'am!!
Hmm I think you of you want the 2nd amendment fine, but lets have an IQ test of at least 100 before you can own a gun. This would probrably rule out most of the state of Texas but at least this woman would not be sharing her stupidity with the rest of the world today.
Perhaps the concept of "Private Property" is something forgotten to the socialist Euro-trash. Certainly, the notion of private gun ownership is.
I admire Granny's spunk and courage- she's got more of it than all you whining libs have at any age.
Most Europeans will absolutely love this story.
Dick Cheney shot a man in the face.
If the old lady had shot the journalist, half of Texas would have congratulated the old lady! Sad, sad, sad!
since nobody got hurt, it sounds kinda funny... I focus on my work, but i also try to pay attention to people who are yelling at me and holding a gun. A gun is one of those things you just notice... The 1st Clinton pushed tougher gun laws, i bet the 2nd Clinton would do the same.
Clinton '08!
Send a thank you note to the NRA – they fight hard to keep our gun rights and to allow people of all ages and mental states to remain armed so that anyone can repel dangerous Danish journalists and prevent crime. God bless them! Who knows what damage could have happened to that lawn if she hadn't acted so quickly?
Maybe I'm reading too much into this or just exhibiting my own biases , but I'm thinking that the journalist may not have been so lucky (1) if he didn't have on a jacket and tie, and/or (2) if he wasn't white.
CRAWFORD, Texas Texas the shoo tum up state. I think they need gun control.
I am reading comments like,"this will be good for our image in Europe" and "I really wish Texas would just secede already". Well, guess what. I am proud to be a Texan and we aren't going anywhere. And, I could care less about our "image in Europe". You bleeding heart liberals are acting like she shot the guy in the face first and then asked him to leave her property. The fact that she didn't shoot him, so there really was no "Gun incident" proves that she has the sense to own a gun.
What yall are surprised that a Texan Grandma had a gun. My grandma gave me my first gun and taught me how to shoot it.
Texas is different than the rest of the world.
I thought all yall liberals loved diversity.
We all have guns in Texas. Don't like it ? Too bad. Pry it from my Cold dead hand .
You don't step on someone elses property without permission.
lol, its funny really when people are so paranoid, they have to get a gun when somebody steps on their property, whats wrong with this world?, on the other hand she could of been in one of those greatest lawn competitions, and didnt want her precious greens getting foorprints all over it
Granny is bored and has no life except her television, and church on Sunday.
If she truly did not like what she had seen, looking out her window, and truly felt the situation to be a treat to her and her property, she would have lock the doors and called 911.
She was looking for trouble and was probably hoping for a chance to shoot anybody.
I'm a 70+ year old. I carry a gun and know how to use it. In an emergency, if I called 911, it would take over an hour for them to get here. I am not helpless and don't intend to be. There have been incidents in our rural area that make me most sympathetic to the woman in the article. For those of you who prefer to cower behind a locked door, aren't you glad there are those of us who would even protect you, should you need it? Thank God for this President and our military.
Corey said: "All i can say to this is stupid Texans!!! This is why we need very strict gun laws in this country."
Thank you Corey, for showing us the most ignorant statement ever said on the internet. How dare our laws give anyone the right to protect their own property! How silly of us. Let's just tear up that silly Constitution, shall we?
Come on folks, Don't pick on Texas
It isn't nice to make fun of retards
Crazy old bag. Interesting how the issue of guns has been almost entirely overlooked during this primary season considering all the shootings on campuses and at malls, etc. I'm all for the right of individuals to own guns, but clearly there has to be some manner of action taken to keep them out of the hands of the mentally ill and children. I don't know if this woman was mentally ill or just a Texan. Sometimes, they're difficult to differentiate.
I am a Police Officer and I have no problem with this. Women (and others) should have access to firearms to protect themselves. We police can't be everywhere at once. And he was probably safer with her around than in Denmark where only criminals have guns.
Thr right to bear arms! Way to go granny! I am proud to be called a TRUE AMERICAN with you. Screw the Euro trash!
I don't see what the problem is.. She was carrying a handgun?! If she wants to answer he door with a 357 Magnum, then more power to her.
It's not as if she shot at him and missed. She came to tell him to leave the property and happened to be carrying her gun as a 'backup-plan' - If you don't like guns, move to Australia.
"Currently Packing.. In Virginia"
There are a lot of ignorant comments here. My first thought was what if this guy had been secret service? Don't they have a right to be anywhere they need to be to protect the president? That's why I believe the old lady knew that this guy was a reporter and that's why she reacted that way to a perfectly innocent situation. The moral of the story is that ignorant people (regardless of age) should not own guns.
Look at the size of that house - how could he not realize he was wandering into someone's front yard!? We don't need more gun control, we need more cell phone control. Clearly the cell phone was the more dangerous device here. And clearly the issue is idiot Danes, not idiot Texans. He ought to go home and show the photos to his wife and children and say, "look at what an idiot I was in America!"
GOOD GRIEF!!
Dont make this more than it is!!! Living by Bush I am sure this is not the first time this has happened...think about it people it is a no brainer. There are weirdos in the world..I own a gun too, some guy I dont know comes on my property I would do the same...it didnt say she came out with guns a blazzin...shesh you all try to analize a situation do death...GET OVER IT!!!! Way to go Granny!!!
God Bless Texas!
Here is another clear reason one should not drive and use a cell phone.....this guy can't even WALK and use a cell phone. He is so distracted he wonders right up to this womans house? Guess if he had been in his car he would have probably driven through her front door!
The story says he was barely on her lawn by accident, not at her front door as one poster alleges.
So if she's so concerned about her property, why no fence? People call the absentminded journalist an idiot, but geeze– sounds like this lady is short on sense herself.
Yeah, he screwed up by being careless, but his "crime" doesn't warrant a death sentence. The lady overreacted IMO.
Before you condemn this "little old lady" for weilding her gun "in defense of her property", maybe you'd better take a look at past incidents where strangers have invaded one's property in broad daylight for nefarious purposes.
I might add that people in Texas don't suffer fools lightly and are very possesive of their rights, both private and property wise.
Maybe more should be as aggressive in protecting their rights as this lady, then there might just be less crime in the world.
Texas!
Nuf said...
You had better watch where you walk. Come on what an incident we could have had. The pres might have made a phone call and the whole thing would have been over. Or an the other hand we might have gone to war. Just because some stupid journalist couldn't stay on his own side of the street.
To the person who said people who own guns should be put in jail, you'd have to put bars all the way around Texas. And I believe Texans would probably provide labor and materials.
If you use a gun illegally in Texas you may be invited into the speedy checkout lane called The Death Penalty.
Send Bush back to his gun-crazy neighborhood. Now. And send Hillary Clinton to the White House so our nation may finally be secured with sanity.
GOD BLESS TEXAS!!!!
This is news why?
Good for her. Europeans thinks they own America. They only need America when someone is invading their country and they are too weak to defend it. Maybe the liberals that are so disgusted by this poor old ladies actions should go and live in peaceful Europe. They need you, we don't. BTW, did we ever get a tank you from France or England when tiny Germany was kicking their butts?
Seems like she did the correct thing, she should have first called police and then checked the back yard to make sure he was not drawing her attention while others came in the back. But then again if that building across the street is used alot by media crews whenever GW has guests she might be a bit ticked off. Any of you ever been around a media frenzy.
If that wandering journalist had stepped into a rattlesnakes yard,
he would have gotten a real surprise.
He was LUCKY it was only a little granny with a sixshooter.
Yes she probably should have called 911.
Hey moron. Get of her property. We can still defend our rights on our own.
What a gun crazy nation
That's a gun? I don't know. From the photo it could be her remote control.
Funny story, lighten up people!
Obama 08!
Instead of walking outside with a gun in her hand, she could have picked up the phone and dialed 911 if she was so scared.
Sit in the house, look out the window, hold your gun close by, and wait for the police to arrive or the man to leave.
To have her first instinct be walking outside (closer to the man she is supposedly frightened of) with a gun in hand shows you how far away from "love thy neighbor" this country has truly fallen.
Yeah, Europe. Such a civilized place;
A workers paradise where there's a soccer riot every 3 minutes or "immigrant youths" mugging, raping, rioting and setting fire to hundreds of cars over a cartoon. Yeah, Europe, you bastion of sanity, you.
We have laws here and property rights. Deal with it. Personally, I'm ecstatic that you idiots are over there. The smart one left and understand that that individualism is something to be cherished and nurtured. not squashed by the all-knowing state.
If she were in NY there would have been a million blinking red lights, helicopters and she would have been rushed to a mental hospital...ya gotta love American diversity!
I guess this moran won't WONDER AROUND in Texas. All you other morans crying about gun control she controlled the gun just fine did not aim it at him but was ready to protect her self and family. Its called old lady in the country
She didn't have any idea who that was – she had no way to know he was a journalist.
And, if he was some kind of miscreant, the gun doesn't do any good inside in a drawer!
I think she would have done better to have the weapon holstered. It would look a little less threatening.
maybe now you feregners'll stae out of my yarde.
Wow...I lived in Texas for a year and it was the worst year of my life. Looks as if nothing has changed. I can tell you that I went to a public school in San Antonio and in the 5th grade I was teaching my teachers more than they were teaching me. This woman is likely a product of the public school system in Texas.
i guess we're not in copenhagen any more, toto..
or
something's rotten in denmark..?
or
don't mess with texas..?
That little ol' lady won't be a victim. Respect other's property rights.
Looks like she did not point it at the reporter. She asked first. She was ready to protect herself.
To an old lady, possibly living alone, a strange man standing in her yard IS threatening.
You don't like it. Fine. That is your right to live in a different country. We let in all kinds of folks into this country. Last I checked, there are places in Europe that aren't so safe for their citizens either.
Then we wonder why there are so many shootings at schools and colleges... you're telling me that in a neighborhood where the likes of the President of the US resides you need a gun to get people off your property? Come on!
Granny needs to take her alzheimers meds and someone needs to confiscate that gun. She can still wear her cowboy hat, ride her horse and pretend it's still the Wild Wild West.
P.S. for those morons who think European Socialist countries have something wrong with them, think again. How many school shootings and violent deaths do you see in Europe (aside from the few mafia related thugs)? Look outside your country for once and for real! Not everything is perfect here.
Someone should shoot you Corey, you ANTI AMERICAN piece of crap.
Guns built this country, just try to take them away.
Now son, you know not to mess with Texas don't you?
Did President George W. Bush listen to his neigbors before deciding on the war against Saddam Hussein???
I live in Texas, own a pistol and if you come on my property I just might use it. You threaten me, try to steal anything or try to hurt me, I'll shoot first and ask questions later.
I guess "messing with Texas" is now defined as walking nearby on a cell phone ...gosh dern that journalist was rather threatening.
"um" how close is "this" close?
Need to stop & think here folks. Lady lives out in the country – who knows if she has been robbed, or worse in the past. Maybe she had a good reason for defending herself. She obviously was worried about something. And - she didn't shoot the guy. Next we'll be hearing that we should outlaw talking on a cell-phone while walking. He could have walked out in front of a car and got hit!
This is the most insensitive article I have seen on CNN. It's not a joke that someone doesn't want their privacy and liberties taken away. Imagine endless groups of people crowding on your property daily. Roads you take to work and town are blocked off by people who have no reason to live save for bashing Texans and Bush. Anyone would become frustrated, especially at nosy reporters who think their rights outweigh the privacy of others.
Find something more worthwhile to report on – like why American students don't know where their own country is on a map – maybe even try something positive for a change.
Typical for Americans to meet all problems head on with a gun. Bush's legacy is an increasingly violent America.
It would have been a fitting end if the Danish individual's bodyguard had shot her in the head for drawing a gun on him. Shoot first, ask questions later when somebody draws a gun on you.
See the problems with this? Somebody arrest that ignorant woman.
For one, I don't give a holy hell what Europe thinks about us or our laws. We are the greatest nation for a reason. The Second Amendment and private ownership of firearms is only one of many reasons. As Americans, don't compare yourselves to the 'morally courageous Europeans", who in standing up for everything, really stand on nothing.
Why do you care what the world thinks of you, when they're all trying to beat down the doors to COME HERE?
Matt
Lesson learned: Stay off property that doesn't belong to you.
this woman is crazy at least shes not here amagian stepping on her lawn?
Just reinforces the saying, "guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people".
Hey Granny.
You tried to shoot my pardner?
Meet me out on the road today at high noon. No sheriffs.
This old lady was within here right legally. I notice that people are saying a need for stricter gun laws. She was on her own property and asked for the journalist to leave. It is not the governments job to tell americans not to have firearms on their own property. Read the constitution some time. Oh I forgot that the constitution only matters when it is handy for the liberal agenda. Take the entire constitution or none at all. Remember the 2nd amendment secures the others.
Here's just advice for anybody who happens to visit Texas:
Texans are very "funny" about our property. It's ours. We paid for it. We pay the taxes on it. And we're proud of it. Strangers on property, especially out in the country, is highly unusual and suspicious. If you live off the beaten path, you tend to know who your neighbors are and who are not. Don't fault the older woman for being alarmed at a stranger near her front door. Such a thing is unlikely in the country out in Texas.
Posters from outside Texas should note that President Bush's ranch isn't in the middle of a city. People who live in rural areas don't have the luxury of a constant police presence to protect them, and the elderly lady was being prudent in making sure she could protect herself.
In rural Texas, there are only 3 types of people who will show up unannounced on your property wearing a suit: salesmen, preachers, and politicians. The best way to deal with any of the three is a good old fashioned pistol-whipping.
Go granny!
The replies show how divided this country is........ you got the anti-gun crowd calling her a nut. – so sad. People this is not a little surburban neighborhood, to get to her house he had to be 1000 or so feet from the road. If you don't like the way we do things down in Texas (such as respect other's personel property) then leave. Go back to your own little self absorbed world and leave us the h*ll alone.
I don`t see what all the fuss is about. In most states its perfectly legal to run unwanted people off your property so why are people picking on the Texas lady for doing so. As far as I could tell she didn`t point the gun at him or threathen him, just told him to get off her property. What`s the big deal??
I am glad that people can defend their property in America. There are many places in America and outside America where you would be shot without warning. Land of the free doesn't mean you can just wander everywhere you want to without incident.
CNN why have you stop allowing Comments?
If we could just take everyone's gun away from them, then we would all be safe. Let's hope Obama is elected so he can take our guns away from us and make us safe.
GO HILLARY!
Holy crap people, this lady is probably just tired of eight years of this kind of crap. Between the war protesters setting up tent cities on their land and the constant media attention I'm pretty sure that most small town Americans would be in a similar mood. It's my understanding that Bush doesn't have many fans in that town and most of it's tied to resentment from a Connecticut yankee playing cowboy and the constant stream of invaders. There isn't a small town anywhere that likes a bunch of "outsiders" hanging around tearing up the place.
Great! It's called "The Right to Bear Arms". Next time you should consider staying off of someone's property...
Armed person = citizen. Unarmed person = subject. Welcome to the United States, now learn our way
Being a native Texan, I'm ashamed that people have stooped to such behavior. The lady has a right to protect her property but she sounds like another gun fanatic to me. That part of the state is known for it's gun-totten redneck, radical people. That is why Bush's ranch is right where it belongs. Remember Waco, Killeen?
An old woman alone in a rural area finds a strange man wandering around her yard and asks him to leave... while she's carrying a gun. That's ALL this is, not a gun incident like this idiot reporter is trying to make it out to be. It's her property, and her Constitutional right to protect herself and her property.
The Danish Journalist shouldn't have been THAT FAR in the womans yard. It's his fault, period.
Wow...It seems a lot of people have all the facts and details of the situation that the rest of us do not.
Thanks for grouping us "Texans" in a discriminatory way. I'll bet your one heck of a racist also.
If you don't like Texas, Texans or understand what laws are, then please stay away. I would not come to your state and demand that you change your laws for my benefit.
Never underestimate the little old lady!
The reporter shouldn't have been on her property.Good for her.
I would rather the old lady be running our country than her neighbor; at least she didn't USE the gun!
"I can tell you it's a severe understatement to say White House and Secret Service officials were a bit concerned about the fact that they had just dodged an international incident." Is it? Get over yourselves.
A journalist wanders onto someone's private property and that person uses a means within their rights to get them off their property and suddenly this is nearly an "international incident?" Come on...it was a journalist. It's not like it was someone actually doing something worthwhile.
When can we look forward to seeing the headline story about a journalist who gets pulled over for speeding?
Well congrates to the old lady. I didn't notice anybody else offering solutions on how to get the guns away from the American public. All you morons who want my guns can have 'em-bullets first.
unlike liberal new jersey texans have balls. see if this happened in nj the poor lady would've been arrested and then sued by everyone. not only is nj known as the "come kill me state" (because our liberal gov. is such a worthless idiot), it is also known as the "come sue me state" as well. welcome to nj land of the liberals and home of the idiots
We dont need more gun laws fool. Let all the criminally insane, insane, or just dead in the head people kill each other off. Then there will be peace on earth.
For all the idiots out there that think all Texans walk around with guns.....get a life! Texas is the best place to live! Maybe journalist will think twice before wandering off somewhere they don't belong! I bet he does!
Americans and their pistols! She should have been carrying a rifle, much more accurate at ranges beyond 20 feet or so. Easier for an elderly lady to use.
I'm laughing at all the negative comments left by the people ridiculing this little old lady. Put yourself in her shoes.... if you were elderly and day after day for the last 8years you have had people lurking around your house(being next to Bush's land) you would be fed up and probably feel threatened too. We have no idea what all this lady could have potentially been through in her life concerning her safety (at her home). Don't be too quick to judge her. Btw, why is this a top news story of the day? I would think there is more important stories going on in the world.
News Casters/Men are no better than paparazzi. Maybe some of them will
now realize there are limits to where they can go.
This gentle old grandma had every right to ask him to leave her property
and to have a gun to show him she meant business.
You idiot liberals (excuse me, ignorant people) need to check your facts. Like .....what is the incidence of violent crime in Crawford, Texas and what is it in any similar sized city on New England? Go ahead, check....I dare you!
If you live on a ranch in Texas you have firearms to protect yourself from rabid coyotes, to protect your property from illegal immigrants and to scare off anyone you haven't invited to be on your front porch. Granny didn't HAVE TO use her pistol, as the picture clearly shows, just showing it was enough to get that reporter to leave.
Down here we own firearms, lots of them! If that makes you nervous then stay in Vermont ....PLEASE !
From a Fellow (proud and black) TEXAN
In Texas not just "rednecks" have guns.....stay off our property and no one gets hurt. It's funny that when Americans go to other countries or even when I visit other states, I have the intelligence to find out the local customs....do the same when you come here or don't come at all.
hey, Jim, there's NOTHING anti-American with voicing your opinion which is what Corey did... there is something anti-American, in my view, that you want to shoot someone dead because they have voiced their opinion. Get a grip and start being an American with real American values... not the kind that shoots at people for expressing themselves. That's just fascism!
I think that we actually secretly lost the Mexi-American war and had to take Texas as part of our loses.
Go Granny GO. He's lucky she didn't have a shotgun.......Don't Mess With TEXAS!!!!!!!
The kneejerk reactions in this comments section are a very sad reflection of peoples' mentality today. Nowhere in the article did it say a shot was fired. Nowhere even in the reporter's recollection did he say he was threatened with a gun. He recalled that he was very sternly asked to leave. He only found out there was a gun after getting back to his group and seeing photos. In the portrayed photo, you can see what appears to be a handgun held next to the lady's side pointed down. If you look very carefully you can see that her finger is off the trigger.
This is proper use of a firearm. You do not threaten with it. You don't wave it around and advertise. You have one, just in case, and you don't use it unless you have to.
I agree 100% with the Grandma if theres some strange guy walking around on my land im most definetly going to protect myself. I read all these comments about gun laws this that or the other thing... Do any of you stop too think what could happen to your families if we inforce a no gun policy any where in the world... Think of your kids sleeping safely and you in your tiny little world without a form of protection and someone breaks in THEN What he has a gun you have a fork and knife what are you going to do.... DIE thats right your going TO DIE.... Stop dictating what we should have you have no more control over it than anyone.. This women felt unsafe and she defended herself she had no idea who it was or what he was doing i would have done the same thing... THANK GOD FOR THE GUN TOTING GRANNY FROM TEXAS..
Beware of theElderly Lady witha gun. She probably Knows how to use it! I am all for her and her right on her property.
Chinaskee
You are insane. The guy innocently wanders onto her property and you think she's justified in waving a gun at him and possibly, shooting him? What the hell is wrong with you?
As I read these comments, many from Europeans, I am reminded why my ancestors left so many years ago.
Aren't we missing the point here? How about we don't have old people with large caliber firearms hanging out waiting to shoot someone for stepping on their lawn? Two statistics that should make everyone wonder–One, we have more gun violence/murder in this country than any other industrialized first world nation. Second, we have the most lax gun laws. NRA, do you have a response? I'm a hunter, and I own guns. I live in the rural midwest. I own firearms that have legal licenses and that are LOCKED AWAY so no one can get at them. If someone entered my house you can bet I'd be more dangerous with a baseball bat than a gun anyway, and I don't want to take the chance of my son and his friends playing with them (even though they've been taught gun safety) and accidentally killing themselves or someone else. Happens all the time.
On another note, can we not write in to these boards if we can't spell or use correct grammar? Many of us sound like we have third grade educations.....You can't really make a salient point if your message is so garbled that no one can understand it. The Americans on this board basically sound like a bunch of Neanderthals. Good day, all.
with boneheads like texans and some of the other posters here, it's a wonder that we have any friends left in the world. i'm sure that the danish will think twice before they send any help for the war on terror.
I hope the rest of the world does think badly of the US for this incident.... if it keeps just one obnoxious idiot foreigner from visiting
or moving here legally or illegally than it was well worth it!!
go granny go!!!!!!!
Some people just don't understand that this Woman probally lived all of her life in her place in the country. It was President Bush that has intruded into her space and brought all these people with him. When you live in this area, you keep a gun for protection of your property from animals and intruders. This man was intruding. She must have felt threatened.
I guess someone that has not lived in the country can't understand.
If a strange man is on your property, you have the right to ask him to leave, and have means for self defense ready. If this man was a rapist instead of a journalist I'm sure we all would suddenly have a different view on gun rights.
wait until there is someone on your property who you don't want there, and the police are pathetically slow to respond... Sorry to all you liberal fascists, but this is America and we are allowed to own guns to protect our homes. Keep the government out of our personal affair, and stop looking for hand outs.. yeah i'm talking to YOU, liberal idealists and cry-baby minorities.
What threat? The presence of someone talking on his cell phone?
I suppose she'd be justified shooting children from the school if she catches them throwing toilet paper up in her trees. That'd be a real threat to her life, right?
What people fail to see is that this is AN OLD WOMAN living next to a high profile person that a lot of people don't like. Now there is someone that has, at the very least, a thick accent she may not recognize on her lawn. Did she overreact? Yes. Was it completely unfounded? No. Texans aren't ignorant. We're just sick of the people trying to force your skewed and socialistic "values" on us. We know our rights and as always will protect them. Even when the rest of you are too afraid to.
It is unreasonable to support this woman. It wasn't the middle of the night and he wasn't actin strangely. He was a man on a phone. Good old common sense says you go out and politely ask him what his business is on your property and ask him to leave if you don't want him there.
Why is everyone here who supports her so afraid of anyone disrupting their little worlds. And why does that fear warrant a gun to resolve?
I think the old lady overreacted a bit. It's not like the reporter was peeking in her windows or something or giving her a real reason to pull her gun.
I have people accidentally wander into my yard and I will watch them until they leave but I certainly don't feel the need to pull guns on people just because they are near me. But then again, I live in a suburb and not in the middle of BanjoBeltBuckleLand, Texas.
Just another example of the fear that Americans have due to the media. 'If it bleeds, it leads.' I have neighbors that have a gun next to their bed and they have never been robbed or the victim of violent crime. They have the gun because the media has made them scared of their own neighbor. How sad is this?
It would seem to me the reporter had a false sense of security. If he was in, say, Denmark, would he have done the same thing? What about Baghdad?
Just because you're in the middle of nowhere, that doesn't mean the law - and common sense - does not apply. If I was home alone and a stranger is standing on my lawn with a cell phone, I'd be afraid too. Home invasions, robberies, and murders happen in rural America too. The disturbing part is that the reporter was so unaware of his actions he didn't even realize the woman had a gun.
DANG !! a bunch of idiots you anti gun fanatics are !! the old lady did NOT shoot anyone, simply had a gun in her hand; learn to read idiots, dont make your own story. Hurrah for the woman defending her property AND her rights.
OMG you people have gone crazy! PERIOD YOUR NUTS!
Just imagine if it was a little boy or girl retrieving a baseball or frisbee, little old granny going to execute little kids?
Right to bear arms doesn't = the right to shoot anyone they want!
I'm a NATIVE Texan and PROUD OF THIS AWESOME STATE OF OURS!! This Granny was only protecting her property.....who knows, she could have been robbed before and wasn't going to let it happen again!!
IF YOU DONT LIKE THE WAY WE DO THINGS IN THE LONE STAR STATE, GET THE F OUT. DONT COME HERE AND TRY PREACHING YOUR WAYS AND TRY TO MAKE US CONFORM TO THE REST OF SOCIETY LIKE YOU. DONT BOTHER US AND WE AINT GONNA BOTHER Y'ALL.
Welcome to Bush's America: mistakenly wander on to someone's property and have the threat of being shot. I wonder if this stupid, idiotic woman knew that this man had done it by accident as he was being distracted by his note taking.
You do realize that she lives next to the president-she has probably seen her share of crazies in her yard and should have every right to defend herself. There is no need for stricter gun control when you live there.
Quit whining. You don't live here and you were not there so you don't know the circumstances. You will be glad to have us gun owners around when you need us. We have the right to bear arms, as cited in the US Constitution and this lady was exercising her right.
Those Texican's are funny....
Thank you, Sane Texan, and shame on the rest of you who applaud such behavior...and Round Rock, please take comfort that I, probably along with lots of other people, will avoid a state where life is held in so little regard that you have reverted to the old "Shoot first, ask questions later" mentality of the old frontier.
I'm just waiting for the first huge award from a civil wrongful death suit because someone thought that permission is the same as justification.
Perhaps there is a reason many people have a prejudcial opinion of Texas,
If you people don't lilke how we do things in Texas stay the hell out and take that liberal Hillary and communist Obama with you.
Daniel said: "Most people would step to their door and demand the stranger leave." I disagree. Most of the people would say "Sir, are you lost. Can I help you?"
While Texas' Castle Doctrine does give homeowners some leeway in shooting incidents, had this woman shot I doubt she would have gotten off. In most of the US what she did would be considered "brandishing" and would have resulted in her arrest.
coachbarbie,
Where in the midwest are you REQUIRED to have a license to own guns?
You can own a gun without a license in MOST of the country and the term license is never insofar as I know applied to firearms.
The legal terms and names are different typically.
Having lived in the midwest I know of one state which requires a card and it is NOT referred to as a license to own. You can get a permit to carry or a piece of paper in some states showing your are legally able to buy with no criminal record.
But Unlike cars the term is not license.
Tell me which state if you can and I will believe you REALLY are a gun owner.
How can the rest of the world take us seriously when every person we don't know scares us to the point that we'd actually murder them because they got too close to us?
This is what you get in America, not a "your on private property, please leave." But, a "I got a gun and your on my property so I am going to murder you if you don't run away." What a sad day for American when you can't walk up to a house without having to worry about some scared old coot shooting first and asking questions later. Thanks NRA for making my country your shooting club.
Great, hicks with guns. There's no reason for anyone to have firearms at home – all it takes is a slightly imbalanced person or an overly emotional one and there would be a fatality. All of these situations can be resolved without firearms but way to go America with your warrior culture.
I traveled all over Europe and never once felt threatened by a gun. I loved it and felt sad knowing that in my country the redneck vote had given so much power to the gun nuts that now I could not walk down my own street with such a feeling of safety that I had in Europe. I say guns only in the hands of the well regulated militia, that is cops, nat guard, etc. Lets end this nightmare of death and loss.
To all the xenophobes and right wing media-haters who have posted here: first, she did not know he was a 'foriegner'; second she did not know he was with the media. He could have been anyone from anywhere – to the gun-totting nitwit, it did not matter.
I don't see the problem. I would have done the same thing. Good for her!
Was he looking in her window? Get wawy from her house.
Welcome to Texas. If you don't like it GTFO.
Oh and yesteday was Texas Independence day!
The Unanimous
Declaration of Independence
made by the
Delegates of the People of Texas
in General Convention
at the town of Washington
on the 2nd day of March 1836.
To all the xenophobes and right wing media-haters who have posted here: first, she did not know he was a 'foreigner'; second she did not know he was with the media. He could have been anyone from anywhere – it could have been you. What would you have done? I bet you would have pulled your gun...
hillary has not took care of business, she is being investaged for campaigh fraud for year 2000
and why has no one said any thing about the deal the clintons had with a mine in canada why they were in office, put millions of dollars in their pockets, no don't show tax returns. go to new york times to find these issues/ vote for obama
stupid danes!.. u folks are good at making cookies i ll give u that but dont mess with texans... imagine all u city folks for instance leave ur apartment door open and someone comes in and is talking on his cellphone...private property is Private property...be it the apartment or front yard or back for that matter
The amazing thing here is not that some whacko Texan acted as whacko Texans will, but that so many people who commented think that what she did was just great! Isn't Texas in the "Bible belt"? What would Jesus do?
Also, how many Texan tourists wander around Europe making no effort to speak the local language, and, when not understood by the locals, just speak Texas English louder? What if Europeans had guns?
It's called the"lone Star" State because no one wants to go there
willingly.
I am a liberal from NY and I don't think she did anything wrong. In point of fact, she did not shoot him, she only threatened. He was on her land. I happen to agree with the previous comment regarding the wrong headline, Idiot Journalist on cell phone.
Some of you people are so blind, if you think this country is bad go live in another and find out how lucky you are. America love it or leave it remember that you dumb a........When the ACLU and the other commies get done with America lets see what you will be saying then. You will be playing a different tune, mean while I'll be armed to protect what is mine. I you come on to my property I'll blow your butt away, I don't care if you or your family is starving because you failed to stand up for yourself. God bless America
Just another example of why the general population doesn't need guns. Police and law enforcement are the only people who should carry a deadly weapon- not gun-toting, obtuse conservatives. I'm glad I live in a state that doesn't allow this kind of insanity. If I ever so much as see a gun in someone's hand, I will immediately call 911. What tools American's make themselves look like.
you guys are smoking crack, i would and you would do the same thing if you noticed someone on your property without authorization!!
If he was black, she would have shot first and asked questions later.
You know what...that woman was in her constitutional right to bear arms. Stop and think about it for a minute–you have a old woman who sees a strange man prowling her property... with as screwed up as times are...I'd fling out a pistol too. Between the cannibalistic murderers, the rapists, the home intrusions, and the con men who target older people....ya blame her? That woman probably had more experience with that pistol than the secret service men did with theirs. More power to ya, Sister!
Too much gun control will result in criminals having guns and no one else. They are not exactly following the laws to begin with. If you live in a rural area and something does happen, the police are not going to be there in seconds. you may have to defend yourself. Don't blame Texas for Bush way of thinking, he is from New Haven, Connecticut, and went to Yale and Harvard.
She was well within her rights. He (the reporter) was in violation. Being a journalist does not put him above the law or common sense.
This just shows the level of stupidity that permeates this once great land.
GUNS GUNS GUNS... When will we wake up and stop allowing so many guns to be in the hands of so many unstable people.
Columbine, No Illinois , Virginia Tech, countless workplace shootings, Mall shootings, innocent kids by thousand shot at home.
This madness MUST stop.
The NRA must be stopped before we lose control of our society.
He's not much of a journalist, eh?
No clue where he is, what he's doing, what's in the woman's hands, or what the laws are.
How did he get his job?
I wouldn't want a strange man wandering around my property, either.
Those of you who say you'd have no problem with a man wandering around your home are either lying, or ignorant.
This was not a group of kids, it was an adult male where he did not belong.
She did not shoot him, nor did she aim the gun at him.
The media is overreacting, protecting their own.
How typical.
I live in Johannesburg, South Africa, supposedly the crime centre of the universe, and not even OUR baddies would shoot a Danish journalist!! Go granny go.
If you are in trouble and call the police by the time they arrive all they can do is take pictures of your dead body and write up the report. The police can not be everywhere all the time, particularly in rural areas.
This woman determined there "may be a threat" to her. She armed herself and meet the "possible" threat. She determined that he was not a threat and did not shoot him. What she did was legal and the non threat was not harmed.
My question is what would have happened if this really was a bad guy and she did not have a weapon?
Have you ever been victim of a home invasion? Well I have. While I was inside, watching my door being torn from the frame and fall into my living room, had I owned a gun instead of mace, the story would have ended quite differently. Don't judge this lady until you have experienced it. (And I"m a Grandmother also.)
This is a gun incident? Yes a gun was in her hand, but there was also a strange man approaching this elderly woman's home. If she had the physical means to protect herself I doubt any gun would be involved. As it stands, she perceived a threat and took a precaution. She did not shoot anyone; she did not recklessly aim the pistol at the man or fire a shot in his direction.
I shake my head at posts like "the world is laughing at you" and "I'm ashamed of our nation." When did it become appropriate to mock and scorn an elderly woman who was merely putting herself in a more defensible position?
1. She didn't use the gun, it was backup.
2. He wouldn't have left is she hadn't had a visible reason for him to leave. He wouldn't have left just because a "woman" told him to, especially an older woman.
3. Three cheers for the home owner! I'm glad she was successful in getting him to leave.
I really doubt she would have used the gun unless he had tried to enter her house.
Note to 2ndAmdSuppter – you are a crazed gun nut. Take two aspirin and go to bed with your gun. Make sure that safety is on!
WHY THINK ABOUT KILLING SOMEONE BECAUSE HE WALKED ON YOUR LAWN?
HERE IN THE REST OF THE WORLD, WE FIND THIS SLIGHTLY WEIRD, YOU COULD SAY....
If I were an elderly woman, home alone, and saw a man speaking a foreign language into a cell phone standing only feet from my front window(look at the picture) I may have reacted the same way. She never pointed the gun at the man. She simply told him to leave her property, which she has every right to do. I have read many times in the news about home invasions on senior citizens where the women are beaten and raped, so good for her at not wanting to become another victim. I am a liberal democrat from NJ.
The grandma was just being clear in her expectations. For all those idiots that think owning a gun should be against the law, if you don't like it change it. All you have to do is amend the constitution. Have at it. Only problem is, 90% of Americans don't agree with you.
Now you know why we haven't had a terrorist attack in Texas. No gun control unless it means you can hit what you are aiming at. Not now, not ever. And my granny, who stays at home by herself in a rural area has a gun and knows how to use it.
Oh my God, what a mean, nasty, hateful bunch of people Americans have become. Defending herself? Her property? Stupid, arrogant foreigner? Ungrateful Europeans?
What has become of us?
All of you anti-gun nuts make me laugh. You whine about what a terrible country America has become. You twist the words of the press to suit your own agenda. The lady did not shoot. The lady was not senile (as far as the article describes her). This homeowner was well within her rights to protect her property. An armed elderly female would certainly need an edge again a younger male.
Anti-gunners complain that there is more gun control needed. Do you folks STILL not understand that gun control won't work? All gun control would do is limit the law abiding citizens of the country to protect their lives and property. Criminals don't give a hoot about gun control laws...which is why they are armed. Wake up from your Utopian slumber and smell the coffee!
LOL. We DID have guns in europe.
we just accepted the fact that arming people doesnt do much good.
when you guys finally decide that 50,000 american gun deaths a year isnt really acceptable, i'm sure you'll follow suit.
The American south is full of the most uneducated, racist idiots the world has ever seen. No wonder the American economy is collapsing and Europeans win all the important awards at the Oscars. This woman's house is probably worth $30,000 (ie. 2 euros.)
What a bunch of psychos some of the commenters are. The woman wasn't 'protecting herself' because nobody was attacking her. It was just a guy on the edge of her property, talking on his phone. Get over it. No wonder people think Texans are dumb.
Well, she does have the right to bear arms, and obviously didn't shoot him, but people in this country are ignorant and trigger happy. Honestly, what is the logic behind her thoughts? If I have this gun I am safe? I am sure that if he had been a criminal, he wouldn't have been standing on her front lawn in the middle of the day, as such, a logical person would have asked him to move.
Coachbarbie..."The Americans on this board basically sound like a bunch of Neanderthals.?
How do you know what a "bunch of Neanderthals" sound like?
The coaches on this board sound like a bunch of idiots.
Americans. Even their IQ's were purchased at discount prices.
That's Texas for you, solve all your conflicts with a gun, remind you of anyone?....
Why should only law enforncement have firearms? If I called 911 how long would it take them to arrive if I needed help? I am it would be too late to help me if someone was trying to kill me. This is why I have CHL license so I can carry a handgun legally to protect myself and family.
First, from the photo, the man was standing right near her front door, and she is approaching in a non-threatening manner with the gun by her side. Many posts are saying "someone walks on your front yard so you can shoot him..."" hmm, he's still standing, he walked away... she didn't shoot him. She exercised restrainted and her legal rights, rights he, the reporter, violated as a visitor in our country.
For those of you saying "in the rest of the world, you can walk on someone's lawn and not get shot"...Hello and wake up... In Dafur, you can walk on someone's street and get hacked to death with a mechete; in Columbia, you can be visiting, or even helping the locals, and you can be abducted, held hostage for years, raped and have your baby delivered in a jungle with a butter knife C-section; in Iraq, a little boy playing in HIS OWN YARD can be brutally burned beyond recognition...
oh let's not forget, it's the Americans who are helping that little boy, it's the American soldiers trying to help in these other countries... that's right ....let's all hate the Americans, except for when we need them and their guns.
Despite what you may think now, our founding fathers had the foresight to Constitutionally guarantee our right to bear arms for a reason.
Only in America.
ha ha! the only thing more funny then this story, is all the euro's showing up to smack-talk america. News-flash folks: we are a nation of self-reliant, independent, people, formed from the best your nations had to offer. Our ancestors got tired of your mindless tolerance to oppression, and in leaving, founded a nation where people are “allowed” to depend on themselves. We wouldn’t expect you to understand. If you did, you’d be one of us.
If a strange looking Danish jouralist mindlessly wonders onto my property he'll be looking down a shotgun too.
Moral of the story:
Hang up and pay attention to the bylaws if you don't want bad things to happen to you for no reason.
She's just a crazy old woman, leave her alone. Us texans aren't all like that...
"I'm glad I live in a state that doesn't allow this kind of insanity."
A person protecting their property while acting within the confines of the law and using the best tools for the job is not allowed in your state? Please tell what state that is so that none of us move there by mistake.
"If I ever so much as see a gun in someone's hand, I will immediately call 911."
As well you should; guns belong in holsters or other proper storage and only in the hand when their use is imminent. If you see a law abiding citizen with a gun in their hand, we would love it if you could call 911 for us, because we're probably a little busy.
Good for the lady! Protecting herself and her property, as the law allows her to do. And I'll be willing to bet that that gun is registered too – that she's complying with all of the laws on the books.
Were it me, I'd've brought my own double-barrel shotgun out – even unloaded, a shotgun tends to get people's attention very quickly!
What is truly amazing to me is that with so few facts on the matter everyone is so eager to characterize the people in the article as either a "gun totin' nut case" who brazzenly drew down on some poor unsuspecting innocent who came within seconds of being killed... OR "some insensitive jerk who practically stalked this "poor unsuspecting grandmother" who had no choice but to defend herself. It truly is amazing how with just a basic sketch we can fill in the gaps in our actual knowledge with our own prejudices and opinions. In point of fact that is what I find most disturbing about this article.
Do Danish people always wonder around their neigbors yards when talking on the cell? Is this related to having no government for months at a time??
To Geoff I would say that you make a good point about What Would Jesus Do. That's a great point, and in an ideal world more people would take that into consideration.
However, the world is not ideal and many people do not practice what they preach.
To your question: What if Europeans had guns? I would say that people probably wouldn't act the way you noted if they did. I know when I traveled in London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, Zagreb, Manchester, Amsterdam, Firenze, Roma, Napoli, Bologna, and dozens of other European cities I tried to be a better tourist than you describe. I also was aware that while Europeans don't have guns, they do have knives (and they use them) and they do have bombs (and they use them). So, while guns are off the list of threats, they are not as genteel as you seem to try to indicate.
first of all how can any of yall relatre this story to president bush also how can you say it was a gun incident did she shoot the guy no it never even said a shot was fired but she got the guy to leave didnt she and as for the reporter he needs to pay more attention to what hes doing in another country all you hippie democrates need to take note if you wanna be safe come be a neighbor if you wanna take our guns come try it i dare ya and if you cant get over your nasty prejudice about others then you realy need to take a look at what you stand for you hypocrites