Crawford Neighbor Protests the Protest...With His Shotgun

This are getting a little tense down at the Wacko Woodstock:

More than 350 war protesters rallied at the site Saturday afternoon, hours after some 250 Bush supporters waved American flags in a counter rally across the street, holding signs that said Sheehan was unpatriotic and was hurting troop morale.

While about 60 in Sheehan's group held a religious service Sunday morning, a nearby landowner, Larry Mattlage, fired his shotgun twice into the air. Sheriff's deputies and Secret Service agents rushed to his house but did not arrest him.

"I ain't threatening nobody, and I ain't pointing a gun at nobody," Mattlage said. "This is Texas."

Mattlage said he was initially sympathetic toward the demonstrators, but that they have blocked roads in the area and caused traffic problems. He said he fired his gun in preparation for the dove-hunting season, but when asked if he had another motive, he said, "Figure it out for yourself."

Sheriff's deputies have kept a presence at the demonstrators' site, and more than a dozen law enforcement cars flanked the edge of the camp Saturday to keep them and the pro-Bush rally separated. A few from each side got into heated verbal exchanges, but no one was arrested.

I'm sure the neighbor's actions didn't thrill the cops and Secret Service, but it is Texas which has a right to carry law (for concealed weapons), and shooting on your own property in rural areas isn't against the law as long as you're not aiming at someone else.

I can understand the guy's frustration. I'd hate to have that collection of kooks traipsing around my house.