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American Sniper Author Shot and Killed at TX Gun Range

Robert Farago - comments No comments

Chris Kyle (courtesy commonsenseevaluation.com)

“A former Tarleton State University student who wrote the best-selling book, ‘American Sniper,’ was one of two victims shot and killed at Rough Creek Lodge Saturday,” yourstephenvilletexas.com reports. “Chris Kyle and another [as yet unnamed] man were found dead at Rough Creek’s shooting range between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Saturday, according to Sheriff Tommy Bryant. Eddie Ray Routh was arrested just before 9 p.m. Friday in Lancaster . . . Kyle, 38, was a former Navy SEAL who served four tours of duty in Iraq, where he was given the nickname ‘The Devil of Ramadi’ by insurgents. In 2008, he made his longest successful shot after he spotted an insurgent with a rocket launcher near a U.S. Army convoy at a range of 2,100 yards (1.2 miles).”

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “American Sniper Author Shot and Killed at TX Gun Range”

  1. Why do so many of the anti-gun proposals all include “blah blah common sense blah”?

    If it really was Common why are they having to work so hard to get the changes (bans) they want?

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  2. It looks like a posed photo with the shotgun but not actually firing it. The smoke coming out of the barrel and right side porting is much more than I’ve seen over years of shooting ported Brownings. The porting is equal on both sides of the barrel rib, where is the smoke from the left side ports? You might rarely see a shotgun at a clays shoot with only one extended choke tube but it seems ridiculous on the shotgun used by the POTUS.

    In that environment glasses that dark would make it difficult to see the bird, light colored lenses would be the pick. The barrel angle doesn’t seem off to me, station 4 or 5 could present that kind of elevation depending on the range set up, also anytime you shoot at clay birds even with a hand thrower people tend to call it skeet shooting.

    I’m no photography expert so maybe a really fast shutter speed could account for it but there should be more signs of recoil. There is a little blurring on the gun but his arms, face, and shoulders show nothing.

    All this means nothing of course, I don’t care if he shoots clay birds or not. I care whether he upholds the 2A not to mention the entire Constitution and Bill of Rights.

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  3. there are a lot of nasty comments on the washington post article about you RF. we stand behind you 100%. keep up the good work to all the TTAG staff.

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  4. What? No one came up with “All gun owners must allow a non-tax-paying family on full government assistance to live in their home, and must provide them a vehicle and meal allowance, at the rate of one family (up to 11 people) per firearm”?
    These people just aren’t thinking bold enough.

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  5. For your own sake, don’t read the comment section. It’s bad enough that they project some kind of laughable paramilitary image on to anyone who owns anything more threatening looking than a slingshot, but to bring his kids into the discussion is down right despicable.

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  6. “A truly comprehensive bill that will stop these massacres.”

    Where is any measure to deal with the mental defects that actually commit these acts?

    This is pathetic.

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  7. Wow. I am in shock. I never imagined the day would come to such a man so early in his prime. My condolences go to him and his family. R.I.P.

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  8. This is why you always want to bring a buddy to the range. Questionable just how helpful it’d have been, especially if the other guy was his buddy anyway, but good practice nonetheless. Regardless of that, no one deserves to be cut down in recreational time. A decorated veteran…that only makes it worse.

    Rest in peace; you’ve earned a heroes respite.

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  9. The article depressed me because of the level of writing. The article came off as rather simplistic and the author gave off an element of “I’m only doing this because I was told by my editor to do an article. Therefore, I will merely transcribe the interview, so I can move on to something more aligned with my world view.”

    My two cents. That and 98 cents will get a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

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  10. I’m halfway through reading his book. This is shocking. To prevail as he did in combat and then be subject to this back home. I’m so sorry for his wife and kids.

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  11. Harry Jus’ Luv him some Commie Dictators having swapped spit with a number of Sabel Skinned Soviets.
    PLZ note the American flag in the BG

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  12. Belafonte is one of the most racists hacks in this country.

    The election of Obama proves that whites generally are not racists but blacks generally are. He’s one of the pack leaders of racism.

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  13. This is crazy, I am really shocked. Truly sad…
    Waiting to hear the rest of the story. Something does not make sense here. Not saying a conspiracy, but this guy had situational awareness beyond most, how does this happen.

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  14. We can’t. Americans have, for decades, been brainwashed into statist, lazy, dependent morons who have been taught to loathe logic and embrace emotion. Our “fellow Americans” are our greatest enemies.

    Forget trying to win people. It’s never going to happen in any large-scale way. All we can do is crush and defeat them.

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  15. Let’s break this down:

    A pair of trained and situationally-aware individuals are taken down for no reason whatsoever, at a gun range presumably filled with trained and situationally-aware individuls. The attacker somehow retreives the keys to Kyle’s truck, eludes all other range attendees, and makes a clean break.

    Doesn’t completely sit well with me. Especially on the bleeding tail end of the mass letter signed recently by spec ops operators in support of 2A. Kyle was very well known in the spec ops community. A subtle message?

    Just sayin…

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  16. What a horrible tragedy. They took the young man out there to reach out to him, knowing he was having a hard time coming back to the world after his service overseas.

    Enough with the dumb-arse conspiracy theories, geesh.

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  17. My intro to black civil rights and guns was an early one. I was born in 69 in North Carolina so the civil rights era was still fresh and some scars were still raw.

    My dad’s best friend was a black man (I say black because he said black all his life) and I spent the vast majority of my time while not in school or while my dad wasn’t at work at Pon’s house. Now Pon was a giant of a man (think Shaquille O’Neill) but he always carried a gun. I was always a curios and inquisitive tike and was never shy about asking questions, so I naturally wanted to know why such a big man needed a gun when he could whoop anyone. The response was something like this “baby, (that’s what he called me always) if someone comes after my big ass they going to have a gun, this big rabbit needs to shoot back.”

    That sort of sticks with you when you get older, learn the real history and think of the ramifications for someone you love dearly and who had a ton of influence on your life.

    I don’t know it first hand but I do know it second hand. Gun civil rights= black civil rights.

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  18. She’s wrong, wrong, WRONG! Everyone knows that ice cream is responsible for increased murders. The homicide rate goes up in summer when ice cream sales go up, so eating ice cream must drive people to kill each other. We need to BAN BLUEBELL!

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  19. Just found this site while perusing the web. Enjoyed reading the comments and some of the articles /reviews. I’m still amazed at how some would have views that contradict our constitutional rights. Freedom of choice, etc. This country was created on having freedom. I wouldn’t begrudge someone else in doing or having something that doesn’t effect me.
    I received my first 22 rifle from my father at 12 yrs. old. He taught me the proper handling of firearms and the responsibility that went with it. Like a right of passage from a boy to a young man. There was a bonding moment at that point also. Shooting targets in the back woods was an enjoyable moment for me with my dad. He knew that I had enjoyed shooting at scout camp. I still have that gun and would not ever sell it for any amount of money. Then I got older and he took me out with him deer hunting. I didn’t carry a gun. I just was offered the experience to be with my dad on a trip into the woods. More bonding. I had my first skeet shooting experience at 14 with friends of the family,uncles and my father. More bonding and growing up.
    My point is that at each stage of my growing older it was an enjoyable time to shoot and spend time with others doing the same. There wasn’t violent teaching or the thought of killing other people infused in the time spent. It seems to me that people think that. They think when you are taught to use a gun ,you are taught to be violent. It’s quite the contrary. You are taught that you have a great responsibility and to respect that.
    Now I’m a dad. I have 3 kids. Two daughters 15 & 13 and a son that’s 11. I offered to take them to shoot my first 22 rifle. If they want. I won’t force them. They know that I have a few guns and I explained to them what’s right and what’s wrong. I will have even further discussion with them when we go to the range for the first time.
    Some would think that you become a crazed maniac when your a gun owner. I’m a casual gun owner that enjoys shooting them now and again. Not a raving maniac that some would have you believe. Protect our rights in this country. Our forefathers gave them to us and its up to all of us to make sure we keep them. Keep up the good work on this site.

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  20. I feel like I’ve learned a lot by reading this blog and many of the thoughtful comments here over the past year+. Unfortunately browsing the comments following the article at the WashPo site I feel a little dumber now.

    Great website RF, keep up the good work! If this site ever goes away I’ll have a good chunk of free time back I’ll have to figure out how to fill.

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  21. I just finished reading this book, He says he wanted to get the bad guys to save American lives, He put his life on the line many times : 2 silver stars,5 bronze stars with valor,2 Navy and Marine corps commendation, and Grateful nation award….160 confirmed kills, but in the book he had much more, but someone had to see it …A GREAT AMERICAN >>>>>>>THANKS

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  22. I am not worried about a clay target kicking in my back door. Is this picture supposed to make us think King Barry is a shooter, yeah right!

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  23. “There is a dramatic increase in gun violence when it is warmer. “

    Anyone who has seen Predator and Predator 2 knows why.

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  24. So . . . where’s the pro-gun ad?

    The NFL is completely anti-gun, and it wouldn’t run a pro-gun ad for all the money in Bloomberg’s and Soros’ combined bank accounts.

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  25. Many in the comments section of the Wapo article didn’t care for u, but that was to be expected. U really put parkas on your dogs?

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  26. RF, what is it with you and models anyway? It’s like a cat transfixed by a dangling shiny object… Now for the serious stuff:

    Dear CT (and any other state that seeks to infringe our rights),
    You’ve made it clear that you disagree with one of the most basic tenets of our country’s constitution. If you feel so strongly about this, I think the time has come for you to secede from the union. Then you will be free to write any sort of constitution you wish. I don’t live in your state but these infringements you are attempting to pass into law affect more than just your state’s citizens. We live in a very mobile society and this gawd-awful mish-mash of gun laws are so disjointed and confusing as to essentially prohibit law abiding citizens from exercising this essential right while traveling. We’ve had enough. If you want to prohibit guns in your state then get out. Form your own country and piss off. But stop infringing on our rights.

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  27. Zeroharbor,
    Innocent until proven guilty is an American legal construct and has no bearing on moral judgement. Kyle admitted to his killings, even celebrated them. You’re right that I can’t judge his heart, I’m just judging his actions. Those actions were the deliberate taking of human life without moral justification. While Kyle claimed “defense of self or others”, the fact is that he had no business being there. It’s analogous to a home invader claiming self-defense when he kills the resident because the home owner resisted the invasion.

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  28. I bought a win SX3, but it was black so maybe he considers that an assault rifle as well. It can shoot 12 rounds in under a second and a half….

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  29. “Or put another way, that’s 3,649 new cops on the streets.”

    OK? Cops don’t stop OR reduce crime, they show up AFTER it’s been committed. Sandy Hook ring a bell? Va Tech ring a bell? That’s why we need CCWs.

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  30. On a related note, is anybody here an Arma 2 fan? My son introduced it to me awhile ago, and it’s one of the few non-strategy games that I actually enjoy.

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  31. Sadly, I am reminded of what happened in Australia and their pro-gun-rights Protests.
    The US Constitution is being used to wipe Zeke’s hiney, will protests make a differance or simply provide camera time for DHS?

    Reply
  32. Hmmm, between Mr. Purdy here, Nick, myself and some others on here, I would think it makes a statement that so many emergency healthcare providers have guns.

    Welcome and thanks for sharing, brother

    Reply

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