No Wonder Cowboys Wear Those Things - Brief Article

Steve Mackins just thought a fellow motorist needed help when his truck was hailed to stop on a rural road near Kings Mountain, N.C. It turned out the other guy didn't want help, just money-- and wanted it enough to shoot Steve in the belly for it.

The 41-year-old thought he was a goner, even though passersby bundled him into a car and rushed him to the nearest hospital emergency room. The poor guy was in so much pain it took the ER staff a couple of minutes to pull him out of his groaning, doubled-over position.

Then they broke out in smiles and explained to Steve that yes, you're gonna have a heck of a bellyache, but we call it "blunt trauma," not "gunshot wound." His heavy, ornate rodeo belt buckle had stopped the .25 ACP slug cold.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group