Does the story this song tells make much sense to anyone? The stranger went free "of course"?? The stranger was a psycho/sociopathic killer, even by open-carry-stand-your-ground standards. Damn right you can hang a man for killing a woman who "grabbed at" his horse - or you can get him for tax evasion, or something .....

Seriously, though, now that I think about it: anyone know what the law in the Old West would have been about killing someone in the unlikely event that they "grabbed at" your horse when you were standing right there with a Big Iron on your hip?