Only the most irrational gun enthusiasts are defending Mr. Reeves on newspaper comment boards and blogs. There is a class of very scared gun owners out there who claim they would have done the same thing as Mr. Reeves did under the circumstances. Flicked popcorn kernels constitute assault if Mr. Oulson threw it first.
They believe Mr. Oulson should've been packing heat for self-defense, which would've dissuaded Mr. Reeves from shooting him if he thought there was a reasonable chance he and his family might die in a fusillade of returning bullets. The shooter didn't have a reasonable fear of being shot. We need the homeostasis of the Old West to be safe.
Just as I postulated - the level of absurdity that some posters on this thread have pursued is being picked up by the gun-grabbers.
As I did, as well. And the word "absurd" has also popped up here upthread. Hope those who continued to beat a dead horse will take this unintended consequence to heart, assuming that they were posting in good faith and not just trolling to create damning quotes media can take out of context and used to slander CC and 2nd Amendment.