Anybody who listens to The Ticket in Dallas knew who Carter was by name even though he had nothing to do with the local sports scene. On the other hand, everybody in the Dallas music community knew that the guy was one hell of a songwriter and musician.

But Carter Albrecht, 34, died over the Labor Day holiday, the result of terrible misfortune.

Now, I didn't know the guy personally, but I talked with and even played with Ticket host Mike Rhyner a couple times, part of an audition process for his Tom Petty cover band. So, indirectly, I always kind of felt an indirect kinship to both the world of the little Ticket and his niche within the music community.

Albrecht was never known as violent -- anything but. However, over the holiday, he got drunk, hit his girlfriend and wandered over to another home in east Dallas, banging on a window and yelling. Did he know it was not the house he was supposed to be at?

Didn't matter. A wife awakened her husband, letting him know of an intruder. He reached for a weapon and fired a "warning shot" through a back door that was supposed to go over the intruder's head.

It killed the "intruder," a man who stood 6 feet 5 inches. It killed a local music icon.

The tragedy has raised national concern about a drug called Chantix, which Albrecht was taking to help him quit smoking. Apparently, the instructions warn about possible behaviorial changes, particularly when the drug is taken in concert with alcohol.

The violence toward the girlfriend, in this case, was truly a first-time, one-time thing, and very likely was a case of psychotic behavior. Whether it was caused by the drug or something else, everybody who knows the guy said it was so unlike him that they literally didn't recognize the soul inhabiting Albrecht's body.

Likewise, a lot is being said about gun ownership, gun use and gun laws, including Dallas' castle doctrine, which basically covered the homeowner in this shooting. I'll be honest. I'm not a gun person. Not at all; however, I firmly believe in a homeowner's right to protect himself, and in this case, it was completely justified.

However, a couple points if I may. Despite Gordon Keith's wish that we focus on the loss of a good person instead of focusing on issues central to this misfortune, I'd suggest this is the perfect time to address some tough topics.

By having that weapon in the house, by its very existence, it eliminated more effective, more creative and less deadly options for the homeowner in determining whether somebody was trying to break into his home.

First, why not reach for a baseball bat or a can of mace to start with before deciding on lethal force? Why would it not have been reasonable, except on some machismo-based principle, for the homeowner and his wife to escape through the front door until police could scour the house and the neighborhood.

I completely understand that the law is in place for homeowners to protect themselves, and I completely understand the concept that a man's home is his castle, and that he should not have to leave it in any circumstance as it's related to a violation of that property.

However, I am willing to bet, 100 percent, that this homeowner, who sounded very distraught in a 911 call, would gladly have opted for a less lethal form of protection if given the chance right now.

And that's fine. I understand gun advocates will rip me for not "getting it," but I totally get it. Having the lethal weapon at your fingertips, regardless of training, makes it too easy to eliminate fight-or-flight reasoning.

In my final month in Dallas, I heard somebody trying to break into my apartment. I called 911, and it took them two hours to get there because they couldn't find an apartment complex that is literally next to Central Expressway. The sheer incompetence in an emergency situation was befuddling.

Believe me, I understand why a weapon is needed for protection.

Why it must be a gun first as opposed to something else, however, is the question. The facts are clear as spring water: You're much more likely to kill a friend, a loved one or an acquaintance with a personal weapon than an actual attacker.

You're even more likely to be killed with your weapon.

My condolences certainly go out to his buddies and the local indie community there in Dallas, but it is our responsibility as good citizens to question whether this situation could have been handled better by the homeowner, and not for the sake of punishing him.

He committed no crime.

He did what most other homeowners would have done given the same situation.

And that's the problem. Solutions won't come easy.