Red State/Headscratchers

• The whole scene with the ATF agent and Cheyenne behind the house bugs me. First, there didn't seem to be a wall on that side of the house, so why not send agents to breach from that direction? Second, what was he trying to do by giving Cheyenne his backup handgun? If he wanted to make it look like a justified shooting, all he needed to do was plant it on her after killing her. If he couldn't bring himself to kill her and wanted the other agents to do it, he could have just sent her back into the house and returned to his post.
  • It appeared that he was trying to send her back in, she just wouldn't because she knew damn well what was going to happen if she did.
    • I guess my real question is about the gun. He was struggling to force it into her hand (after firing off the shots), but there was no need to do that while she was alive. Shoot her and throw the gun next to her body, that's how real Dirty Cops have done it. Wrestling with her to force the gun into her hand is what allowed the mother to sneak up on him.
    • That's not what I got from that scene at all. I assumed that he wanted her to live, and that he gave her the gun for self-defense.
      • Again, He fired off all the rounds first. Giving her an unloaded handgun does nothing for her or him.
  • Maybe he just was one of those kinds of guys that just couldn't shoot an unarmed person? Some people are just too good hearted for their own good and he may have been one of them. Who knows.
    • That's entirely possible, but then he had no reason to pretend she was armed by giving her an empty gun.