There comes a point in every child’s life when they learn that Santa isn’t a real person. I do tend to like the concept that he’s real, but as an idea, but that’s not particularly relevant. It’s just timely considering what Wednesday was.

What is relevant, though, is that there are a lot of other things people should learn either are or aren’t real. The promises of communism aren’t real, for example, but the Law of Supply and Demand is.

Also, FAFO–otherwise known as F*** Around and Find Out–is very real, as a group of Texas teens found out when they thought it would be a blast to try and commit an armed robbery.

Yes. In Texas.

It went about like you’d expect.

Three armed boys were shot by a man they tried to rob outside his home in Texas, authorities said. 

A total of four boys, aged 12 to 14, approached the would-be victim, 25, near his apartment on the 12700 Block of North Houston Rosslyn Road in Houston on Thursday shortly after midnight. 

The man told police that the boys had pistols, but the man was also armed – and fired at them outside of his Willow Plaza Apartments home. 

…

Deputies detained the man and the fourth child for questioning and several weapons were collected from the crime scene. 

The adult is said to be cooperating with the ongoing investigation. Even though he was not immediately detained, he stayed at the scene when authorities arrived.

Investigators are determining whether the guns the boys used were BB guns or actual pistols.

‘Of all things, being Christmas, and this is a child, first thing that comes to my mind is, number one, where is the parent. Number two, if you got here with a gun, what are you doing out here with a gun?’ Bailey told KHOU. 

Fair questions.

These kids may well have had BB guns, but when it’s pointing at you in a dark parking lot, no one is going to measure the barrel diameter. I assure you, they all tend to look like a .50 caliber when they’re in your face.

So, from what we’ve seen, it looks like four kids thought it would be a blast to rob this dude, didn’t account for the fact that they were in Texas, three of them got shot and the fourth is probably looking at serious charges. Note that the report says “several weapons” were collected from the scene. That means there was more than the armed citizen’s firearm.

Under my Texas law, as I understand it, there won’t be any charges against the man. He defended himself from what sure looked like a reasonable threat from here, and I’m sure a DA will see it the same way.

Folks, kids aren’t immune to getting shot. They’re not immune from being complete idiots and trying to hold up an armed individual who will then use a gun to defend himself or herself. If they test the principle of FAFO, they will find out so freaking hard that it’s not even amusing.

Well, it’s a little amusing, really.