Cabbie Packs Heat, Facing Murder Charges

July 16 -- When an argument turned into fisticuffs between an Austin, Texas cab driver and two of his passengers last October, the driver pulled out a .45 caliber handgun and mortally shot both men.

Forty-four states allow people to carry concealed weapons, and the killings in Texas add to the already heated debate over whether carrying a concealed gun increases public safety or whether it leads to unnecessary deaths.

Last Fare

At approximately 1 a.m., after a night out celebrating Lance Hughes' upcoming wedding, Hughes and his co-worker Kevin Macdonald, both employees at an Austin Internet company, decided to share a cab home. Wayne Lambert, 54, picked them up.

According to Lambert, Hughes was drunk and insulted him. The two men exchanged verbal jabs and then, according to Lambert, Hughes swung at him. Lambert said he then stopped the car and demanded the passengers get out of the cab.

At this point, Lambert said, Macdonald got out of the car and said to his friend, "Help me kick this taxi driver's ass." The driver said the two passengers then attacked him. Lambert claims he reacted by pulling out his gun, which he kept tucked under his clothes.

"I drew, and I thought when they saw the gun, they'd back off," said Lambert. But he said they continued fighting him so he blindly started shooting. "I just pulled the trigger as fast as I could," he said.

Seconds later, Hughes lay on the ground with three bullet wounds to the back. Macdonald was shot in the chest at point-blank range.

Lambert said he then staggered back to his cab and called his dispatcher to report what had happened.

'I Don't Want to Be a Victim'

Prosecutors brought charges of capital murder against him, but Lambert who died in jail while awaiting trial, said it was a justifiable killing — an example of the benefit of carrying a concealed weapon. "I thought they might kill me," he told ABCNEWS.

Not surprisingly, he was a strong advocate of the right to carry concealed guns. "Do I have the right to defend my life?" he asked rhetorically. "I just don't want to be a victim out there."