It happened at Floyd County flea market on Thursday, when two friends, who were firearms vendors there, drew guns after quarreling about the war. Douglas Moore, 65, of Martin, who supports the war, shot and killed Harold Wayne Smith, 56, of Manchester, who opposed it, according to investigators.

Moore was released without being charged after he convinced police he had acted in self-defense. Commonwealth's Attorney Brent Turner said the episode might mark the first death in the U.S. due to a dispute over the war. One witness, Sam Hamman of Prestonsburg, told a newspaper, "Harold was talking about the 14 people that were killed in Iraq the other day and Doug said that just as many people were killed on the highways here.

This quickly escalated into an argument, then to a scuffle, and finally both men drew pistols outside a snack shed.