Aimed at understanding the gunmen system articulated with several cultural values, this article focuses on everyday life aspects of gunmen, through their own words. From that outlook, focusing on those words, some concepts take on new and relevant meanings, such as their understanding about punishment, vengeance, prowess and courage. In the trails of the 'suspicion logic', two informants - who express exemplar accounts to understand ordered crimes - have little by little established their spaces. One of them openly presented himself as a gunman, having committed crimes under someone else's order. The other one denied any involvement with gunmen's crimes, placing his deeds within the 'honor domain', motivated by revenge. The cases were built after interviews and their versions provided the guiding thread for the histories construed within the categories of 'avenger' and 'gunman'.
gunman; avenger; honor; revenge; courage; prowess; violence