UPPING THE ANTE. In 1933, the Texas Bankers Association offered a reward for "legally" killing bank robbers. Each member of the association paid a subscription fee. The reward was paid if hte robber was killed with a firearm, during the daytime, in the bank or leaving the bank, within 5 miles of the bank and 1 hour of the robbery. The offer states "the Association will not give one cent for live bank robbers. They are rarely identified, more rarely convicted, and more rarely stay in the penitentiary when sent there...all of which operations are troublesome, burdensome, and costly to our government."