Would you kill someone in defense of yourself and/or someone else?

Without hesitation i would kill to protect myself or others. I would never take a life unless I absolutely had to, but if I had to, then I would do whats necessary. If I could neutralize them without killing them even better

@mimic,

In a, I was young and spinning out of control so my mind went to thoughts like that as a pathetic attempt to try to seize some control, kinda way. I’ve grown out of it, but the thoughts still emerge.

In a, I want to align my actions to only positive consequence outcomes, kinda way.

There’s no guilt involved.

without second thought and I’d never regret it. (as long as its defense.)

“This is not a scenario where you have time to ponder what type of confrontation it is, all that you know is someone is coming at you with a weapon and you have a choice, allow the fear of the situation to immobilize you and die, or embrace the fear and act. ”

Ofcourse not. Thinking about the specifics of circumstance are relatively useless in such a situation, I was just offering perspective that people might reflect on for future reference. I am not advocating the passive approach, I am advocating…the surgical approach.

“And I could just be reading what you wrote wrong, are you suggesting that in the parameters of the scenario, you would not act in a way that ensures your survival, even if that meant killing them?”

I can’t say. In such a scenario I suspect neither person is getting off unscathed if, for whatever reason, he is willing to risk his life for mine. When a man is willing to die, you lose a lot of leverage in a situation and it’s usually best to disappear…but that’s not really an answer. I don’t have qualms about hurting someone, I just don’t want to do it because I lost control.

“Have you been in a life/death scenario before? I haven’t,”

I have difficulty recognizing life or death scenarios. I’ve been held at knife point and known I was relatively safe, yet been chased out of a bar by a fat man I knew would flatten me to death if he caught me…sense of propriety for circumstance is lacking I fear.

“but I’ve spoken to several who have, soldiers, cops, friends who have been in fights, and in those moments you either act or die/get pummeled. I would not kill the person out of fear, I would kill them out of protection, protection from a reality they are forcing on me.”

Like I said, it’s not a matter of lethality that I am against, it’s the excuses behind using it that I find repulsive. If someone dies because you defended yourself, that’s regrettable. If you choose to kill someone because they threatened you, that’s retarded.

I dont know about anyone else but ,I would not want to even be in that choice of things.So……the question is not really even one I would want to ponder!

@bongodeburrito, if anyone tried to harm my mother, father, sister or closest friends – hell yes I would kill them. And of course in my own defense if I was well equipped. Stay the fuck away from me and those who I love if your looking to kill.

I would take on whole gang of assailants using nothing but spaghetti to render them unconscious, while at the same time making sure nobody is harmed in anyway. Totally.
This discussion is silly. Of course almost everyone would rather kill an attacker than be killed. This type of romanticized situation is better left to the movies. So are all of your ideas of what you would do in th the scenario.
I imagine that most of you that say you would kill an armed attacker would actually run away, if somehow this ridiculous scenario were to be played out.
What kind of person in the 21st century tries to kill someone with a knife? Either a drunk, a drugged out maniac, or a lunatic. Probably one that has a history of success in violent altercations.
Death sounds like a very serious possibility if you try to attack this hypothetical bad guy. Depending on your surroundings, size, experience, and caliber of your gun, you may have a chance to kill them before you are killed. You still most likely will be injured. A good percentage would either run away or be killed though.
And how many of you carry a fun with you anyway?

Survival is the most basic instinct. Something threatens your life its fight or flight. You either stand your ground or you run. Either is risky, you stand your ground and its too late because they have the upper hand or you run and they catch you and have you from behind which is a very vulnerable spot. No one can be a 100% sure what they will do until they are actually in the situation, but answering the question if it came down to me or them it will always be me, same goes for protecting my loved ones.

@bongodeburrito, These type of scenarios are why part of why I want to train in Krav Maga or anything that would allow me to use nothing more than hands and feet to disable the attacker, and if I kill him.. well he was trying to kill me so that sounds like his bad to me. I do own a gun, it’s mostly to shoot for fun, but if I had to use it, I certainly would. (aka my life or one of the people I consider family’s life is in immediate danger)

Yes, and I’ll paint your walls red for free :]