Could you kill someone?

[psychokillerornotkiller]

I was at a social event where a we were talking about gun crime in America. One woman said she had lived in America and was talking to an American women who had a gun which she said was for self defence. The woman at the social do said she said to her, ' But could you really kill someone with it?' To which the American woman apparently went silent, and the British woman at the social do declared, ' It was like she have never really thought about that!'.

The clear implication of the British woman's argument was that, of course no right minded person could shoot anyone, so there is not point in having a gun.

But I thought, ' I could kill someone. If someone was coming to kill me, and they were fair minded enough to give me time to reach into my bag and retrieve my gun, I would shoot them. And if they were coming for my child I would definitely shoot them. |I might be traumatised afterwards, but I would shoot them.'

I'd always assumed everyone was like me. But the British woman obviously assumes everyone is like her.

So, in genuine curiosity as to find out whether I am an outlying psycho, I thought I would put it to the vote.

YABU - I could never kill anyone
YANBU - I could kill someone.

Good for your grandad!

Most of the bullying, thuggish kids today who prey (or try to) on people like your grandad wouldn't be able to take the discipline of even the modern army (which is a lot more lax than it used to be), let alone the sort of lives our parents and grandparents experienced during the war. A lot of older people are tougher than you'd think.

They are stupid, cowardly buggers!

Agree with this. I wouldn’t hesitate twice and I’m absolutely peaceful quiet type conditioned to be nice and polite.

I could kill someone if I genuinely thought that either my life or my child's life was at risk.
However - I do know how to use a gun so I think I'd be ok to actually manage it.
An American friend, who kept a loaded gun in her bedside cabinet to "protect" herself, had never used a gun - I firmly suggested she go to a range and try it out to make sure that she actually knew how to get the safety off and use it.
Otherwise, the chances are she'd freeze and then any burglar would have a chance to get her gun off her and potentially use it against her

I just don’t know. I’d hope that if I came to a situation that it was my kids that suffered or I killed someone that I could do it. Gun rather than a knife.
I don’t think I could go after someone in revenge and kill them though.
Fingers crossed it’s never put to the test.

What training do you do?!

I get the rage if someone even looks at my dc funny. Don't worry. I keep it under control. If someone was actually threatening my dc, I would fuck them up.

I don’t agree with guns or the death penalty. But there is one specific person I would make sure didn’t live one more day on this earth if I had the means.

Thanks @Emotionalsupportviper

I used the word fantasy as an opposite of reality, I should've possibly worded it better so not as to confuse @Luredbyapomegranate

I don't sit there fantasising about the death of people who commit the most heinous of crimes either, however, when I hear of people committing such crimes on the news, I have a visceral reaction I can't describe, and I do have thoughts of 'I hope you die an horrendously painful death', or indeed, 'I'd be up for causing you an incredibly painful death'.

Yes. I have.

A number of years ago we were targeted by a gang in our remote farm. We had recently purchased 2 new vehicles and they came in to try and take them.

They chose to come in on a winters evening when they thought DW would be home alone with the DC (police believe they'd been watching us to establish our routines). We were heading out that evening so I had come home early and parked my vehicle in the barn where it lives, so it would have not been evident that I was back.

Unfortunately for them I had been out shooting and had a gun with me, I had only been home 20 minutes or so, so I had not had time to clean it and lock it away in it's safe.

2 masked men burst in and I ran for my study where it was propped against the radiator warming up. I got one in the chest and he died before he hit the floor, his fried was behind him and I fumbled my shot hitting his leg and an artery.
It made a lot of mess and he later lost the leg (good, the bastard deserved it.)

Anyway... lots of stress and grief and police questions later I was told they were happy that it was self defence and even gave me my guns back.

I don't feel the slightest shred of remorse, in fact quite honestly I wish they'd both died. Someone who thinks it's okay to wait for the husband to be out so they can break in and terrorise a woman and 2 small kids for a couple of sodding cars simply doesn't deserve to breathe in my book.

@SW2002 I'd consider that a good outcome. Wish more burglaries ended in the same way.

If it was kill or be killed then I absolutely would. I'm not sure if I'd feel remorse, it would depend on the situation I suppose.

I would kill to protect my children 💯 without hesitation

Are you assuming none of us already have killed someone?

I think almost all people could and would kill someone in the right set of circumstances, i.e. they were genuinely in fear for their life (or a loved one's life) and had the right opportunity to kill first. I say right opportunity because I think in many circumstances the opportunity would be very brief and many people would be too panicked or hesitant to seize it when they needed to.

That's exactly the way I understood your post.

I don't know how anyone could imagine that you were sitting in a hollowed-out volcano plotting "extreme rendition" measures on people you don't like.

Like you, it makes me physically ill when I see some of the suffering that some people inflict on the vulnerable, be they people or animals. I can't even watch it on drama programmes (I leave the room/cover my eyes until it's over). It's just sickening.

I admit that I did, yes!

RASH!

😂😂😂

This is the sort of scenario I imagine I would kill in and feel no real remorse.

I am very sorry it happened to you. Best wishes to you and your family.

Technically, yes I'd know what to do with a gun. Grew up on a farm, and my father had a fire arms license, as did all out neighbours. Two of my uncles were ex-army too and my father always had an interest. Different times today, but as a teen I would have fired at target, rabbits and crows.

Yes, I could kill someone. I remember distinctly talking to my husband when my first born was about a week old and saying it’s weird but the first time I know what it feels like to know you would kill for someone and also die for someone. It was like a switch where it was suddenly a no brainer that if anyone hurt my child I would kill them. Luckily he agreed!

I’m totally against guns but if someone came for my kids or my family I would kill with absolutely no hesitation

If my kids were sexually abused, or we were attacked, yes. I'd like to think I'd defend my dog with my life too, such is the love.

Yes. And I nearly did when the young children I was caring for and I were in what I thought at the time was a terrorist situation; I drove at a couple of blokes running in the middle of the road towards the car. This was seconds after a man covered in blood was banging on our windows and trying to open the rear passenger door where my then 5 year old charge was sitting.

Thankfully the running blokes moved out of my way. Especially because they happened to be police (who were chasing the bloke covered in blood).

I don’t think I could. I think my flight is more than my fight. I can see how people would, which worries me about US gun law