What is the threshold of acceptable intelligence? One person's bacon is anothers living room buddy.

If my life is threatened then I have a right and need to exert an opposite and equal force to preserve my life and my family's life.

With reguards to meat, eat what you need and not to excess. Do not waste.

In a philosophical way it's native American in concept.

Bad news, in the end we all die, no one gets out alive.

"...in the end we all die, no one gets out alive."

It's certainly possible but I prefer for now to engage in the positive thinking that I'm not going to die. Not only in the next few hours but certainly not the next few months or years. Since I didn't exactly come with an expiration date, I'm not planning or dying at all. Possibly I'll change my opinion should the date involved be far enough into the future and the acceptance of it being sufficiently lucrative.

It just seems like such a collection of negative waves to accept that idea of death. Science and medicine moves forward by inches and sometimes by miles.

Waste is truly the enemy of life.

"When writing the story of your life, don't let anyone else hold the pen."

People need to own up to the lifestyles they lead.

Do stupid things, win stupid prizes.

Hindus consider cows to be sacred, reincarnated family members. But I will give up my cheeseburgers when you pry them out of my cold, dead, stiff fingers.........

We can jump horses as needed.

Although that eternal damnation clause caught my eye.

No human I know is capable of photosynthesis for all you fellow killers out there.

for prey animals like deer. To shoot any, say, buck deer is to rather blindly kill off potential "trophy" size deer and thus prevent their contribution to the gene pool. Once a deer has fully matured and has its biggest "rack," it has contributed mightily and often to the gene pool, and is in decline. Often at his age, the trophy buck is no longer sexually active, but is consuming much of the browse in its range before dying a year or two later.

The problem is some game ranches which keep breeding deer populations in close proximity to each other, thereby contributing to disease like chronic wasting disease. This to say nothing of delivering a hunter to a WiFi, heated deer stand or bline sonthat he/she can "shop" for a deer. This practice is coming under sharp criticism from numerous hunting and outdoor magazines.

Other than that, it is acceptable to kill in self-defense.

I mind the waste involved in taking only a trophy.

This is a quote from the series "Firefly", but I think pretty much true.

The big question is: are these persons really trying to cause your death?

...it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun."

http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/dalailama.asp

I don't hunt, and haven't for more than 30 years, because killing other living things should have a purpose, and hunting wasn't a good enough reason for me. All I shoot now is paper and clay.

However, if someone were to threaten my family - especially my grandchildren - I believe I would be able to pull the trigger to keep them safe. I hope never to be in that situation, but if I am, I have made my peace with what would happen.

What more can anyone ask? Thanks

I don't take this subject lightly. Life is a gift, and it should not be ended without a damn good reason.

Especially when discussed on public forums.

...not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." - Helen Keller

Last edited Tue Sep 27, 2016, 10:16 AM - Edit history (1)

...

...Not every man really lives." - William Wallace

for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought, for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race."

Walton, Frankenstein

-- me

Colonel Sherman T. Potter

USMC Rules of Gun Fighting #23.

"“Great. Now we can shoot at those bastards from every direction.””

Chesty Puller

against gun owners.

...Arms dealers. Because everyone else is too busy killing each other. That's the secret to survival. Never go to war. Especially with yourself." - Yuri Orlov (Lord of War, 2005)

"The problem with gun runners going to war, is that there is no shortage of ammunition." - Simeon Weisz (Lord of War, 2005)

The arms dealers are the evil ones; the rest of us are just doing what we're good at.

Self-defense should never involve deliberate killing. Now, that's not to say that using deadly force in self-defense is wrong. You use such force to stop someone from harming you, which will often result in the attacker's death. But your purpose is to stop the attack, not to kill the attacker.

Subtle but important difference.

The use of a means of deadly force in self-defense is generally also the most certain and efficacious means to end the attack. Non-deadly or less deadly means are usually less so and generally not certain to not be deadly.

While this is a distinction, I remain unconvinced that in today's criminal climate and technological stage, there is a difference in practice. Important yes but IMHO not impactful. The only thing that should make a self-defense weapon non-lethal is the good judgement and reserve of its owner.

Thanks for the thoughts.

If the attack has risen to the level of being lethal, a lethal defense is always morally, and usually legally, acceptable and expected.

That said, the goal of the defense is not to kill the attacker but to get the attack to stop. While the death of the attacker is an acceptable outcome, it is not the goal.

Besides, you might be misunderstanding the situation.

Correctly?

I don't need to be correct about the situation. I just need to be "reasonable" about it.
Reasonable being "ability, opportunity, jeopardy".

I am not deciding to kill some one. I am deciding to use lethal force in the defense against a lethal force attack with the goal of stopping the attack. If the attacker ends up dying, that is his own fault, not mine.

Agreed as I said upthread.

As Thomas Aquinas said: