If you resort to violence over simple verbal taunts, then you should not own any firearms.

Oh really ,show me where I ever said I shot someone or that I would shoot someone, just because I would punch someones lights out does not make me a murderer , maybe you would and you have transfered your feelings of murderous rage to apply to me,like a liberal would do ,you know.

I'm a pretty chill guy.(nowadays, at least)hehe.
I don't initiate "altercations".....

BUT,If I sense harm(fight brewing) I'm thowing the first punch. I will not have a hand laid upon me.
If my "Comfort Zone" is threatenly invaded i.e. somebody all up in my face with their arms flying and face full of hostility- I Will hit it. Racial slurs are another definite way to get knuckle/facial contact.

Toodles,
IB.

I haven't had a fight since high school...20 years ago.

My threshold is when I'm physically attacked, which hasn't happened in..guess!...yep, 20 years.

If attacked,  I'm determined to be the winner.

I don't really expect to be attacked because I'm fairly large at six feet and 200 pounds, and could be quite a handful, or so I hope.    Plus, I tend to walk away from situations before they get too hot,  and I exercise situational awareness to avoid even slightly warm situations whenever possible.

If someone attacks me verbally,  I'll take a certain amount of it before I will start returning the favor,  and I can have a pretty sharp tongue and I think pretty quickly when pressed, so I'm an able defender when it comes to trading unkind words.     Fact is,  I can argue with a marble statue until it crumbles under the stress.   Victim of a verbal ass kicking.


CJ

well said


if some one says your an idiot, or what ever, so f'ing what. either it is true, in which case you have no resaon to be angry, or it isnt true, in which case you have no reason to be angry.

the absolute only reason for violence, be it physical or mechanical(gun) is fear. the fear of getting your ass whipped. learn tocontrol your emotions and life is much easier. dont whip someone just because you can(eventually you WILL be the loser. walk away until you cant.

that said, I have been in many fights. 7 yearas in the Corps will do that. Di I do all I could to avoid it?, yes. did the other guy? obviously not. I may not have won, but i sure didnt lose.

Phsical violence towards me results in physical violence back. Also, definate threat counts as physical violence, such as taking aim, or getting into swinging position (be it fists or an object).

I have a short temper also. I want to kill people for cutting me off in traffic but, I don't want to do prison time so I just kill them in my mind. Here in Florida we have the 10-20-Life law, 10 yrs for pulling a gun, 20 yrs for using it and Life if you kill someone with a gun. [rail] So, I would only pull a gun if my life was in peril. Otherwise, I would pick up the closest inanimate object and bludgen their brains out if they lay hands on me, my wife or property.  [chair]

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIT!  Last time I saw you, you were running away!

The next to last time I came close was 20+ years ago.  This young guy was verbally harassing an older driver who was obviously confused.  I made the comment "Hey, why don't you pick on somebody yer own age."  At that point he drove away and then came back looking for me.  Got out of his car and said he was back and did I want to teach him a lesson?  Since I had about 8" and 80 pounds on him.  I looked at him and the guy I was with and said "My Parole Officer will take me just as long fer punching you or for nearly killing you, so I'm gonna get my moneys worth."  He apologized and left.

Bout 10 years ago I had a guy that came out screaming at one of my Cub Scouts.  the kid apologized and the guy got obscene.  I commented that he was making such a good example for our young kids to look up to and he decided to come toward me.  Asked me if I thought he was afraid of me, "No, but you should be, because if you continue to advance threatening me, I was prepared to defend myself." in a calm voice.  "Take yer best shot because you won't get a second.  If you move toward any of the boys, Iwill give no further warning before I eliminate you as a threat."  "I'm gonna call the Cops, you ***"  "Sounds good to me"  His wife came out and asked what was happening.  I told her we were on the Scouting for Food Drive and her husband was coming unglued over it.  She apologized and chased him in.

I don't have a problem with people wanting to mess with me.

I haven't been in a fight for a while but I was taught three basic steps/rules to follow.

1. Ask yourself if you want to fight.

2. Ask yourself if you're willing to cause the other person real harm.

3. If both of the first two questions result in yes, state your position and ask them if they want to fight.

4. If the person says "yes," strike and be sure you put the other person in the position where they can't hurt you.

And one of these days, I'll take scrape enough money to attend one of Mr. Peterson's classes. [BD]

I truly do not think that there is anything anyone could say that would make me fight. I would simply leave. The only reason I would fight is if I felt that my life, or the life of a loved one, was threatened.  In such a case, my CCW is handy.  It is there as a practical answer to violence against me or my  family.  No emotion - just expedience.

I think that it takes much more of a man to take the high road.  Discipline, self-control, self-respect, self-confidence, mastery over ones mind - these are the things that truly make a man.  Physical violence, unless threatened with violence, diminishes a man and cheapens him.  It says he does not have mastery over himself.  It says that he is not confident, that he must prove either to himself or to someone else that he is tough, or macho or some other such gay assed BS.  Words are only that - words.  When words can provoke me to violence, I have already lost.

I remember the phrase 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.'  I never hear it anymore.  Either people litigate for being insulted and having their feelings hurt, or react with violence.  Sad.  

To conquer one's mind is a greater feat than conquering any castle.

I'll take a massive amount of shit from people, go ahead and talk all you want i don't care, now if the words I'll kill you are muttered than it's instant action, you get every last bit of ass whoopin i can give ya before people pull me off. Hell some times i've taken a punch or two just because I knew it would be better for me to take the punch. Some guy started shit at a bar one night and he folowed me out to keep it going. the bartender thought we were going out to fight so he called the police. I saw the responding officer the other guy didn't. I was trying to walk away to get to my friends car and the guy decked me twice.  I took both and turned around and walked away he rushed at me and the officer grabbed him before he got to me and slapped the cuffs on him. He ended up in jail I ended up taking his girl home[sex]. Sometimes taking one is a good thing. The reaction i think is dependent upon the situation. There are some times where you might think i have a short fuse, and others when you would think damn I'd have knocked that fucker out by now. It all depends on the situation at the time. But one thing I've learned is that when ya take a lot of shit from someone before reacting, you react in such a way that puts the fucker out of action the fastest most painfull and embarresing way you can.

It's about time!!! Geesh!

I agree with SGB, and I'll add here, you won't provoke me, until it reach's the point I'm willing to kill, or be killed.

I will NOT get into a fist fight with ANYONE!

That's your problem!!

Try THINKING for a change. You have a hair trigger because you are RULED by your "feelings". There is NO morality to "feelings".

My threshold would be the threat of violence if I really thought it was in earnest. Remember that you will be expected to justify your actions later and had better be damm sure that your story makes you seem like the victim.
A friend of mine got into a tiff at work and asked my advice which was, forget it, he explained to me that that was not in his culture and he felt that he needed to never back down. Several weeks later he took a day off to go to the funeral of a high school buddy that had been shot and killed at a party when a fight escalated. I don't think that he ever made the connection..
If you are considering this in respect to CCW, pick up a copy of Mas Ayoob's book "IN THE GRAVEST EXTREME", lots of good stuff here even though it is pretty dated in regards to the wepons he recommends. I would strongly suggest this book if you are even thinnking of owning  a firearm.
'Guzzi out

morality?

That is what guides me, not my emotions.
I have very high morals.
You think I would deck someone just because I was angry?
No, it's part of it but you would never know I was angry by my outward appearance.
It's because some people just need that kind of lesson.
There are and always will be what has been described as "fighting words."
Some of you wouldn't fight for very good reasons, carrying a loaded gun is a very good reason not to get into a street fight, no matter how tough you are you could still loose
control of the weapon and get shot with your own gun.
But I suspect there are few men here who don't know how to fight and I also suspect there are a very few cowards.
That's OK, all men are not alike, but all men should at least be willing to stand up even if the odds are you're gonna get knocked on your ass.

By some of your accretions it looks like even if someone spit in your face you wouldn't fight, after all you aren't hurt, it's only a little spit right?

Actually jrzy, that's assault....

And you will be the judge of that right?  

I haven't gotten into a fight in 20 years.  Can I fight?  I used to be good at it.  But like everything else, practice makes perfect.   If I had to defend myself and my family from violence, I would never back down, even though I might lose.  That is why I have a CCW, so that the odds of me losing are diminished.  I can use my time to pursue other things that are more productive than learning how to fight to protect myself and family.  My CCW allows me to leave the barbarian age and enter into the modern world.  

It sounds like you are well practiced at fighting and are good at it.  As such, it seems that you have no problem using your skills to solve problems better handled by your intellect.  Your post about having to pay huge sums of money to get out of assault charges for beating people up etc. seems to bear that out.  

It is cases like yours that sometimes makes me think that a local sheriff might be a better judge of whether you should be allowed to own firearms.  It is also cases like yours that make me feel a little better that I have a CCW.

As I have said, if mere words cause me to resort to violence, then I have already lost.

The correct answer to this question is none, ever, period.

Reacting with [b]violence[/b] is never the correct response 9bear with me for a second) in personal interactions. You have no legal or moral right to react with violence to verbal attempts to provoke, anyways.

Using [b]force[/b], on the other hand is a differnt animal, and your force used can never be with the goal to inflict injury, death or violence for that matter, on another person. There are only two general reasons for a person to use force against another:
1) To stop a threat against yourself or another person;
2) To control another's actions as part of a lawful arrest/detention or other lawful activity.

Of course there are many exceptions to those two overly broad rules, but the general idea is that you have no legal right to use "violence" or force against another person for verbal provocation only. If you are going to be carrying weapons, or anticipate using force to defend yourself, you need to have, at some level, a basic understanding of the concepts and law surrounding your right to use force to defend yourself and others, and an understanding of the goal of using force, which is to stop the threat and/or to control. Initiation of force over verbal misconduct only is dangerous. What if you are legally carrying, and the other person is a much better fighter than you are? What if they are whooping your butt so badly that you are now in fear for your life? Of course, survival kicks in, and you use deadly force to protect yourself, but in the process, you lost your legal right to use deadly force, because you initiated the use of force. You may face serious criminal charges, and may well lack legal protection.

There should be NO threshold of verbal provocation before you use force. Put it this way, does a cop EVER have the right to rough up someone they are arresting or dealing with because of any verbal abuse or comments the person makes? As a citizen and a taxpayer, do you want these folks, who are representing you and paid by you, to EVER whoop on someone because of something they said? The answer probably is "No," and should be "No." Hold yourself to the same standard.

Yes it is Liberty but as you and I both know it does no physical harm now does it?
(barring any transmittable disease)
So the real reason you would fight after being spit on is the "insult factor" ,not the "assault of your person, the "assault is now just your legal excuse to inflict bodily injury on someone.
So call it what you want but the fact remains spitting on you no matter how vile an act does not injure anything more then your human pride and so the need to hurt the other person awakens.

Ive only fought when playing hockey...

I would have to say very, very low. [chair]

I am a peace loving man.  However, if someone makes fun of my landscaping, or looks at my wife's ass in church, it's time to dance.    

[green]Yes I alone judge what is best for me to do, if I make a mistake in my judgment then others will judge me, a jury or judge, but not you.[/green]



[green]
Are you saying you would shoot a guy for throwing one punch and decking you? [/green]  




[green]Yes but that was a some time ago,
I was a little younger with a willingness to inflict injury on someone much more then I would now.[/green]
 


[green]And by what right do you or the sheriff think I can be disarmed, I have no disqualifying felonies or have I ever picked up a gun in anger, even though one was available.?[/green]
[red]careful here, your liberal slip is showing pal[/red]



[green]You are showing to be a coward, how is a gun going to protect you if I was going to punch your lights out, are you saying you would shoot me because of a punch, in some states you can I guess, but in a lot more states you cannot use deadly force over a simple fist fight, that would be murder and also a cowardly thing to do.
Shoot someone because you can't protect yourself from a simple punch being thrown.
One last word,[b]If I am close enough to hit you with a punch then you really shouldn't try and pull the gun out, I would take it away from you and beat you with it, training does make the difference[/b] [/green]