[dalereed]

The 2 rules I was taught when I was 10 (I did grow up in Los Angeles) were:

#1: There is no such thing as an unloaded gun.

#2: Never point it at anything that you don't intend to kill.

[Judith Anne]

I was taught the same thing at age 10 in St. Louis county.

[Abe Froman]

I believe that the concern behind those rules is misplaced. I don't neccessarily need to kill the person I'm shooting at. I merely need to STOP them. If they die in the process, well, that's unfortunate. However, in my opinion, though an attacker has morally forfeited their right to their own lives by attacking, that does not give you the moral right to deliberately engage them in a manner intended specifically to end their lives. Defend, yes. Kill? Only if that's what it takes. Why must whatever I fire at be killed? If I live by this rule, then I must, after engaging the attacker (who is at this point writhing on the ground in pain from wherever I have shot him so far), walk up and put a bullet in the back of his head. After all, I INTENDED to kill him, right?