Interesting points, John. When I was raised target practising, the first rule my dad drilled into us was never point a gun unless you mean to kill. We were forbidden to point even toy guns, but we knew if it ever came to a point where we felt we had no choice, we'd better damn well kill whoever we were aiming at.

Curiously enough, Rick, I am waiting for archived court papers from 1890 in which my greatgrandad stood trial for shooting a neighbour who was trying to shoot him. The neighbour had plenty of ammo and a better gun, but my ggranddad had experience and shot back, once, killing the guy.

kat