Poll: Could You Pull the Trigger?

[ender214]

Q: Do You think you could take a life to defend your own?
Yes I could and would. I probably would be able to with a lot less provocation, but the consequences that would come afterwards prevents me from killing people in situations where I am not in the legal right.

Q: The BadGuy is threatening not just your life, but your family's. Does this alter your reaction?
Seeing that I'm about to kill him anyway, no.

Q: Would the difference between the up-close kill, and the point and click of a ranged weapon have a difference on you?
I would prefer it to be up close. I've had some basic training in both hand-to-hand combat and knife combat (nothing serious, but enough so that I'm not copying movie fight scenes and actually doing something practical). And I can't aim for the life of me.

Q: Would having a stranger's life on the line with yours make you change your reaction?
As I stated earlier, the man's dead. I plan on killing him as quickly as possible. Additional victims may complicate the matter, but in the end either the BadGuy or I will be dead.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Q: Do You think you could take a life to defend your own.
Would be pretty difficult, I imagine. What if the guy is a normal person who is forced to do this for some bizzare reason. That makes it a tough choice.
If it's a mugger though, screw him.
Q: The BadGuy is threatening not just your life, but your family's. Does this alter your reaction?
Yes, than it would be pretty easy. I'd shoot him.
Q: Would the difference between the up-close kill, and the point and click of a ranged weapon have a difference on you?
Well, I guess.
Q: Would having a stranger's life on the line with yours make you change your reaction?
Yes, again, it would be much easier.

 

[joshuaayt]

1 Yes. My DNA has, against all odds, made it thus far in the world. As a sapient life form, it is my duty to ensure that it isn't destroyed because of some prick. I would defend myself, and expect the person in question to do the same, for the same reason.
2 If this person were going to hurt my family, it wouldn't alter my responce much- I'd probably just be angrier.
3 Type of weapon doesn't matter; dead villain == dead villain
4 Roughly the same as answer 2

 

[fanklok]

Q: Do You think you could take a life to defend your own.
Maybe, but when I think about it my preferred fighting style would be to disable them in as many way as possible. It's hard to get killed by someone with two broken elbows.

Q: The BadGuy is threatening not just your life, but your family's. Does this alter your reaction?
Could be never know till it happens.

Q: Would the difference between the up-close kill, and the point and click of a ranged weapon have a difference on you?
Nope both can accomplish what I'd want to do

Q: Would having a stranger's life on the line with yours make you change your reaction?
Some nameless face? No way.

 

[likalaruku]

I'd rather use a knife & spare my fradgile sence of hearing. My uncle went deaf in one ear from firing a gun.

Well, concidering that I immidiately lash out violently at objects that I bump into if they bruuise me (you should see the dents I've put in filecabinets & doors), I should say that I would not hesitate to defend myself.

However, I fear that I might go beyond mere defence & simply go all the way, like an angry cop who empties his gun into an already-dead body. I also like chewing on people's arms, so I might want to take a souvenier that sould deffinately get me arrested.

 

[duchaked]

yes
definitely
hesitation? most likely, especially due to real life consequences
plus I'm not as cold-blooded as I try to seem...I really would feel bad
but in a dire situation and in self-defense? oh yeah
in defense of someone I care about? no hesitation then (huMAN nature to protect women and children)

if someone was trying to severely hurt someone I love, *****'s going down
and I'd double tap

 

[KiruTheMant]

1. Yes,I lost most of my belief for change with my damn drunkard lazy stepfather who beat me.So i'm damned not going to let a killer and possible maniac free by dying.
2. Yet another reason to do so,if this is a maniac or someone whos going to turn around and do it again mere seconds later,I would'nt so much as hesitate.
3. Depends on the Close kill meaning,With my bare hands or a Weapon?I could put the weapon away and forget about it.
4. See 2.

 

[firedfns13]

Well A, I mostly hate humanity.

 

[Georgie_Leech]

I don't think I could, but I've done things that I didn't think I could before. I have a great deal of respect for life, and would much prefer a non-lethal method of defense. I'd much rather, say, knock someone out or something than kill them.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Q: Do You think you could take a life to defend your own.
-Being dead is kind of a bummer. So yes

Q: The BadGuy is threatening not just your life, but your family's. Does this alter your reaction?
-Not really, I mean, I'd do it in a heart beat either way.

Q: Would the difference between the up-close kill, and the point and click of a ranged weapon have a difference on you?
The ranged weapon would make it easier to do, but that's about it mostly

Q: Would having a stranger's life on the line with yours make you change your reaction?
Like I said, being dead = the sucks. So it doesn't matter becuase I would want to be alive.

 

[Phoenixlight]

I think I'd try and shoot the person in the leg or something, would rather not kill them unless absoloutely necessary.

 

[blindthrall]

Important question. Do I know the assailant? It matters where I aim.

If they're a complete stranger, the yes to every question. I think I'm sexist in that I would have a harder time bludgeoning a woman to death than a man. I'd still do it, but it would fuck me up psychologically.

Here's a much harder question. What if the assailant is a child? I don't mean a toddler who found Daddy's handgun and is fumbling it adorably. I mean a kid who knows what they're doing and wants to kill you. Me I'd take the shot.

 

[Yossarian1507]

Q: Do You think you could take a life to defend your own.

That's a no-brainer. I like living, so of course.

Q: The BadGuy is threatening not just your life, but your family's. Does this alter your reaction?

About potentially killing him? Well I would try to get rid of him without any kind of violence, and I would rather beat him up senseless, but if that option was unavailable (family at the gunpoint, and I have him on the gunpoint), he's dead.

Q: Would the difference between the up-close kill, and the point and click of a ranged weapon have a difference on you?

Probably. Act of killing is always the same, but I think blood and gray matter spraying all over myself from close-range kill would have a bonus impact on me.

Q: Would having a stranger's life on the line with yours make you change your reaction?

You mean, my kill may mean saving someone else's live? I cannot imagine any else situation than being threatened by the bad guy, so if that's the case, then you must ask yourself a question: 'is the life of that stranger more important than this worthless thug threatening him?', and then pull the trigger.

 

[Kron_the_mad wants to be deleted]

Q: Do You think you could take a life to defend your own.

Yes

Q: The BadGuy is threatening not just your life, but your family's. Does this alter your reaction?

no, there is no-one i'm related to that i care enough about for it to worry me or affect my decision. I may take it as a personal insult though that an attempt against them was made.

Q: Would the difference between the up-close kill, and the point and click of a ranged weapon have a difference on you?

I have a tendancy to get carried away in the midst of close quarters combat. My only real trouble would be stopping at the intended target.

Q: Would having a stranger's life on the line with yours make you change your reaction?

A stranger? I don't seee the value of the vast majority of human life (there is a drastic overpopulation issue as it is). If it was someone who had some obvious significance then I would attempt to be careful.

 

[PayneTrayne]

The human body does alot of things when pushed to the brink of destruction. In all truth, if it was a fist fight I don't think I'd be able not to retaliate. If it was a gun pointed at me, I'd probably soil my pants before I took a swing, but I'd try my damnedest. And if it was a knife, it'd be forearms up trying to attack the person as hard as possible. In my opinion my life is worth more than a person who takes the first shot.

 

[Rooker]

Q: Do You think you could take a life to defend your own.
It's a challenge to think whether or not I could, but not on the scale of how the guilt would affect me. I have long since determined that if I were put into one of these "life or death" situations, that I would become an incredibly sick individual and ensure that every second spent still breathing is regretting ever considering what they were trying to do. Some would imply that being an introverted person I'm probably weak and just talk. I do believe I am weaker than I could be, but I also believe it's because I'm introverted that it would make killing another that much easier. It's easier for me to separate myself from the rest of the world even if my body isn't and then I stop caring about what I'm doing and what effects it will have. I also have a disregard for my own personal safety when I think about things like that. I'm better if my failure would or could cost someone else their life. Then I would be harder-pressed to make sure the other is dead or completely ruined whether I survive or not.

Q: The BadGuy is threatening not just your life, but your family's. Does this alter your reaction?
Absolutely, it would let out a part of me that will not allow them to die until I have decided they have suffered enough. Even if that means trying to find a place to store them and dumping thousands of dollars into equipment and methods to keep them alive until I'm finished. I don't believe in punishing someone not related to a situation, but it wouldn't stop me from threatening every person valuable to who I am maiming. If I could manage, I would bring them to a point where they want to die and nothing else, then let them go. A shattered psyche and ruined body, little more than a husk of a living thing left. Nobody threatens my loved ones. Whether I live or die, you will suffer in ways that some might consider inhuman.

Q: Would the difference between the up-close kill, and the point and click of a ranged weapon have a difference on you?
It would depend on my mind at the time. A gun would naturally be favorable for the lessened risk to your own health, but I could also have just snapped and decide that I'm going to shoot your elbows and knees and start mutilating you with whatever is on hand. I think for a kill I'd rather be up close. Knowing full well that my opinion is not shared by many others that I know, I look at killing someone as a valuable and merciful thing. If I'm going to kill you, I'm going to do my best to make it quick and easy. I don't want to kill someone that I'm maiming, that would be letting them off. I think I would prefer to be close to them and reassure them that the pain is leaving if they do not die instantly. It can be a twisted way of thinking, but if you're dying, I'd like for you to feel relieved. I'd love to delude myself into the "everything happens for a reason" set of thinking, but some things just happen because shit happens. I want to make someone's death as painless and easy as possible, even if they haven't had the chance to live their life yet.

Q: Would having a stranger's life on the line with yours make you change your reaction?
I might spend more time thinking than I should, which would probably get me badly hurt. If I let my mind go quickly enough, I won't need to reason whether I'm killing an acquaintance or a stranger and why. I'll just do it. It's hard to really say though. I'm a very thoughtful person, definitely to a fault. I overthink everything no matter what it is. I've found that being spontaneous and not stopping to think yields better results for what I want. With a stranger, at least, I can hope that they're worth letting die rather than worrying about who they are and what they do and what I'll be taking away from somebody else.



I don't really know. I'd have to be in the situation to really find out, but I know what I would do if I could get to that mindset before I died. I've felt before that, if I had to, I could kill someone dear to me but only if that meant sparing them from something worse. I'm afraid of a few different parts of my mind that I prefer to keep locked up. I think it would be a lot easier to kill someone than I want to admit to myself even after typing all this up. Arrogant as it may be, part of my method of dealing with the guilt would be "at least I did it" since I want so much to die easily I want to make it a point to make my kills similar to perhaps deserve a quicker death when it comes to my time.

 

[Kaymish]

Q: Do You think you could take a life to defend your own.
A: yes i have done it before
Q: The BadGuy is threatening not just your life, but your family's. Does this alter your reaction?
A: no the out come is the same he is dead im safe if they happen to be safe also BONUS
Q: Would the difference between the up-close kill, and the point and click of a ranged weapon have a difference on you?
Aerhaps depending on your meaning im not strong enough to take on someone 1V1 or with blunt melee im not so bad with my sword but i am deadly accurate with with real fire arms and psychologically i see no difference in distance shooting a criminal is shooting a criminal
Q: Would having a stranger's life on the line with yours make you change your reaction?
A: same answer as before no the out come is the same he is dead im safe if they happen to be safe also BONUS

 

[Kortney]

Of course we could kill to defend ourselves. I think those who answered no would be very surprised at how powerful natural instinct is.

 

[TheTim]

I can safely say i wouldn't have a problem taking the life of an agressor attacking me.