That may be where we disagree. A rational fear of bodily harm is all that is necessary for assault. Self defense against assault is a valid reason for pulling a trigger.
Maybe. Maybe not. With “rational” mentioned, we’re a little closer. With “reason to believe” “severe bodily harm,” we’d be closer yet.
Another reason that I responded is that some real thugs have said that they felt threatened. All kinds of people read these threads, including those who’ve been through criminal college (prison).
I’ve been in more than a few situations with crooks. It seems that more today than before, more of them are very slippery and do rehearse their actions and stories for followups to their attempts at crimes. Many of the newer, younger ones get their strategic information from social media before they even have a record. That’s why many of the police are so skeptical now.
These are good for training the mind in my opinion. Not every video is perfectly free of errors, but in sum, they’re pretty good.
https://www.youtube.com/@USCCAOfficial/videos
I was not writing most of those comments directly to you, but rather, for other readers. You already know most or all of what I wrote. :)