A question of self-defence - Fire extinguishers & self defence

[Declan McCullagh]

On Mon, Jul 23, 2001 at 09:21:59PM -0500, Jim Choate wrote:
> NATO says it takes a transfer of approx. 85 Joules to kill.

1. It all depends on where and how it's applied. Give me a scalpel
and I suspect I can kill you with far less than 85 Joules.

2. Even if we dismiss point #1 above and assume for the same of
argument death was impossible, serious injury, blinding, etc. was
possible. And use of deadly force seems appropriate in cases where
you have a reasonable belief that you're about to be seriously
injured, even crippled.

Although Choate does make one point, and that's the guy getting run
over once or twice. Once I can understand -- the police vehicle
seems like it's up against a wall in the front. Twice seems unusual
and worth an explanation.

-Declan