If you killed someone in defense of yourself or your family, would you feel guilty, have nightmares?

Nope. Take no prisoners!

hell no but I might have nightmares

I might have nightmares about what COULD have happened.. but no guilt.

I’m against the death penalty, but I’d feel no guilt killing some predator to immediately protect good people.

It depends. Certain things predispose people to PTSD. I’m not sure in my case. I have hit people who threatened my family; that didn’t bother me. One guy I hit with a chain, but he didn’t die, he ran away.

Nightmares?!?

I once shot a man in Reno. . .

. . .just to watch him die.

Maybe. Like if my fiance turned into a zombie and I had to beat him to death to save a roomfull of schoolchildren, I would feel sad and probably guilty for allowing him to become infected. But in most cases, no.

not what i meant but LOL

@Blondesjon Yeah, but now you’re stuck in Folsom Prison.

I think that even after protecting a family member one would feel guilt. Cops who kill in the most dire of circumstances even feel guilt. Lets get real about this.

@pdworkin Far from there is where he wants to stay.

How would I know?

I’ll only know how I’d feel if it were to happen. Let’s hope it never does.

When/if I have a family, I would feel no guilt for protecting them.

No, I really don’t think so.

i am wondering if i knocked whoever out, would I go the next step or risk the judicial system?

Nope. If I ever killed someone, then they were in a place where they didn’t belong.

You cannot kill another person without losing a little bit of your own humanity in the process.

Probably. I don’t even like to kill bugs.

Not if you’re absolutely sure you had no choice. I’ve been in that situation, and what kept me at first was the doubt that I could be wrong. Now, even though I’m sure it would be the right thing, there are more practical issues to consider, ie going to jail. But I would certainly not have any guilt anymore.

It would absolutely change me forever.

What if a child was trying to kill your family? Could you kill a child in self-defense?

I’d feel like Chuck Norris, not guilty.

It is almost impossible to know. I think I am capable of killing, how I would feel afterward would depend on the circumstances surrounding the act.

When they call 16 year olds children, yep, if it was a little kid, I think I could restrain it.

I would absolutely feel guilty. I am wired to feel guilty for the most ridiculous things, so I can’t imagine I could take a life (no matter how good the reason) and not feel guilty about it. Doesn’t mean I would hesitate to do it, if necessary. I mean, even if you (through no fault of your own) hit and killed someone with your car, wouldn’t you feel guilty about it? I would.

No but yea I would have nightmares about death….

No problem with it what so ever. No nightmares either. I have seen too many people die. Dying is as easy as the blink of your eye.