That's the point. I won't have a knife or gun, and I've seen a few pulled out in my day...

You didn't read the articles. One person in each incident administered the deadly blow. Nonetheless, these guys are going to prison, and their families are most likely filing bankruptcy for the cost of defense. All over a fight.

There was another incident in FL where two geezers (65 & 72) who were arguing in the dollar-matinee line. Geezer one punches geezer two. Geezer two falls and hits his head on the curb. Died a month or so later. Geezer one, instead of enjoying retirement, is now peniless. They didn't send him to jail, but the civil suit took everything.

Five bouncers from a South Beach club are also in jail for beating a guy. Didn't kill him, but everything was caught on tape. The club will most likely close due to the pending civil judgment. Owner will most likely file bankruptcy. Bouncers will have a felony record...no more voting, no more guns.

Fighting in self-defense is one thing, but punching an arsehole just to shut him up ain't worth prison.

this neighbor of mine a few years ago had this drunk harrass him at the bar across the street. the drunk starts swinging so my friend punches him one time in the face. the guy drops and never got up again. . can't remember if he hit his head as he dropped or if it was just the punch but it was lights out.. permanently! my neighbor wasn't charged with anything because witnesses all said he didn't start the fight and only hit him the one time. had the fight gone on for while before the drunk dropped down dead, he might have faced some serious charges

All people die, regardless of attitude.

I did not ever have to fight in school. I was a Division 1 All CIF Linebacker so...

But, about 17 years ago, I took my then 8 year old daughter to the Long Beach Grand Prix. She needed to use a Porta-Potty on the outside of the back straight behind the bleachers.

As I waited outside for her 3 drunks in their early twenties came running up to the Potra-Potties and started randomly screaming, pounding on the one she was in, and attempting to rock it. My primal instincts literally flipped to on and I got about four strides in before meeting the first A-Hole and center punched him with both fists in the sternum so hard he came off the ground and flew into the metal supports of the grandstands and did not attempt to get up. I swiveled around for the other two and they just backed away. In my mind, I was sure I was going to be involved in a 3 on 1 fight until security arrived and I was worried about my daughter who had no idea what was happening and was probably terrified. The other two apparently sobered up quick. It was a blur, but they basically went to see if their friend was alright and they all three disappeared.

I got out of there too as soon as my daughter emerged from the Porta-Potty, because I did not know what might happen next. I do have an unusually sensitive fight or flight response. I am reasonably sure the intense rush of adrenaline my body releases helped me excel in athletics. It pretty much saved me from getting involved in a 3 VS 1 fight on that occasion, because, despite their drunken haze, they could see I was in a KILL mode.

Mike

Mike, that is perfectly understandable in that situation imo. I too have an "ON" button (but I don't have the physical presence to inflict the same level of damage you can :)), but it's never resulted in a fight since hs. Last time was 20 years ago...Mardi Gras and some punk started to mess with a friend of mine (my buddy is stronger than I and pretty hot tempered) but he was sitting on a curb (less than 18 months after a 17 hour back surgery). My other friends "tell me" that I was in the punk's face, quick as lightening, "fired up" in an "adrenaline rage" with a "WTF are you doing..." punk declined to escalate it, but I was ready. I'm not a puss, but stupidity is the leading cause of premature death imo, and as Clint was fond of saying "dying ain't much of a living".

ps: The last fight I was in, "we won" (30 years ago). 4 of us pulled up to a gas pump in our neighborhood when a pickup truck full of 10-12 guys "looking for blood" over an earlier incident (not involving us) came "hunting". After sorting everything out at the police station at 3 am, the "other" ringleader was trying to pat one buddy on the back for "kicking his a$$" for the first time (other dude was 230+, my buddy was 165 but could bench close to 400). Although we "won", it wasn't much consolation to another friend who had his jaw wired shut (drinking from a straw) for six months...doc said the x-rays indicated brass knuckles. It wasn't "fair" at all, as they all had weapons...but it was survival mode for us.

The last (and really only) time I got in a fight was last year over spring break. We were visiting a good friend of ours at college. At like 3am she got a call from her on-again off-again ex-boyfriend who wanted to talk to her. He was mad that she had blown him off that night to hang out with her 3 best friends from home. After like 20 mins, my friend had still not come back so I went to look for her. She was just outside the entrance to the dorm and her bf was standing there yelling in her face and making her cry. Let me add that all parties involved are solidly drunk at this point. I went outside and told the guy to back off and get out of her face. He starts talking ***** at me and I throw it right back. I guess that set him off because he tried to throw a wild punch at me. I stepped out of the way and then hit him solidly in the face 4 or 5 times. Suddenly I got punched in the back of the head by one of the guy's friends who happened to walk in on the fights. I got wrapped up with the new guy and took him to the ground. At that point we both stopped because we had no reason to fight. The guy I was originally fighting was done, he wanted no more. According to my friend, he had a black eye and a cut or two on his face the next day. I walked away with a few cuts and scrapes from getting tackled. I tried to resolve the situation without violence, but if someone takes a swing at me, I'm taking them down, hard.

I don't know about all that. From what I read here, if you're an ass kicking left wing buffoon, you can go Pulp Fiction on people with no ill effects!

I tend to keep my fights limited to saving someone else's life. My days of brawling for the hell of it went out when I was much much younger. Even when I bounced, I didn't throw punches...I didn't need to, I had the authority on my side.