I agree.XtremeDuty.45 wrote:If you are in fear for your life then you are justified to stopping the threat. One does not have to be committing a felony to be a threat to ones life and if you wait til the BG produces a deadly weapon it may be too late.
Three points are relevant. If the BG is within Tueller Distance (21 feet), waiting to see the knife can be far too late to avoid getting slashed.
Second, even an unarmed person can present a credible fear of serious bodily injury. Since being licensed, I've read too many accounts of people dying with a single blow to the head. I also too familiar with traumatic brain injury.
Disparity of force also is a factor. It is reasonable for an obese, out of shape person aged 50-60 to be in fear of serious bodily injury when confronted by one or more unarmed BG's who are in their 20's.
For me, every potential violent encounter is an armed encounter because I am armed. If I get knocked out or knocked silly, the BG potentially now has my firearm. Therefore, I will not let someone strike me, unarmed or not.