IANAL, but I think you are allowed to respond “in kind” to an assault, or attempted crime against you. For example, if someone points a gun at you, you are leg

IANAL, but I think you are allowed to respond “in kind” to an assault, or attempted crime against you. For example, if someone points a gun at you, you are legally allowed to draw your own weapon. The response was “in kind”, i.e. the same level of force. It’s different if someone pointed a gun at you, then you pointed one back at them, they ran, and you shot them in the back. In this scenario, it would be retaliation, and you could be criminally prosecuted for that.