If “words never hurt” we wouldn’t need slander & libel laws, would we?
Show me a jurisdiction where preventing slander or libel allows use of deadly force.
If somebody yells “I’m gonna kill you” and marches across the street at me, I am lawfully able to draw my gun, point it at them and order them to cease (if time allows). If they don’t stop their aggression, I shoot – lawfully – “per se” weapon defense.
This is going to depend rather dramatically on circumstances that you have not yet identified. Certainly, there are cases where this might well be true. But in most states, you are almost certainly going to have to defend your actions before a grand jury, and probably even a trial jury. Absent a weapon in your attacker’s hand, or a clear strength or size advantage by your attacker, you are going to have a heck of a time justifying that use of deadly force.
You are also making the classic error of assuming all deadly force involves pulling a trigger – there are several phases of utilizing deadly force before a shot is fired.
Actually, deadly force can involve the use of a foot or a fist. It might not involve a gun at all.
