The act of walking up to my car and smashing in my window is a clear threat to my life, I don't see how it could be interpreted any other way.

My immediate assumption in that circumstance would be that he was going to steal my stereo or wallet or whatever I had on the passenger seat at the time. That's the kind of thing that has been known to happen around here (well, not in Cambridge ). Even with the media hysteria about road rage, it would not occur to me that the person wanted to kill me. If he clearly wanted to cause me harm, or damaged my beloved car then I may well lose my temper and in that case I would be GLAD not to be carrying a gun. In the cold light of day I would not consider the death penalty to be an appropriate response.

This is a perception that seems to be incredibly common in the US and not very common in the UK. If someone looks like they're going to start a fight with you here, you do not immediately escalate that in your mind to attempted murder. You may have no doubt that they want to harm you, so you either run away at great speed or kick them very hard in the balls depending on how you fancy your chances. In the US it seems as though the first thing to go through someone's head is that their aggressor is going to try to kill them - and if you have a gun, your first reaction may well be to pull it. This would seem to be a self fulfilling state of affairs.

I blame Hollywood.

Rob