Not inspired by, as I had the idea for a while, but reminded by this thread - Legalizing murder? - Great Debates - Straight Dope Message Board
If murder was legal, would you still be alive?
Are you nice enough as a person to not have any enemies?
Are you tough enough to protect yourself in such a world?
Could you adapt, build bridges, or have somewhere good enough to hide if the law suddenly changed?
Let me know your thoughts…
There is, I think, one person in this world I would exercise my legal right to (attempt to) kill… But I don’t believe I’m on anyone else’s target list.
This might break down if we go as far as open warfare. For instance, if pro-choice and pro-life disputes turned broadly lethal, then I’d be in trouble, as I’m outspoken in my views.
If murder were legal, would there be large-scale operations to kill people of strongly opposed moral viewpoints? Would religionists come after atheists with murderous intent? Would bigots rise and slay minorities? Would gays, for instance, be wiped from the face of society, or, at very least, would there be an organized effort to kill them?
If it all goes to hell in a handbasket, then there are lots of people I’d happily snipe down…and lots of people who’d be moved to snipe me down.
Aw, hell, no. I married a woman from Wisconsin.
I’m English, and have no idea what this means, but I can only assume that Wisconsin women are either extremely tolerant or ninjas.
No
My Father died in 08 so I am safe now
I had a nasty breakup of a long-term relationship. In the ensuing arguments there were moments when I was afraid he would strangle me or pull a gun on me. I married my husband worrying that this guy would show up and shoot up the wedding. Yes, I think there’s a good chance I’d be dead if murder were legal.
If murder were legal, it wouldn’t be legal for long. The most violent people would use the threat of murder to gain total power over others. They would become feudal lords, and then they would ban anyone under their power from committing murder (in order to keep their monopoly on power).
The license to kill is the power to rule.
I would have happily murdered the guy who destroyed my bonsai collection. He has already died now but I would like to bring him back to life and murder him myself.
I can’t think of anyone who would outright try to murder me. I can think of 5 people who I would be happy to kick off this mortal coil in a goddamn heartbeat. I reserve that for people who have tried to hurt my family in any way.
Not if I can kill them first.
I’m a teacher, so Oh, Hell no. 
I don’t think anyone in their right mind wishes to murder me, but I’ve been in a psychiatric hospital multiple times, and if there was nothing holding back the other patients…
Considering how much I was bullied as a kid, I doubt I’d have gotten out of school without being murdered. For that matter there was one woman in elementary school who would have likely killed all the boys if it was legal. She was pretty blatant in her persecution of boys as it was (to such an extent that she got disciplined for it at one point).
If murder was legal, I expect that most people would be dead.
Yes, I’d be dead. I was a teacher, and between some of the parents and some of the kids I’d have been offed many years ago.
Now that I’m retired, though, if the law changed tomorrow, I’d be safe because all of them have moved on to be angry at other people. I hope.
My mother wanted to kill me and my 2 sisters as part of a murder-suicide on more than one occasion, so probably no. Not sure to this day why she did not carry out her plans, but glad she didn’t.
It is with great pride that say : HELL NO!
If you never piss off anyone, you have led a very boring life.
And I like to think that at least some of them would be clever enough to kill me.
p.s.: ‘Murder’, by definition, can never be legal. Its is defined as the unlawful killing of human.
Even if murder were completely decriminalized, I expect it would still be considered to be a serious social faux pas, and greatly frowned upon. (With deference to the “by definition” argument of usedtobe, just above, we’ll call it homicide when it’s legal.) I think there would be a little more homicide than there is now, but probably not too much more. The social taboo would see to that.
I myself would probably not be affected (I think). I’m too bland to have any serious enemies (I think), and minor arguments with people would not lead to homicide due to the social taboo.
It’s probably different in the world of high-power aggressive people though – politicians, lawyers, high-powered businessmen, mob bosses, etc. (Well, maybe not the mob bosses, who commit or command murders to their heart’s content already.) There would be a lot more assassinations. There would be a lot more Recreational Outrage killings. All the death threats by all the rabble roused up by demagogues would more often be for-reals. All the hate dredged up by the Trumps, the Gamergaters, the Abortion-Clinic-killers, the kill-the-n***rs and kill-the fgs contingents – a lot more of that would really be happening if it weren’t for both the laws and the social taboos against killing.
Of course. But at least 17 would be dead. No guns, all bare hands.
I’m American and have no idea what it means.
Not really; in such a society the killers set the social rules, since they are the ones willing to kill anyone who disagrees with them. Note that this isn’t just a hypothetical; this is exactly the kind of society that exists in tribes that haven’t invented law yet. The small minority of wanton killers are the men who set the rules, “own” any property they feel like taking, and take all the women for themselves.