Self-defense (United States)

In the United States, self-defense is an affirmative defense that is used to justify the use of force by one person against another person under specific circumstances. == General rule == In the U.S., the general rule is that "[a] person is privileged to use such force as reasonably appears necessary to defend him or herself against an apparent threat of unlawful and immediate violence from another." In cases involving non-deadly force, this means that the person must reasonably believe that their use of force was necessary to prevent imminent, unlawful physical harm.

Source: Wikipedia — Self-defense (United States) (CC BY-SA 4.0)