Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

You should not take the law into your own hands. If your neighbor has repeatedly threatened you with violence, you should obtain a civil harassment restraining order.

"Strike"? As in shoot, hit or harm preemptively? Of course not. Not unless as reasonable force necessary to respond to an actual assault and threat of harm. File a crime report with police, and seek a restraining order through the criminal process or the civil court with the help of an attorney if necessary. The problem is that none of those is a magic wand to make this threat go away. You will have to take reasonable precautions to avoid the problem, avoid harm, etc.

You cannot use violence against someone unless force IS being or looks about to happen. And that force must be reasonable if you have been threatened and you are in fear, you can call the local law enforcement agency and make a complaint for a possible 422 PC( criminal threats) charge. I wish you well ....David Wallin.

A threat of future violence does not justify the use of force. Force is only justified to repel *imminent* and unlawful harm to you or to a third person. The rule is a bit more nuanced than that, but there are no nuances that allow you to preemptively attack someone else. If someone has made credible threats of violence toward you, your recourse is to report him to the police.