Merely picking up a stone but making no effort to throw it at another is not an assault.5 Nor is it an offense merely to hold a pistol in the hand without attempting to shoot or strike with it.6

1 Underbill's Cr. Ev., Sec. 352. 2 3 Blackstone Com., 120. 3 Id.

4 Chapman vs. State, 78 Ala., 463. 5 Brown vs. State, 95 Ga., 481.

Pointing or presenting an unloaded gun or pistol at a person some distance off, although within shooting distance, is not an assault, even though the act may put such person in fear.7

One unlawfully assaulted who is not himself at fault may repel force with a reasonable amount of force in defense of his person, or the person of another, although he may not be in danger of losing his life or of suffering great bodily harm.8