I think a lot of people get confused between “I have a right to do this” and “It’s understandable if I do this.”

If someone pushed me at a bar, and I push him back, I’m not going to get in trouble for it even though I don’t have the ‘right’ to do it. He already violated my rights, he clearly provoked it, and we have room for interpretation and circumstance in the law. That doesn’t mean the law is okaying shoving people back— just like it’s not okay for this guy to get up and start swinging just because he’s been pushed to the ground. Self-defense is allowed, but self-defense doesn’t mean just tusslin’.