IN the middle of the road, blocking it, with a gun in his hand at night. That's a non-threatening position to you? Yes, maybe he means you no harm, but maybe it's a prelude to robbery or worse. When the only way to find out is to stop, well..........your call, I guess.
Yes, it is uncertain what his intentions are. The criticisms made are toward the people who have said simply to INTENTIONALLY RUN HIM DOWN without: 1- seeing if he IS a threat or 2- intentionally trying to avoid him.
Yes avoid him. Surely there's another way to get where you're going that doesn't involve getting ANY CLOSER to the strange man with the gun. Back up, do a 3 point turn, and go the other way.
If you DO decide to see what he wants, your best bet is to stop very short at about yelling distance and ask him nicely why he's in the middle of the road; and to keep his distance as long as he has that weapon.
To intentionally run him down without gaining any more information than what was gained by staying in the car, you've just murdered someone. It would be like going to the shooting range, being muzzle-swept by an inconsiderate and careless person, and instead of seeing whether or not they really meant to put you at gun-point, just going ahead and shooting them dead on the spot.
"Well he had a GUN! What was I supposed to do? Talk to him?!" Yes. If you were choosing to maintain the encounter, the next responsible thing to do would be to talk to him. Your other option is to back away and terminate the encounter by leaving the area. To force him to dodge your oncoming car would be like shoving the person to the ground and leaving.
If it matters to you, stop short and yell. If you're feeling squirrely and juvenile, then give him a "bluff charge". Chances are that's against the law, but whatever. But you don't just kill someone because they have a gun and you're not 100% certain of their intentions.
~LT