What we're really doing is trusting that no-one cares enough to try tracking us down in person, to put reality to the stories. Or a bullet to our head, depending on the degree of sanity held by people who argue with other people on the internet.
I had one guy threaten to track me down once, on the other site. He knew what city I was in, and went through all my posts to try to narrow down the area. He knew I worked for Revenue Canada, and had actually looked up the name 'argus' on their web site, trying to find out which building I was in. He didn't specifically mention shooting me, but he had made a point of letting me know he was armed. Greg banned him the next day.