[rcoreyus]

I can just barely excuse a one time, in sudden anger slap. What bothers me more is that afterwords when he had time to think about it, rather than apologizing, he blamed you. To me, this means that after thinking about it, he considers this to be acceptable behavior.

I suspect that he is worried about being disrespected - but to respond with violence is completely wrong. If he thinks he can gain self-respect by hitting a woman, then you are in a very bad situation. His behavior is unacceptable, and may get worse

[Colorado]

No excuse for this - PERIOD!
Have him locked up. Do not accept this as just a one time occurance, and "it'll never happen again".
If he is allowed to get away with this just once, he will do it again.

Never in my life have I even raised a finger towards a woman, nor would I (unless she was coming at me with a weapon or going to do harm to a child or something).
Don't allow yourself to fall into this trap. Have him locked up!