Watching him shoot the guy in the back made me ill.
Consider this:
Texas law allows the use of deadly force to defend one’s own life, and the lives of other people. The robber had his gun pointed at the man seated on the left of the frame, posing a deadly force threat to that person.
Would that change the calculus in your mind?
Sincere question.
One thing that good police/CCW trainers emphasize is figuring out your own “what ifs”, what I refer to as ROE’s. One is only bound by the law at the outer limits, and we are certainly free to impose more restrictive rules on ourselves.
And one can certainly make the ethical case that “I will wait until the robber’s gun is pointed at me before I shoot” is your own appropriate ROE.
You could go further and say “I’ll let him get the first shot”, or even “I will not take a life even to save my own, or another person’s”. But that last fellow probably won’t be carrying CCW, and won’t have to make that decision.
Sincere question: where do you draw the line, using this case as an example?
Made you ill? Stay with the women and children at the wagons. Men will protect you.