Deb,
Honestly, all the macho stuff from the cops aside, I hope you never have to personally face the situation.
Have you ever shot a revolver or pistol inside a room at night without hearing protection on? It will get your attention. The flash and muzzle blast are significant. Most likely, your own fear and instincts would take over. Either you will become totally paralyzed by the fear and shut down, or you'll just start shooting "at" whomever is the threat. You may hit him, you may not. If you hit him, he may die, he may not.
Unless the guy is totally whacked out on some controlled substance, even if you miss, the blast and flash are most likely going to cause his colon to evacuate its contents into his pants as he's running the other direction. Even if he was intent on hurting you, he does not want the next shot to be your lucky one.
The key here is to stop the threat. If the guy defecates his britches and runs away, you have ended the threat. If you hit him and he ends up on the ground, you've ended the threat. If you hit him and he dies from the wound, you have ended the threat.
Unless you are one cold hearted killer (and from your notes so far, I don't think that is the case), if he is on the ground wounded, I seriously doubt if you could walk up and put a finishing shot in his head. Your humanity would kick in and you'll be calling the police and asking to have an ambulance come to help the guy (even though he probably doesn't deserve it). It is the human reaction of a civilized person.
You would have to be a pretty cold and calculating person to not call for help and then start emptying your gun in the walls to make it look like you were scared. The fact of the matter is you would be scared and probably suffer from the same colon evacuation as he did.
I've never had to shoot anyone (or even shoot at anyone). It is easy to sit here at a keyboard and sound all macho saying "what I would do". Truth is, I have never been faced with the possibility of having to pull the trigger while my muzzle is pointed at another human.
I think I'd be pretty scared. I think if I wounded him, I'd probably call for help immediately. At the end of the day, I'd rather he live (maybe for several years in jail) than have the knowledge I took a man's life. However, if he did not survive the encounter, I would have the knowledge that I did what I had to do to end the threat to myself or my family. However, once the threat is over, I have no further desire to cause that person any more harm.
If I read between the lines of your posts so far, I don't think you really want to kill or injure anyone. All yo want to do is be able to protect yourself and your family should it ever come to that.
Just my .02 worth. Others may differ.
