Two kinds of losers in a gunfight.
The point of the "Judged by 12/carried by 6" saying is that you have to survive the lethal attack to even worry about the legal aftermath. Absolutely right!
But...wouldn't it be nice if you could avert both the attack and the legal exposure?
There's no winner in a gunfight--just two different types of losers. One's meeting the coroner, the other's meeting the DA--who may feel it's his job to try to hold someone accountable for loser #1.
If any of you have done shoot/no-shoot drills, then you might have experienced the fact that sometimes after draw (indeed, after you've begun to press the trigger) the threat just goes away BEFORE you fire. Maybe he finally realizes what your gun's about to do. In my shoot/no-shoot it was a drunk who picked that moment to keel over--with my hammer half-way back.
So, no, I can't agree that if gun's left leather then it's shooting time. In my shoot/no-shoot, sure, I might have been JUSTIFIED in shooting him--but think how much trouble I saved myself by letting him pass out on his own!
If you can access the gun WITHOUT breaking concealment (say, when the guy picks up his chainsaw and tries to start it), you're real ready and you're not even liable for a brandishing charge yet! Now he starts that chainsaw and takes that first step toward you--you've got an awful fast draw with the gun in hand already!
(BTW: Erik, agree with you completely on the definition of "red"--it's that last step of decision. Black is shooting until the threat is gone or you can't shoot no more, as ctdonath implied).
