I struggle with that one myself each time it happens. I just wish they would cut to the chase and off themselves. My dad was at the Red Cross apartments in Seattle a few years when the guy went in and shot his girlfriend with the shotgun after the apartment fire. Actually talked to the guy before, and after he shot her, as my dad didn't know he had shot her, just that shots had been fired. Dad told the guy to watch out, then dad saw the shotgun, luckily he spared my dad.

I've also been the one to draw a weapon when a guy with a knife came into a restaurant I managed. I'd kicked him out the night before, and he said he'd be back. Luckily for both of us, and the folks in the restaurant, he immediately dropped the knife. I was about halfway through my trigger pull when the knife hit the ground.

When seconds count, the police will only be minutes away. Been a deputy and have seen that first hand. It up to each individual to take responsibility for their own security themselves, not law enforcement.