Quote:
I carry a pistol to save my life...
If I have to use it I want to be as lethal as I can be.
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There is an interesting divergence between your stated reason for carrying and the goal of your training.
If your goal is to kill people then you would want to be as lethal as you can be. If your goal is, as stated, to save your life, then you should be striving to be as effective at that goal as possible, not striving to achieve some other goal.
Our goals drive our actions and our speech. It is a mistake to fall into the mindset that the goal is killing the attacker because it creates a situation where the defender may take unnecessary risks to kill the attacker when the situation could actually be resolved with less danger to the defender.
Trying to be as lethal as possible may increase the risk of injury or reduce the chances of success. A defender who is fixated on “shooting to kill” could, for example, attempt to shoot at the attacker’s head when the more easily targeted torso shot is available. In practice, headshots are difficult to make and a missed headshot is obviously not nearly as effective at ending a confrontation as a torso hit.
It can also generate a tendency for the defender to take actions that may later call his motives (and therefore the legality of his actions) into question. Remember the defender’s motive/mindset can be an important component of justifying self-defense. Finally, an improper mindset can increase the chances that the defender will make what appear to be self-incriminating comments either before or after the incident.