I think I would have chosen the bullet.
You know, I thought that, too. I wondered why he didn't just take the gunshot, but I suspect the gunmen wanted him to swallow the acid and threatened to shoot his family and him unless he complied, as an incentive to swallow the acid and not just wait to be shot.
I, too, wonder if the Religion of Peace isn't at work here. The Aussie media has a strange perception of fairness when they intentionally omit any reference to race or nationality or religion when it comes to crimes committed by Muslim men. After all (sarcasm), wouldn't want the criminals to feel bad by labelling them with 'unnecessary' adjectives or by profiling.