Merril had not chambered a round until after drawing and pointing his weapon at the robber!
Not smart. It is a good thing the robber was even stupider and carried an empty weapon.
Two dopes with empty weapons.
Somthing along the lines of - never cover anything with your muzzle that you don't intend to kill - comes to mind.
1. The robber didn’t know that.
2. I don’t carry with a round in the chamber, either, just because it makes the cops nervous if I get pulled over (here in Texas, you’re required to show your CHL whenever you produce your DL for law enforcement.) It’s also less than a second to jack a round and everybody who carries ought to be practicing “draw and chamber” as a matter of course.
Colonel, USAFR