The other reason they never try to disarm the gunman is that they are terrified of guns, and once a gun is in someone’s hands, that whole person becomes a huge gun, in their minds. So when he stops to reload, they just cringe and cower, because to them, the gun is magic, and he who holds it becomes as powerful as they think that gun is, even when the gun is temporarily unusable. That’s my theory, anyway.
You’re not wrong, for sure.
“Learned” fear is powerful.
I think you are right. Some of it stems from movie and tv where guns have never ending bullets.
Just like people expect local cops to be CSI or access to instant lab reports or that cops should shoot the gun out of the bad guy’s hand
Or cars will explode almost immediately after it wrecks so you should get out and stand around on the freeway waiting to be mowed down by an inattentive moron.
There is a serious disconnect in the population today caused by the disconnect between actual reality and the fictional portray of it in entertainment.