[Lion Den Dan]

that Mr. Towe could undoubtedly have handled his end of the struggle a little more intelligently.

No doubt that more intelligence could have been used but Towe does not seem to have been brandishing the pistol. Concealed would have been a better option for Towe but under the circumstances as presented in the post, Towe's major malfunction was not shooting to stop the guy that brought the gun out of the house. At what point do you realize you are about to die?

[r9etb]

I suspect Mr. Towe had the pistol in plain view with the (fatal) idea that it would intimidate Mr. Duncan. Mr. Duncan was clearly not intimidated, but instead decided to bring a gun to a gunfight.