Quote:Killing is something to be avoided at all costs.
Oh really? At all costs? So a woman should allow herself and her children to be raped rather than shoot the s.o.b.? Or a person should allow an arsonist to burn down that person’s home rather than stopping the crime? Or any of dozens of other acts of great evil should be tolerated if stopping the evil meant killing the perpetrator?
AT ALL COSTS is much too strong a qualifier.
I was taught that a person who is armed is presumed to have an advantage and therefore is under legal obligation not to provoke violence;but that still wouldn’t require one to allow himself to be beaten to death.
I think what was meant was that a shoot to kill should be the final defense. To be blunt, though, I suspect Zim was not shooting to kill. Rather, he was shooting to get the beater off him. It just happened to be a fatal shot. Just a conjecture.