Frink, at least you're starting to ask the right questions:
"Is fear or an uncertain outcome in a situation the ONLY criterion to use for unfurling your firearm?"
That is the EXACT criterion used in California law. The phrasing is similar to: "one may use deadly force in self defense if one is reasonably in fear of losing one's life, or suffering great bodily injury" - and the same standard applies when defending another, such as family (as in, are THEY in such danger?).
I know Texas uses the same standard. Most states use a variant of it, although in some cases there's an extra "duty to retreat where possible" in the law.
Let me show you how this works in real life:
In 1996, a gent name of Gordon Hale was driving a small truck in Texas. He was aproximately 55 years of age, normal build, and had just gotten a CCW permit under the new Texas law.
A younger guy in a larger truck clipped his side mirror, and then drove off. Hale followed to the next light, and began obviously writing the guy's plate number down. The younger guy got out of his vehicle and approached Hale, who rolled down his window thinking they were going to talk.
The younger guy attacked Hale with his fists, grabbing Hale's shirt and repeatedly punched Hale in the left side of his head, breaking his cheekbone and detaching one retina. The assailant then began dragging Hale right out of his vehicle through the open window.
Hale at this point decided he'd had enough, grabbed a Glock stored in the small compartment between the seats, and shot his assailant once in the chest, killing him.
A Texas Grand Jury decided Hale had done no wrong, and ruled that he didn't need to face trial. Their reasoning was that having suffered "great bodily injury" *already* (broken face and eye) he could reasonably expect to face more of the same, and therefore it was a clean shoot.
The Hale case illustrates that under rare circumstances, an armed individual can legally shoot someone who is unarmed. THIS IS RARE!
Now, as to your own robbery experiences:
The moment that robber made a gun visible along with his intent to rob, you were clear to shoot. Had you spotted the ambush ahead of time (and this gets into the area of trained situational awareness, a related topic) you would have been within your right to "grab your gun but not clear leather"...in other words, be in a position to draw faster if necessary.
Once you saw a threat to your life or health, either via multiple opponents or a weapon, you are clear to draw. If the act of drawing stops their attack and they begin a retreat, you just LOST the right to fire that you had the moment you drew.
Follow that? Whether they live or die is up to THEM, not you. You have a bit of a choice between "immediate fire" or "threaten for a sec, see if they back down". If the threat is a gun, immediate fire is called for but if it's club/knife, opinions vary. Part of this relates to the "Tueller Drill", which shows how the typical adult armed with a knife (already out) can cross 7 meters and stab something in 1.5seconds, which is also the typical time needed to draw and fire a gun. In other words, some idiot 50 meters away screaming at you and waving a knife isn't (yet) a threat, but one at 7 meters or less IS a threat equal in potential effect to a gun. This boundry is recognized by US courts.
Now, the fact is the simple motion of reaching for a weapon tends to cause goblins to flee, esp. in the US where defensive weapons carry is at least possible. We call these "chase-offs". I've done two, while armed with knives. I also once found that the reassurance of holding a good blade gave me enough confidence to shake a *dog's* confidence, and it retreated. Not all dangers are from humans.
In some cases, the "chase-off" happens before the goblin could have ANY clue that you're armed. What they're reacting to is that you didn't act like a victim - you got a determined look on your face, or your body posture otherwise indicated you were trouble. THAT happens a lot.
All of these are examples of "defensive gun use" that are common as hell, but usually never recorded by the cops or make their way into statistics. The grabbers refuse to believe they happen.
Morons
