Shoot To Kill, No Questions Asked, Period

Man, sure seems like a lot of police standoffs happening lately with someone dying as a result in our part of the world.  Every time I see something in the news about an armed suspect being killed by some officers, I think- damn can't they just shoot his leg off?  Or an arm?  Two or three officers spraying 10-15 bullets?  Seems a little excessive to me.

Not anymore.  Seeing other peoples opinions sure shed a different ray of sunshine on the matter for me.  While people argue that using deadly force isn't necessary, others are arguing that it is.  Why is it necessary?  Because maybe shooting someones leg off doesn't mean that the the person is going to drop his gun and put some hands up for the cuffs to be slapped on.  Guns can still be aimed at someone.  Which means guns can still be fired at someone.  Guess what?  That means that someone can still get shot. 

Why is the suspect packing/aiming guns in the first place?  Bad day?  If someone is having a bad enough day to start swinging guns around, I say they are having a bad enough day to start riddling people with bullets.  Whether intentional, or unintentional (someone innocent caught in the middle of stray fire, maybe) the potential for death is getting extremely high when a suspect comes strolling out with a gun in hand.

Now when an officer says to "drop your weapon", they are looking to stop the situation before it gets out of hand.  Seconds are precious, because seconds can mean lives saved or lost.  How would you like to be living next door and some stray bullets come flying through the window and hit you, or a loved one?  I wouldn't.  I would want the situation under control ASAP.

Like others have said- if you aim a gun at an officer, you can pretty much expect to die.  If I'm a cop and someone points a gun at me, in my head that means they are going to shoot me.  I'm gonna start pulling the trigger on my gun as fast as I can to prevent that.  That's all there is to it.  No second guessing.  I'm not gonna aim at their feet, either- I'm gonna aim where it matters most.  People that don't think deadly force is a must don't have vivid enough imaginations to place themselves in the middle of these situations for a second to think about how they might react.  

I think officers have the right to think "Kill, or be killed."   Because not only are their lives at risk, but the lives of anyone who happens to be nearby.  Shoot to kill, no questions asked, period