&gt; When a man being chased by police stops his car, gets out, takes cover behind the door and starts pointing something that looks remarkably like a gun at police, he should be shot.<p>I disagree, especially in your outlined scenario, for a couple of reasons:<p>1) First and foremost: the police are professionals whose job <i>should be</i> to protect the public, even if that means they put themselves in harm&#x27;s way.  The person with the toy gun (or wallet, cell phone, etc) is still a member of the public.<p>2) After a car chase, the police have the ability to position themselves defensively until the situation becomes clearer (e.g. shots are actually fired at them).  They also could be wearing unusual protective gear like body armor, which would further reduce their personal danger.<p>Now, if the person was actively threatening an innocent third party with a realistic toy gun in some way, then I think it would be much more justifiable for the police to shoot.  Ditto if a person brandishes something clearly gun-like at an officer at <i>close range</i>.