Sam, you would have shot him down before he even had a chance to ask you what you were doing.
That's quite the statement coming from someone who doesn't know me. Fact is, I've taken several gun safety / shooting courses. I practice drawing my pistol from the holster daily. I practice dropping a magazine out of my pistol and taking another one out of it's holder and inserting it into the magazine-well of my pistol over and over. I know all too well what I am capable of and what I'm not capable of when it comes to my firearms. I don't go out looking for trouble. I carry my gun because I refuse to find myself in a situation and to be unarmed.
How many stories do you read in the newspaper/internet, or hear on the television where some ass wipe goes into a quick mart, a liquor store, or even a car-jacking, and threatens the life of those in that situation? I hope I never find myself in one of those scenarios. But, If I am, I won't be slaughtered because I listened to your hypotheses on passive living. No, I'll have a .45 semi-auto or a 9mm semi-auto with me and I'll be able to defend myself.
Every time I walk into a gas station, a quick mart, grocery store, or anywhere for that matter. I make it a point to know what's going on around me. If some clown looks suspicious I'm going to be more on my guard than normal. I refuse to be a statistic because someone in an internet forum says there is no need to be worried.
I never tell people they should carry a firearm. That is their choice. Just as it is my choice to carry a firearm. Try to imagine how many times in the last seven years that I've gone into a gas station, a quick mart, grocery store, bank, bar, sporting event, movie theater, car dealership, church, etc. Now, did I rob and or shoot anybody? Nope. Did I take my pistol out and wave it around? Nope. Did I let anybody know that I was carrying a pistol? Nope. So for seven years I went everywhere that anyone else goes and not once did I cause trouble. Why? Because I'm not like that.
So don't presume you know what I would have done if I had been in Zimmerman's situation. Heck,I may not have even asked him anything. I probably would have watched him and not thought anything about it. But, if he had tackled me and was punching and banging my head against the sidewalk, then yeah, if I felt that my life was in danger, then I would have shot him. Thankfully, Colorado has a law that says just that.
And one of the things an instructor told me if I ever had to fire my gun, was to kill the person, not wound them. Because if you wound them and cripple them, you will be in court for many years as they attempt to drain every penny you own. Also that is total bullshit when someone says "Why didn't you shoot to just slow them down". Nonsense! You shoot to kill the sonsofbitches dead in their tracks.
By the way Shifty. Where do you live? Canada?