One bullet left, what will you do?

I'll repost my earlier reply to one of the other responses down here to make sure you see it. My reply was to the situation you gave. People aren't analyzing the criminals here. There are 2 types of criminals those that just want the money & the violent ones. You have to look at the situation to know which they are. 1. The thieves broke in at night armed. They know there are people home & are prepared. 2. You did not mention they were wearing any masks. That means that if seen they could be easily recognized & identified to the cops. 3. They'd rounded up the family from different rooms in the house, unless your daughter sleeps in the same room with you ( not likely ) instead of just grabbing stuff & running. This leaves the obvious conclusions as to the criminals intent. They were intending to kill your family in the first place in order to remove all witnesses. Now you've shot one of them thus angering them further. The only hope your family has is that the men don't realize your almost out of shells. Putting the weapon down removes your only bargening chip.