What real cases? Those are nothing but self serving hearsay. Right up there with the 'there I was' stories you hear drinking beer down at the VFW.

People are going to see and say what inherently makes them look good and whatever aligns with their preconceived assumptions. Careful investigation and physical evidence seldom fully supports such claims. Your framing of the cases as 'citizens versus criminals/terrorists' overlooking that both sides are usually citizens and the accounts only reference one side of the story.

People grounded in reality realize they are more likely to come home one day and find a relative has shot themselves, or to accidentally shoot their relative, or blow their own brains out than use any firearm to defend themselves again anything but their own inner demons.

... just sayin'

An overemphasis on firearms is always a sign of weakness.