Having watched the Caps pull video it is obvious that pulling the chute saves lives and a failure to do so looses lives.
So I will shift my stance again to agree with you both.
I think Rick, who is a volunteer gives an incredible view on CAPS and I would encourage anyone who fly's a Cirrus (or other BRS aircraft) to invest an hour and watch it.
What is tragic is when you here of Fatal's and the CAPS locking pin is still in the lever to lock it, worse still one padlocked in a different type of aircraft.
In the Cirrus community not all believe in the value of CAPS or pay it lip service, many instructors do not train for CAPS situations so there is still a way to go with getting the message out which is why I believe these discussions are of value.
There are far to many flying into icing condition accidents, far too many loss of control in clouds but accepting that there are pilots in these incidents flying out of their ability margins pulling the chute is a much better option than the loss of lives.
I think to keep this in context the Cirrus record is about average for GA, but with all the safety features it should be better. The 94 Fatal incidents is over a decade with a fleet of 5000 + air frames and millions of flight hours are around what you would expect. Cirrus Pilots are probably in my observation more experienced than an average PPL GA pilot but also expose them selves to more risk than the average PPL GA pilot because of the capability of the aircraft.
(Very broad brush personal opinion - total number of fatals corrected)