joppo: Assuming you're Town shooting yourself is a very anti-town move, you know.
GymHenson: Good point.
Counter: There are many more town players than scum, and thus a higher chance(if successful) that I would eliminate town...thus I take the risk and put myself in harm's way to help my team win.
Wrong. If you're town you can choose 1 out of 12 other players (I'm removing you and ZFR from the pool), and 3 of them are scum. So you have a 25% chance of hitting scum.
When you shot at yourself on the other hand you aimed at
the only player you can be 100% certain is Town.
It is simple math. A low chance of hitting scum is still better than a certainty of hitting a townie. Not only that, you keep us from learning patterns that scum create with their shots.