I personally can’t imagine anyone surviving long-term around running zombies. Even if fighting them was relatively easy, it’s statistically inevitable that sooner or later you’d get bitten. This applies to walking zombies too, but at least with them, you have the option to avoid physical altercations altogether, at least for the most part. That’s what I think most TV shows get wrong about zombies: even if there’s just one, and you could easily take it down, just don’t. It’s almost never worth the risk. In my view, the best way to survive is to avoid them as much as possible. Fighting is the last resort and should only be done in self-defence.
I disagree with this. What you describe requires that you’ve already survived for several years and managed to establish a secure base and survival group, which is unlikely if one is willing to kill zombies en masse like that. Every zombie encounter comes with the risk of getting bitten, and the more encounters you have, the more likely you are to make a mistake and die. The safest way to survive a conflict is always to avoid it. Even if you were able to make a dent in the local population, more are likely to wander in from further away, and the noise of constant shooting will probably attract even more of them, as well as other survivors, who are an even greater danger.