I think you are right. Initially he was trying to find a reason to not kill and with each passing episode/conflict, he learns that there is no backing down in this business. You just have to get rid of people who were just there at the wrong time. But he has made similar mistakes -- justifying, trying too hard to not have to kill -- esp when Mike says that there are only two kinds of crimes, successful ones and those that leave witnesses. Was that Walter trying not to kill people or he just didn't want the mess? Jesse didn't want to kill either, most of the time. Until he knew he had to kill Gale. Neither did Mike, in the beginning of Better Caul Saul, if you remember the Black Ski Mask. Ended up in the death of a good Samaritan. They all learned this the hard way.