Dudewho, these tales of protection against intruders are enormously hyped-up accounts of events that are very rare. I have lived in many parts of this country, and have never experienced anyone trying to break into my home. Neither has anyone in my family, or my friends, to my knowledge. It just doesn't happen often enough to warrant all the risks of keeping a gun, "just in case."
From all I have read on this subject, the thieves are pretty savvy about timing their break-ins when no one is home. If they have studied your home and your likelihood of being away, that's when they break in. That's why it's a good idea to stop newspaper deliveries when you are going on vacation; you don't want anything piled up outside your door. Local high school graduation nights are a popular time for break-ins. It is easy for thieves to get lists of students about to graduate, and look up the addresses of some of them. Burglaries spike during graduation nights. They know the family will not be home. So, itchy as your trigger finger might be, you are not likely to be home when the thieves will be breaking in. Probably a good alarm system is a much better idea, if you are so worried about break-ins. (But not as much fun as your fantasies about being a "wolf.")
It is much more likely that the overzealous gunslinger living in the house will shoot a neighbor, a confused or drunk person, a kid, or someone's pet. This country is not the wild west, as much as the gun lobby would have us believe it is.
The real danger to us is not the very improbable likelihood that someone will try to break in to our homes. It is our likelihood of being shot as part of a crowd in a public place. Get with the 21st century, Dude! Read the paper, on any given day.
But I'll see what I can find.
