Scott wrote:

All of these debates are hypothetical.  I understand Brad's passion to protect innocents from being hurt but how about your loved ones?

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My position wasn't a hypothetical.  My wife's brother was sentenced to 14 years in prison for shooting and killing his wife.  In that specific instance, HE WAS the criminal who hurt his loved one!

That's not head in the sand.  That's not head up the arse.  That's personal exposure to someone who was highly proficient with the firearm he used (I've seen him shoot skeet with a .22 rifle).  That's me knowing a guy personally who made the exact points the pro-gun guys make here: home protection, personal ability, inability of the authorities to respond quickly enough...

You know what?  It's all bullshit.  The odds are the only person who's going to get shot with your weapon is one of the loved ones you're trying to protect. 

Yes!

Here's a list of other things that could happen to you:

Struck by a meteor
Run over by a Rhino
Eaten alive by Pygmies
Fall off a skyscraper and land on a flagpole
Spontaniously combust
Be struck by a falling piece of Skylab
Get struck by lightning
Have a bird fly right into your mouth and choke you
Be in a tall building that suddenly collapses

"What would you do if you were faced with a situation where, for whatever reason, a stranger invades your home armed with a gun and is intent on killing you or your spouse? You're stuck upstairs with no means of exiting your home. He's coming upstairs, blocking the only way out. What would you do? I know you would dial 911 but what would you do while you are waiting for the police to arrive? Please, this is a serious question so please don't answer with sarcasm. I really want to hear some thoughtful, heartfelt and well thought out answers. What would you do?

Notice how many specifics were in that scenario? What are the odds??

Like - who has people come into their house to kill them? I get that it happens - I'm a big fan of reading true crime stories, I get that it has happened, but it doesn't happen enough that it's on my personal radar.   I have better odds of being hit by lightning...

OR A STRAY BULLET, by the way. Just a side note here - a few months ago a neighbor went a little shooting happy and his bullets came through my walls. Police came, etc. He wasn't a killer coming to get me - no he was a drunk playing with a gun. Me having a gun wouldn't have changed that.

Anyway, back to the story - so what are the odds that the man is coming anyway? Slim to none.

Then, what if it does happen? I'm going to wake up and listen to the guy crawling up the stairs? Hell no! I'm a heavy sleeper. I'd sleep till he shot me. Or better yet, I'd sleep right through him robbing me - most likely his real intention for being in the home, and we'd all be alive. Unless he was Richard Rameriez, but then still... I'd be dead, and what would I care at that point?

Next? Let's say I did have a gun. And I hear the guy coming up the stairs - because people make THAT much noise when they're coming up the stairs to kill you - slowly and loudly enough for me to wake up, realize what's going on, process the thought and then go get my gun, load it up, get it ready and shoot the guy...

And ... what if it turns out to be my sleepwalking neighbor? or my kids coming home late? Should I really be shooting every random noise I hear?

I choose not to live in these sick fantasy worlds where every one is out to get me.

Thank you, Scott.  I'm not usually involved in these debates, since it's extremely unlikely that anyone on either side is really going to change their position, but the other night at work a colleague was talking about how he's modified the trigger guards on his rifles so they can be opened without a key (given enough force) and it just pissed me off.  This is (once again) a guy who claims to know what he's doing with a gun, but he's comfortable with shortcutting safety devices.  He's not a guy I'm likely to speak to again (and after the strip I tore off him he's not likely to seek me out for a chat), but some of the arguments presented here (including yours) are identical to points raised by him.  He resisted any suggestion that he was likely to be more dangerous to his family than anyone they were likely to encounter while inside their home.

Look, this is where I'm coming from.  There are those whose jobs require them to be armed.  You were a soldier, that's obviously one of them.  Police officer is another.  DEA agent is another.  Secret Service (or RCMP here in Canada) is another example.  There are others.  These professions have something in common.  The people they are confronted by while they themselves are armed have to be treated as armed until proven otherwise. 

The people a homeowner is likely to confronted by in the middle of the night are most likely unarmed: family, neighbors...even the majority of burglars don't carry guns, as the penalties for armed robbery are so much harsher.  At those times the most likely criminal in the equation will be the armed homeowner himself.

My $0.02, your mileage may vary.

(I've seen him shoot skeet with a .22 rifle). 

I do want to point out this is wrong on many safety levels. I don't know what happened in your situation Wayde, but if he was shooting skeet with a .22, he was endangering a lot of people. Skeet are shot with a shotgun for many reasons, one being the shot expels it's momentum quite rapidly and doesn't kill someone when it comes screaming back down to earth a mile away.

Edit: I also have to agree with Jason, dogs are a great deterrent, and not the big nasty eat you alive ones. The small yappy, bark at absolutely anything types are perfect. Odds are the unsavory will hear the dog(s) and move on, fearing that the occupants might have awakened, or even neighbors might be looking.

Thanks guys, I should point out that this happened quite a few years ago, he served his time (6.5 years with good behavior, the rest completed on parole) and he is a free man.  His wife of course is still dead.

Michael, you are absolutely correct about the use of bullets as opposed to shot, but I have to admit I never once considered that in all the years since I saw it. 

I also agree with the concept of using a dog for home protection.  That's what I've got, and she barks her head off when anyone comes to the door (including me after a night shift, as soon as the key goes in the lock).  Of course she's not going to be much of a hazard to a burglar if he actually breaks in, but she's very likely to get him to move on to a quieter house in pretty short order with the ruckus she'd raise.