Locked and Loaded in Chipotle, Texas

Gun owners?

 

I presume it's not as good a photo op to have AR-15s sitting in your car's back seat.

 

You're assuming, of course, that the intruder will simply take what he wants and not try to harm or kill the witnesses. Or that they're just there to take things, and not breaking in with the intent to rape or kill. Or that the intruder, who is likely on drugs, won't freak out and attack YOU if he's startled.
All of that is not even taking into account the psychology of the situation. The intruder might have come for your TV, but if he's put in complete control of the situation and senses fear or weakness, maybe he sees the opportunity to take more.
There's so many variables in that situation that saying you'll just sit in the corner and do nothing is as foolish as being overly aggressive and saying, "Yeah! I'd shoot 'em right between the eyes! Yeah!"

We have a security system, too. But I'm well aware it takes:
1) About a minute for it to actually go off after it's tripped
2) Another minute or two for the security company to call us and check to make sure we didn't accidentally set it off
3) If some bad stuff is going down, another minute for the ADT dispatcher to figure that out and call the cops
4) At least 2-3 minutes for the cops to get there (and that's in a pretty small town; in a large city the response time is probably longer, if they even bother to show up at all)
So figure anywhere from 6-10 minutes -- minimum -- from the time the bad guy kicks in the door to the time the cavalry shows up. That's a long damn time, and that's why we have a gun, too. A lot can happen in that time. If the bad guy doesn't run when he hears the alarm, things are going to escalate pretty quickly whether you want them to or not.

If that nightmare situation, God forbid, were ever to unfold, would I actually be able to pull the trigger?
Who knows until you're there in the moment.
I like to think I could hold the intruder at gunpoint until the cops arrive, and not have to shoot anyone. I also think it's 50-50 whether the intruder would allow me to do that or make me have to shoot them by doing something foolish or desperate.
And I also KNOW that, if I don't have the gun in that situation, my only option is to hope and pray that the drug-addled psychopath who just broke into my house only wants the TV.

 

Sonic, Starbucks, Chipotle, when is the next gun "tote-up" at Pottery Barn or Bed Bath and Beyond?

 

How many stories come across the wire of a person breaking into a home and killing a family, and the family was not dealing drugs or in some criminal enterprise?

Compare that to the number of accidental gun deaths in your area, and I'm going to guess one is larger than the other.

 

The number of break-ins with victims at home in my community runs easily 10 to 1, probably much higher, than the accidental gun deaths. Accidental gun deaths make the news. The break-ins only do if someone dies.

 

I'm fortunate to live in a suburb where more than one or two murders a year would probably double the homicide rate. The "parent" city next door has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the country, but we're pretty quiet. If there is a murder in our town -- including one about six houses down from me a couple of years ago -- it's usually a domestic thing. Husband and wife fight, one kills the other, that sort of thing.
That said, we did have a murder about two years ago that was a break-in gone bad. Two guys broke into a house in the middle of the day. The owner was sleeping, they were surprised to see her, and they shot her in the back of the head.
I can recall several other incidents in the more dangerous parent city, maybe a half-dozen or more in the last couple of years, where a homeowner either shot someone breaking in or pulled their gun and scared someone off who was breaking in.
I can't recall the last time we had an accidental shooting that made news, but it's probably about the same rate. Maybe a few a year in our town, a little higher in the city next door. And that's in an area where it's more common for a family to have guns in the home than not.

Now, having said all that, I'm not saying you, Devil, NEED TO GO GET A GUN RIGHT NOW OR YOU'LL DIE!!!!
Obviously -- and thankfully -- these incidents are exceedingly rare unless you live in the bad parts of certain cities. The right to not own a gun is also just as cherished as the right to own one. It's a very personal decision, and if you have children I can certainly see why you wouldn't want one in the house.
We have a revolver, but there's certain guns I'd be hesitant to own because of the safety factor. And that's just handling them myself.
Not disputing that part of your argument at all.
What I was pointing out is the folly of thinking that if someone does break in, the bad guys will be rational and calm and just rob you and not kill you, and the police will instantly appear out of thin air. It usually doesn't work that way. It usually ends badly for one person or the other.
A gun, to me, is a last-resort insurance policy to protect against a worst-case scenario.