I recognise that you all have valid points and I'm not condemning anyone for that.
Randy, you made a good point about having my house broken into, and i guess i would do what i have to, to protect my family but that would not extend to the use of a firearm. This is just the way we have been conditioned to live here.
The chances of having my house broken into, unless i'm into drugs or a criminal are pretty low, however, having said that, I have had my house broken into while i was asleep inside. I woke up at about 01:00 hours one morning (my wife was at work Nursing) and my boys were asleep in their rooms, I noticed a figure standing by my bedroom door shining a small torch around the room, obviously looking for stuff. I lied there watching until i was well awake and trying to determine if it was one of my boys and then i hit the floor running, took about 4 steps and thought to myself, what are you doing, you're 63 he is probably fairly young so i stopped. He took off the way he had come through the backyard window never to be seen again.
I never once considered that he may be armed and in fact i have quite an extensive collection of swords and never gave a thought to picking one up.
I called the local Police who arrived about two hours later and i said to them that the only reason i called them was for their statistics, anyway, nothing was taken.
Suffice to say something like that tends to rattle you a bit, and from then on i have actually locked the doors before going to bed, never did in the past though.
Chris