[Double Naught Spy]

However, in my readings over the years of several different articles on real life happenings, I have found that whenever the homeowner utilized heavy weaponry then the result was the burglar retreating from the house with speed. On the other hand, when the homeowner had standard weaponry then sometimes the attackers stood their ground and decided to fight.

I don't think your examples do a very good job of supporting your argument.

For example, during a recent burglary over here the homeowner utilized an AK-47 to fire a few rounds through a door which resulted in the burglar retreating at a fast rate of speed. However, in another incident, an off-duty cop used his .380 pistol to engage some burglars and his opponents decided to stand their ground fighting back with their pistols.

So you have one guy with a rifle shooting through the door at a single burglar and the burglar retreats and you attribute this to being the use of the rifle. When taken in context, however, you have a burglar that may or may not be armed who does not have a target to fight with and who is in a position to readily escape. It was not likely that the burglar was interested in fighting to be able to burglarize the home. As such, regardless of what was being shot through the door (and the burglar would have no idea if it was a rifle or pistol), the burglar was going to retreat. That was the prudent decision to make. So the gun type here isn't an issue.

Compare that to a single officer with a pistol going up against multiple opponents who are all armed with pistols. The did not run because they knew they had the advantage of numbers and firepower and were obviously in line of sight with the officer. A victory (and related glory) were quite probable.

So based on the examples given, the bad guys acted in manners that I would expect regardless of the weaponry being used for defense.