You guys keep talking about tactical advantage and not giving away your position. How many of you guys are sound sleepers? How about you guys focus on a few more deterrents and then worry about blasting the intruder? I hate to admit that when I am dead tired, I could probably sleep through a tornado. A shotgun in my unconscious hands wouldn't do a bit of good.
First of all, I keep my house well lit and we have alarm stickers. I also have an 80 lb. akita who covers my whole back yard. They will set her off before they can set off my house alarm. My alarm has an instant on feature which we only set when everyone is home. Otherwise, we use the regular one which has a 15 second delay while beeping away. We have a solid door to the bedroom door which we keep locked (no kiddies to wake us up to chase off boogeymen yet). We live in a good area and the police respond pretty quick. Most burglers probably wouldn't stick around if it went off. If someone is determined enough to stick around even after the alarm goes off (we have cellular backup if the phone lines get cut) and attempts to get through the door, I should be in a somewhat conscious state to defend myself.
One other thing to consider is that most burglers want nothing to do with an occupied house. Why risk getting shot? Why not choose an unoccupied house where he will have more time to rummage for goodies? A shotgun won't do squat if you aren't home to use it. Alarms are not over-rated if there is decent police times in your area. Dogs are also great deterrents when you are not home. I am probably going to add some cameras around the house as an extra deterren. If someone is really out to get YOU, then nothing will stop them... Not a dog, not an alarm, not cameras, and more than likely, not the sound of a shotgun being racked. The only thing that will stop them is a big Kaboom from your shotgun!
