[Doublea A]

When I first read this question I was totally confused. In an emergency home defense situation someone is going to worry about ear protection?

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.............

..bug

Yes! it doesn't take that much time, planning is what is important. Unless the person has the firearm drawn on you while you are still in bed, then you wouldn't have this option and others as well. If this happens then it meant you poorly planned or you are a very good sleeper.

Ear muffs would be very last on my list. I couldn't imagine hearing a noise then putting on ear muffs.

It shouldn't be if you care about your hearing from repeated 12GA blast. It is doable and I do not plan to go downstairs looking for the intruder. I will be laying low and have the turkey come to me.

besafe2 If you ever find your self in a real shots fired situation, most likely you'll not be wearing hearing or eye protection.

In the home defense situation, I have plenty of time to wear ear protection because it only takes 2-3 seconds. If I don't have 2-3 seconds then the chances are I am in deep trouble.
But outside the house i.e. on the street, neither options will be available.

I wrote this write-up because planning is very important. Finding out somebody is in your house is not the time to try and remember where all your things are. My setups are Firearm (with laser and flash light combo attached), ear muff, flash light, and bulletproof vest are all in arms reach. Always firearm first, ear muff second and when time permits vest is put on. All these gear will take me about 20-25 seconds at the most. I have practice this repeatedly because when the adrenaline kicks in, your training should guide you to increase your survival rate. Now in my case if I don't have 20-25 seconds then either I live in a terrible neighborhood or my current living arrangement or setup is very inadequate. Like others have previously stated, It is about having multiple layers to buy you time.