How about if I have a tactical light mounted on my gun so I can sweep the area, blind the intruder and scare him into submission with my scary gun and athoritive voice?
You make great points about avoiding a confrontation at all costs. Call me a wimp but my first instinct it to avoid the BG if I can and if I can't, run. If both of those options fail then the next one is to fully defend myself with my gun or whatever else is handy. It is interesting to read the discussions about when you can legally shoot and when you can't. The way I feel about it is that if I need to shoot then I have exhausted my other options and legalities are not a concern. I will worry about those later, right then it is my life than I am concerned about. I live in a state with the castle doctrine laws but that isn't going to be a major concern when I am pulling the trigger.