Home Security isn't a Warm Gun

I found this to be an interesting post explaining the flaws in the "Ah gots me a gun tuh defend ma property from burglars!" argument. Money quote:

"I've never understood why anyone would keep a gun in their home to protect themselves from burglars. If you has a violent stalker ex, or someone who was was bent on invading your home in order to hurt you, I could see the rationale for being armed. But buying a gun to protect against burglars is no protection at all. It's not like you're going to stand guard every night to deter them.

Turning on the lights to find the gun is enough scare off the average burglar. I know at least a half-dozen people who have scared off burglars (deliberately or involuntarily) just by alerting the would-be thief to their presence. The burglar isn't there to fight you hand-to-hand for your iPod. Confrontations with the homeowner go against the whole burglary business model."

Yeah, the reason that burglars tend to tiptoe in during the night is because they are fixing to confront you. If they are, then they are the sorts that you don't want to tangle with anyway.

I imagine this line of reasoning won't get very far with gun fanatics. Notice, I didn't say gun owners, I'm just talking about the guys that have this fantastical, almost pornographic, relationship with their firearms. I understand a farmer with .22 keeping wolves or whatever away. The gun fanatics I mean are those (mostly) guys who, every time there is a crime committed with a gun argue that, if only there was lawful gun owner, he would have stopped the criminal.

What these nuts are saying is, "if only I had been there with my gun to save the day." Likewise I think they feel the same about their own home. They feel like their guns are at the ready so they can save the day! In the rare case that someone can actually do that, they are probably an off-duty cop, or an ex-marine, or someone else trained and mentally prepared to use deadly force. No, Halo 2 does not count. No, shooting at paper targets does not count.
Picture: The Boondock Saints were fictional vigilantes, you are not them.