Here's what I know about myself. I'm never going to shoot someone who happens to break into my home...because I'll never own a gun. I'll do everything in my power to keep criminals out of my house, and I do. I hope all of the people riling themselves up, or allowing some hard-core gun owner types on Next Door to rile them up....*really* think through the consequences of buying that gun. And think about possibly shooting an unarmed teenager who has entered your home looking for a key fob....and killing him.
If they think it's as easy as what pundits on TV or people on Next Door are telling them...that you have the right to shoot someone who illegally enters your home....they should think again (and this kind of talk is a regular thing on my local site). They might be able to live with the consequences of taking that human being's life....but we aren't a "stand your ground state"....and so shooting an unarmed kid is going to result in one heck of a long nightmare of a legal battle, possibly ending in jail-time and legal fees and lawsuits that would far exceed anything they can likely imagine.
And then we can just talk about yet another gun being out there in our country.... and all that goes with it. Maybe the Baby Boomer grandma forgets to lock up the gun correctly and her 6 year old grandson shoots himself, or her, or his teacher. Or maybe her son is having a rough time at work and decides to get her new gun and take out everyone in the break room one day. I mean...it never ends, because we have too many guns. And these things happen every single day in our country.
So far, what has actually happened when a few homeowners have surprised the thief when he breaks into their home...is they take off. Again, in all of the cases I've heard and read about, these guys are looking for low-hanging fruit....easy car thefts. They've gotten more brazen as people have taken more care to take their fobs inside, and so now people should be more aware of that and lock their inner doors, arm alarm systems when not home...etc. And tougher laws....there are a bunch that state legislators are fighting over now, but clearly we need more of a deterrent on that end.
We're the only nation that has this level of gun violence....and it's not even close. Basically, I'm saying guns aren't the answer. I'm 55 and up until I was about 25 or so, these types of endless shootings just weren't a thing, because the "gun" thing....wasn't a thing. But here we are...30 years later, awash in guns and endless gun violence.