>Ok, see, now I'm more confused. Everybody keeps telling me that criminals haven't the brains to know what they're doing. Now you seem to be telling me that they do. We're going in a loop here. If having a gun is supposed to make the criminal less likely to break into your home, I still see no evidence that makes me agree that this is the case. First of all, they need to know you have a gun, and then they have to decide that the risk is too great. If they are nothing but brainless idiots, then it won't make a difference to them, and if they aren't then they will proceed, as I suggested, as if there probably is a gun in the home. If criminals don't break into homes where there is a gun, then there should theoretically be no break-ins in the U.S.
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>Having a gun may or may not give you an edge, but I've heard nothing that convinces me it makes any difference as to whether or not the criminal will break into your house.

Criminals are people, so some are smart, and some, not so much. The smarter ones (burglars) don't want to interact with anyone. The typical crack addict burglar just takes what he can. He'll kick a door in and grab something, or knock the window out of a parked car (see - don't leave your stuff in plain view). The crack addict is the one to be worried about. He just wants another bump on the glass tube and will do whatever he can to get it. These are the people that cause you to need some form of self protection.