>>First, I've lived nearly 50 years without ever having anyone break into my home, let along doing so in the middle of the night when I was there. (Have had a car or two stolen and/or broken into, and a pocketbook stolen from a shopping cart.) I think the chances of it happening are exceptionally low.
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>>I also think that if someone did break in, my chances of getting hurt are much higher if I have a gun. That raises the stakes for the burglar.
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>>Well, I'm glad you've never had a break-in. However, this family (in a nice area in Manheim Township) wasn't so fortunate.
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>>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/17/national/main2939761.shtml
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>Now I remember this case. IIRC, it wasn't a random act of burglary.
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>>I don't know for a fact if the family owned a gun - but I'm going to guess, based on the sequence of events, that they didn't. The outcome might have been different had they owned one.
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>>Now, if people chose NOT to own a gun, that's their right. But your logic, that you're more likely to get hurt if you have a gun, is absolutely flawed.
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>I disagree. A gun escalates an incident. If someone hell bent on killing people gets into my home or some other place where I am, my having a gun isn't going to help.
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>If someone is committing a non-violent crime and I introduce a gun to the situation, I've just raised the violence level and increase my own chances of getting hurt.

Sure, if you only plan to use it as a prop and wave it around like a cheerleader with a pom-pom. If you actually were willing to fire it then I think it would be an entirely different matter.