>>>>In this country, it is still legal to own a gun and to use it on anyone who breaks in to your home.
>>
>>Actually it's legal to defend yourself in many jurisdictions, though laws about storing firearms can create technical difficulties. Luckily juries usually "get it."
>>
>>Not that it's a good way to live- armed to the teeth and ready to repel invaders. Sounds like the worst days in Johannesburg that caused much of the middle class to head abroad.
>
>Oh, brother!!! :)

John's South Africa example is no exaggeration.

A few years back I got to know an emigree who was working as an accountant with a client. She previously lived in a nice suburb of Cape Town with her husband and teenage kids. The homes in the area were all fortified and had an internal strong or safe room (I forget the exact term). Every home in the neighborhood also paid a monthly fee for heavily armed security that would randomly patrol the streets in jeeps.

That was fine except the bad guys would post spotters with cell phones who would call their crews as soon as the patrols went by and were out of sight. The crew would pick a house and go in guns blazing.

The deal was the households would have to call for help, then hold out until a security patrol could make it back. As part of that she and all her family members were comfortable with their AK-47s and got regular practice.

Kinda gives you pause... a kindly, 50-something motherly accountant with her AK...