Let's pretend your front door was just kicked off of its hinges. An unknown number of armed assailants are gaining entry to your home, with you in it. Their intentions are unknown. Pop quiz , hotshot... What do you do? Edit: let's assume that you are at a neutral point in the house. You can escape easily into another room. You also have 3 people to protect. Your spouse and 2 children. Neither child is trained. [spoiler] I keep a gun fully loaded, unlocked and available to me from any point in the house, within seconds. I also have a perfect camping spot in a hallway to funnel intruders into tight quarters. A separate magazine is kept with the pistol, tactically loaded. Every round gets worse, alternating between cutting and armor piercing every other shot. I've trained tactically ( somewhat )and I can completly disassemble/reassemble my pistol in the dark, in case I retreat into a dark area and my gun jams. I had fun setting up a tactical plan for home invasion. The sad truth is that it happens every day. [/spoiler]