Originally Posted by raymor

I'm not a fan of "under the pillow" at all, but are you not "paranoid" enough to have a smoke alarm? Most likely you'll never NEED your smoke alarm, but when you need it you really need it. Also for me at least knowing that I have three properly working smoke alarms in the house gives me peace of mind - just in case. It's the same with my pistol. I'll probably not need it any time soon, but I like knowing that I can protect my family, just in case.

I did have one occurence so far when several thugs were trying to break in the house. One got his head in and found himself starting down the twin barrels of a shotgun. They all left pretty quick. Aside from that one occurence where I actually had to present a weapon, there have been a few instances where someone acted like they MIGHT have committed an assault until I told them to back off in such a way that it was clear that they had better do so. In one case the drink perpretrator had a knife and was coming after my brother. Knowing that I sometimes carry a pistol, they settled down when I commanded them to do so. I don't know how those would have turned out had I been unarmed.