I don't like getting death threats

 You remind me of a teacher we had. She would over-react to things that were not even her concern, getting involved in ways that was always unnecessary. She would try to fit in by asking the girls what they were talking about, then, you guessed it, overreact, and start giving unwanted advice. She tried to control things too much. We all just avoided her. She didn't like this, and would become demanding. She often argued with other teachers. She always wanted to be right. She was always deciding who was good and who was bad. A few people quickly grew to hate her. But she used to say that is the burden of leadership. She would try to mother the boys. Telling us what to do. Sometimes she acted as if she owned us all at some level. A queen we had failed to recognise, or somone who knew what was good for us and not giving her appropriate regard. All very annoying. What I am saying is that it wouldn't hurt to take a look at your actions a bit. You might be adding to the problems.

I worked in downtown Los Angeles for several years.  I found out that one should never try to make sense of what crazy people are saying.  If you understand, it is a sign you are crazy too.

Ronald, the criticism is fair.  I have not taken an armed self-defense class.  I learned to shoot by killing things.

I'm not a soldier and I was never in law enforcement.  But I still keep three shotguns and a sporting rifle in the house.  No handguns.  I have gotten rid an inherited deer rifle (.30-06) because it was getting no use.

I had a cheap Chinese-made SKS for a while, but did not like it.  The guns laws in California have become onerous.  I don't register anything.  I pay for ammunition in cash.

There is an old military adage: "The threat is greater than the execution."  One round fired in self-defense would likely send the criminals scurrying.

I am a very unlikely target for anything.  No enemies.  A secure, well-kept residence.  Lighted.  A dog.  Nothing austentacious to suggest there is a bunch worth stealing.  It is unlikely that I would ever confront a well-trained thief. 

I have a natural right to use deadly force, if needs be.  I hope it never comes to that.

As for Babytigrrr's comment asking if it is a fact that having a gun in the house is more likely to injure a family member than not, that is completely false. Perhaps because the UK bans most guns she has this perception. Responsible gun owners who have children in the house lock their guns up so children cannot access them. Buy a pistol in the United States and it comes with a free gun cable lock. Most rifles now have a locking mechanism on their safeties. Gun accidents have dropped drastically since such free gun lock programs have started, and educational materials have taught people with children in the house to lock their guns and store ammo seperately, as well as instructing other adults in the household on proper handling. It's the propoganda of the anti-gun crowd who wants you to think otherwise, but the facts are there for anyone to hop onto Google and look up.

As for her saying get better burglar alarms and locks, think of it this way: Most households with such systems or who call 911 can expect a response time averaging 15 minutes or more (In my case over an hour because I live in a remote area). So what are you going to do in that best case scenario of 15 minutes while you have an armed, drug addled criminal in your home and you are defenseless and must rely on the police to show up to save you? Your face is probably going to be appearing in the newspaper, a casualty that didn't have to be if only you had taken the steps to insure your right to self defense.

The chart is from the link you posted. To make everything clear, your 54% and 24.8% figures apply only to cases WHERE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE KILLER AND THE VICTIM WAS KNOWN.

I defend myself with words.

Would be an interesting stat to see how many people actually defended themselves or family against a life and death situation within their own home?

"more likely to get killed by someone you know".

That's what I want NK to see. Many in the US have this absurd notion that their home will be invaded and their life threatened. It could happen tomorrow!