Guns, knives and steel... oh my. If I may quote Xenophonz: "When the predators know that they can do their thing with impunity, then they rule the world. Or, at least -- they rule your world." Well, when the predators have you so bloody paranoid that you're trapped behind your weapons in your own home, then they own not just your external world, but your internal world as well. Yes, there are horrible, horrible people out there, and they want to hurt other people. But these people really are extremely rare. The average burglar just wants stuff, and hey, stuff can be replaced. All the stuff I have is not worth my life or anybody else's: I'd rather let them have the stuff. If someone threatens someone I love, I'll get between them, and I can be a reckonable force if I have to be, but I will not keep a gun in the house, nor will I go for the cleavers (I do a lot of Chinese cooking, and keep two huge, wickedly sharp cleavers in the house, and I'm pretty good with them. Whack!). In my opinion, 'they' have won the minute they have you running scared. I won't be intimidated. You'd be amazed how well that works.