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Generally speaking, keeping firearms in a home for the purpose of protection against intruders creates an increased risk and is of little real value, except in those exceptionally high crime urban areas where citizens are forced to live in hardened habitats behind burglar bars and "ghetto gates."
One problem is that no rational person would keep a firearm available and loaded in a home. Thus, in the event of a home invasion, it would be unlikely there would be time to get out the gun and load it. (A high risk client once bragged to this writer that he was ready for anyone attempting to get to him at home. To demonstrate, he walked from the family room to a distant utility room, where he took a set of keys from his pocket, opened a locked cabinet and displayed a top of the line pistol laying next to an unopened box of ammunition. Elapsed time for this process was in the three to five minute range.)
Studies have shown that deaths caused by firearms in homes kept specifically for protection are seldom deaths of intruders. More often these deaths are suicides of residents, deaths of children playing with guns, deaths due to mistaken identity, deaths from accidental discharges or unintentional deaths of family members, relatives or friends when the firearm is used brought out as a threat during a heated dispute. (A spouse jeering, "You don't have the guts to shoot me," the partner inadvertently moving the trigger finger slightly, causing an unexpected discharge, then saying in shock, "I'm sorry," as the mate slides to the floor.")
Another, obvious problem is the predictable violent reaction of an armed intruder coming upon a householder with a firearm in his or her hand.
Additionally, many armed householders have never learned to shoot at a range, and even those experienced in shooting targets would generally hesitate to shoot a human being. Furthermore, even range trained marksmen--I'm not politically correct enough to say markspersons--will seldom be able to hit a moving intruder from across a room in a stress situation. (When police officers, the best trained, most experienced shooters become involved in stress shooting incidents, the target is in most cases within fifteen feet--and typically they miss the target more than half the time.)
If homeowners feel the need to keep loaded firearms in the home, specific planning for an intrusion event is critical to avoid having a family member moving into the line of fire or being shot through a wall.
(In one case, a rather paranoid man kept a loaded gun under his pillow. However, he and his wife and six-year-old son regularly conducted "burglar drills." In the event of an intrusion, the wife was to roll off the bed and remain on the floor until given an all clear. The son was trained to always announce himself before entering his parents' bedroom at night. This training paid off, when an intrusion did occur. The sound of movement outside the bedroom door woke the man, he gently nudged his wife and although she was still half asleep, she instinctively and silently rolled off the bed to the floor while the man slid his loaded pistol from under his pillow. As the doorknob turned, the man raised the pistol aiming at head height, but deciding he didn't want to kill anyone, he lowered it at the last second and fired. . . hitting his son, who had forgotten to announce himself, in the face.)
It is also felt that in addition to providing unacceptable risk in most homes, firearms provide a false sense of security, which can lead to a lack of security awareness and caution in other areas.
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