Well, I've read through the entire thread and see several points that seem valid upon the surface, but are woefully inadequate in practice.
First, getting into a physical encounter in a dark room with zero information is, and I mean this with all due respect, a very bad choice. The single most dangerous factor is a total lack of knowledge of what you are dealing with. Indeed, with or without a firearm, this could lead to tragic consequences.
Since you have the advantage of being aware of intruders, and the intruders are unaware of your presence, you surrendered your edge when you kicked down the door. Had these been real criminals, and they were armed, you may very well be dead.
Let's assume these were dangerous criminals, not your son and his friend. You know where they are. With a firearm you can contain them, and keep them where they are, inasmuch as they cannot get loose inside your house.
First and foremost, you keep them isolated by making exiting the door into the hallway suicidal. Item number one is always "contain the threat". Second, you turn on the hall lights. It is absolutely essential that you be able to see the intruder and determine if they are strangers or family. As long as they remain the room, that doesn't matter. You have them confined. If they don't notice the lights going on, make sure they are aware that they cannot exit the room by announcing your presence and informing them of you intention to kill them should they attempt to exit the door. Position yourself to the strong side of the door, well beyond reach and preferably down below the normal line of sight. Since virtually all interior doors open inward, they must expose themselves to your line of sight to open the door, even a crack to see out. Your eyes have adjusted to the bright light, their eyes have not. That gives you another edge.
Now, all of the yelling and lights on will wake up the rest of the household. Have someone dial 911 while you keep these guys isolated. The odds are that they have already evacuated. Have your wife watch for the police, but tell her not to open the door until she has visual confirmation that its the cops at the front door and not the bad guys.
This scenario accomplishes the goals of:
A) Isolating the threat.
B) Neutralizing the threat.
C) Minimizing the risk to you and your family.
D) Being able to identify the threat as intruders or family (thus the absolute need to illuminate the area of likely confrontation).
E) If the intruders are family, you have not shot them and they will surely identify themselves when challenged.
F) You allowed the bad guy(s) a way out, thus greatly reducing the probability of a deadly confrontation.
G) Limited the loss or damage to one room and its contents.
H) Virtually guaranteed that they will never return.
Remember this also; being armed does not mean you must shoot. It means you have that option should the need arise. Being unarmed means being at extreme risk if the bad guys are armed. Defending against home invasions or night burglers is all about being reducing risks and maximizing your options. Sleep with bedroom doors closed and locked. Any obstacle is better than nothing. Lock all exterior doors. Don't leave windows open or even unlocked at night. Some windows have mechanical locks that allow the window to be partially opened. These are ok for bedrooms, where the racket required to defeat those locks will surely wake you. Don't depend on them in unoccupied rooms. Invest in a few window airconditioners if it's warm. The AC unit is a substantial obstacle. Leave a light on inside and outside. I have four motion sensing halogens that illuminate the property like the Sing Sing's yard should someone approach the house. Alarm systems have a place, but make sure you invest in panic button pads for all bedrooms. Rhino shoud get a second, more proactive dog.. There's nothing quite as useless as a useless dog. For added effect, invest in dummy video cameras and mount them outside so that it appears that all approaches to the home are covered (this is highly effective at getting your house ruled out by a casing burgler). If your house looks like serious thought has gone into security, the average thief will simply move on to a easier target.
Most burglers are opportunistic. Eliminate opportunities and you substantially eliminate the threat.
My regards,
Widewing
