Typical response time down here is over 10 minutes, worst I've seen was 28 minutes. You can be killed in under a minute in a violent home invasion if your only defense is 10 minutes away. Playing passive doesn't always work when they're jacked on drugs.
Right, but those aren't the only options. Call the police, even if you're armed to the teeth. If there's a good chance of someone being assaulted with a deadly weapon, CALL THE COPS! (Unless you're black, or speak English as a second language.) It's their job, if they're late, or fuck it up, that's on them, not you.
I can't tell you how many times the perps called the cops, first. The first time I heard about it was advice from a confessed gang Banger (Blount street bloods) in jail. Carreer criminals know this trick, and tell each other it: Call the cops first, it's your word against their's, but you can always say "If i was there to hold them up, then why'd I call the cops first?"
A phone, locks, neighborhood watch, lights, a dog, alarms, kitchen knives, baseball bats, pottery, ash trays, tasers, pepper spray and firearms.
AND
ANDFirearms.
If a gun is your only defense, then you're a danger to yourself, and your neighbors, but no safer.
YTF does nobody ever say "Don't call the fire department, they'll probably show up too late. Try to put the fire out yourself." ? Because that's IN. Sane. "I don't know what would have happened if I didn't have this fire extinguisher."
Having a heart attack? Don't call 911, they might be too late. You've got a knife, right? Just perform a bypass on yourself, without training.
How hard can it be? It's only a firefight in you own home. You don't need backup, you got this.