Physical Defense

I had a conversation with a friend of mine recently about the physical protection of his home.  I have a bit of a reputation as a gun enthusiast that is somewhat earned.  What surprised my friend and got him to urge me to post this entry is that my advice was a surprise to him and something he admits he had never heard before from anyone.The issue wasn’t computer or even company security, but security at home.  How do I protect my family in a world where convicts escape, kids kill and home invasion is a common occurence?  I do have weapons including an AK47, but they are not ready at a moments notice.  I have kids so I have bolts out and disassembled, ammo stored away from the weapons and trigger locks (in the case of the AK there is a cable locked through the barrel).  I can’t just run and grab one of these weapons for the defense of my home and that works since that isn’t my plan.  We have 3 dogs who average about 70 pounds each and should they alert me to a problem I am most likely to grab my paintball gun or a wooden sword to join the fray.  If I confront an intruder in my house with a paintball gun then there are several advantages.  I won’t be having rounds going through walls and hurting my family or pets, I won’t be causing a fire or water damage with paintballs, but if I put 20 rounds into someone at close range they will be down.  Anyone who has played paintball knows what I mean, especially if they have been hit from 10 feet or less (not recommended).  I live in NH which means that I am unlikely to be prosecuted should I kill someone invading my home, but why make killing the person a goal?  I view it as impossible for a court to convict someone if they choose an obviously non-lethal weapon especially when given more deadly alternatives.I know this seems to be off the topic of security as it relates to technology, but if you have been reading my posts you know that I don’t see a distinction in most cases.  Security is security.  I would welcome your comments on how this concept (well recieved by all I have discussed it with) might apply to technical security.  I will reserve my analogies for now.