Yeee-haw! Talk about stupid ideas! Let me give some advice and a quick tip in urban warfare. Never, ever, ever try to run down a dark hallway carrying a loaded long rifle. You don't believe me?

Picture this, 3:00 AM in the dark, noises heard in the kitchen, Dad hears a noise in the kitchen, rolls over, grabs the gun. Scenario A: safety is off and gun goes "boom", scares the crap out of Mom and causes irreparable damage to Dad's lower legs but does scare off the cat/burglar/teenage son; B: Safety is on or at least until Dad is running down the hallway at which time he manages to release the safety and collide with the wall discharging the piece; C: Dad grabs the gun, removes safety, calls 911 and waits sensibly in the room with the gun aimed at the door.

Now, 2 out of the 3 are bad but if he follows the "C" scenario he has made a smart move. A shotgun in the bedroom? Cmon! If you feel you need protection then get yourself a .38, load it with snake-shot and keep it handy. It may not kill the SOB but neither will it kill the son/daughter by accident.

Yeah, yeah, I know, "But I want to use my .44 mag and blow a fist sized hole in the mutha". Blowing a hole through someone is not the point. You want to knock down, incapacitate or scare off the perp. If you miss with the .44 that round aint stopping in the drywall. It's going through and continuing in a line until it hits something solid enough to stop it. Say, Aunt Martha who is in town visiting, sleeping two rooms down.