Lockjaw

Yep beat me to it. If you are in someone's house in Texas and they shoot you...it's justified. You hear these stories often enough and as far as I know nobody has been tried and convicted of manslaughter or even assault for defending their property.

Now...as far as "Just use a bat or a knife..." Yeah...if the thought of you being able to fend off an attacker with a bat makes you sleep better at night go right ahead but just one thing to consider. You have to get awfully close to an invader to take them out with a blunt melee weapon. And the closer you get the more dangerous the situation becomes and the more likely YOU won't be the one ready for the confrontation. Especially if there happens to be more than one guy. With a gun even if you miss them the likely hood of a crook hanging around to get into a gun battle with you or trying to wrest your gun away from you is minimal to nill.

Think about it seriously. If you are able to get the drop on the intruder...you can double tap him real quick and confrontation is over before they know you are there. If you AREN'T able to get the drop on them and they see or hear you coming you still have the ability to engage them from say 4-5 meters away and still be relatively safe. If you have a bat or a knife...you've got to sneak up on them...ok and only the most idiotic thief would not notice you creeping up on them so close that you can hit them with a bat with any significant force now if you aren't able to surprise them...well at that moment it becomes does the thief think they can take you? And frankly one on one you with a bat versus him with whatever he might have or might be able to pick up to defend himself is a toss up on who is going to win. You MIGHT win...you might not and you might have just succeeded in pissing off a nutjob who now likely has YOUR weapon and will likely have no problem using against you.