My dad has been alive for 80 years and has never needed to "defend himself."
I am not afraid of the world at large. If there is a gun in your home, it's more likely to be used against you. If someone broke into my house, I wouldn't kill them for that, and if you pull a gun on someone, you need to be ready to kill that person. While the police are not perfect, they are who the law has entrusted to help with justice, and I will not try to deliver "justice" on my own, because that's anything but justice.