I'm tired of this trope, repeated several times in this, that is used to excuse people breaking into houses.
Anyone breaking into a house while people are in it are not burglars, they're attackers.
It's perfectly okay to defend your family with lethal force.
Criminals breaking into the car in the driveway? No point in lethal force. Collect from the insurance.
Criminals breaking into the house your kids are sleeping in? No amount of insurance is going to replace them, so it is stupid to wait and see if the criminals will direct lethal force towards your kids before defending yourself.
I repeat, it is stupid to rely on the goodwill of attackers in your home to not harm your children!.
Stop trivialising attacks by calling it theft.
And no, someone who breaks into a house with the intention of burgling is not an attacker, they're a burglar, regardless of whether other people are in the house. Someone who breaks into a house with the intention of attacking people is an attacker.
However, it's important to recognize the small proportion of events that started as a burglary and evolved into something much worse. With this in mind, it stands to reason that burglaries are no ordinary encounters, and that the criteria for lethal force in that situation ought to be relaxed relative to e.g. walking down a crowded street at high-noon.
Even in America, I don't know anyone who honestly thinks that shooting a burglar is prima facie proportionate. The claim is usually more sophisticated, and has two parts:
1. Pointing a gun at someone who has unlawfully entered one's home is a proportionate response.
2. One cannot rightly expect the home-owner to prioritize the trespasser's safety over his own, even in ambiguous situations.
That said, not everyone who breaks in is just after your stuff, especially if they come at night.
Of the ten most populous countries in the world, only China (2.114) and Indonesia (1.783) have lower peace indexes than the United States (2.337). Of the next ten, only four have lower indexes. In other words, two thirds of the twenty most populous countries in the world (of which the U.S. is third) are more violent than the United STates. Unless by the "rest of the world" we're going to ignore most of the people?
[0]: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-viol...
