Every RESPONSIBLE head of a household should definitely have a (legal – i.e. with a permit) firearm in the house!
Of course with that ownership comes the responsibility to know how to use the gun AND (yes, “BEST IMA”) how to store it SAFELY so there is no chance of it getting into the wrong (small) hands.
I have possessed (legally of course) a rifle in my home for over 20 years and feel it is a necessity.
Now more than ever, with the terrible economy, robbers are becoming bolder, and we are hearing of more and more cases of violent home break-ins, EVEN when people are at home!
If, chas v’shalom, that should happen to you, what will you do?
Call 911??? Even IF you have time to do that, (and I hate to have to be so blunt) by the time the cops arrive, you and your family could be dead!
If you say you will daven, that’s great, but HaSh-m expects some hishtadlus as well – and hishtadlus these days includes gun ownership. If you think you are safer here than the commenters above are, who live in the Shomron, DON’T be so sure!
Like the saying goes…
–Better to have it and not need it –
Than need it and not have it!