Reply #88: Nope.

[krispos42]

If they're being that obvious about breaking in, then they probably don't give a rat's ass that you're home. All you're doing by speaking up is giving them a tactical advantage.

YOU have no idea how many of them there are, where they are, or what they are armed with. THEY have no idea how many people are in the house, where they are, or what they are armed with.

But you have the advantage of surprise (instead of the other way around), knowledge of the interior of the house (only an advantage if you're not taken by surprise), and, after everything is said and done, the law is on your side.

Speak up, and the only thing left on your side is that the state's attorney probably won't prosecute you. Or, if things go badly, will probably but not certainly find the invaders and put them in jail for at least a few years.

A single gunshot, fired from cover without warning or bravado, is probably more effective in stopping the invasion then a nervous voice yelling "hey, I've got a gun!". With the former, they have NOTHING to go on, and their imagination will fill in the voids of knowledge with mental images of ex-Marines lying in wait, skilled and deadly. A nervous or desperate voice trying to intimidate... what does that conjure up? Some gangly dude behind a wall clutching a golf club or table lamp.