I find the defense of the home debatable mainly because as the article says, your force must be reasonable under the circuмstances. That's really hard to know under the pressure of such an event. Most people's judgment is much better in hindsight. I've been wanting to learn how to shoot but not kill for just such an occasion. I'm afraid I would kill unnecessarily or on the other end, in an effort NOT to kill, I might not hurt them enough to stop them.
Someone who breaks into your home is not coming for dinner. If he BREAKS IN he is up to no good.
A wounded animal is a desperate animal, be it man or beast. An average sized man can and will still function with a bullet in an arm or a leg. He will come after you.
A firearm is a deadly weapon with the accent on deadly. Only use deadly force to achieve that end. Otherwise have and practice a plan to exit the building.
Marsha
This would be true if someone were breaking into your home and coming after you personally. I don't think it is always the case however. In the case that Mater posted, a wounding shot or even a warning shot would have been enough. They thought no one was home and were clearly going after his stuff, not him (as he knew from their previous burglaries). A warning shot may have even put a little fear into them and cured them, who knows.
My stuff is not worth a life. My life is, and my family is, but not my stuff. They can have it if they want it that badly. But what someone is after and how far they will go to get it may not be clear in the moment so I would be ready to kill but hoping I don't have to.
(All assuming my husband wasn't home of course and the defense landed on me.)
I don't know if your "shoot but don't kill" would ever make sense. If you are looking at a situation like I posted -- unarmed teenagers -- a warning shot in a different direction would be sufficient to scare them off. If you don't want to kill,then don't shoot at them. OTOH, you have no way of knowing how far an armed person will go and injuring them to the point where they can't escape will only make them more likely to shoot at you.
Here's another recent story: Man and new wife return home from Thanksgiving visit to relatives and see a strange vehicle parked in front of their home. He drops his wife off at a neighbor and then returns to check the house. Upon entering he discovers they are being robbed. The robbers begin firing at him. He escapes far enough to place a 911 call. Attempting to escape the scene altogether, he reaches his car and begins to drive away. He is shot in the head through the car window and is killed.
They weren't there for him, only his stuff, but were more than willing to kill anyone who witnessed their crime.