but protecting my wife and 1 year old simply just overrides any type of consequence if I think they're in danger.

I get it, I genuinely do.

But that is an emotional response, and probably not one we should use as the basis for society's rules.

It's easy to picture "any type of consequences" as being consequences for yourself, or the Beagle Boys trying to steal from you.

But the problem is that the consequences easily (and not uncommonly) spill over to other innocent people. There's quite a few legitimate reasons why certain people (think: First responders of various kinds) might need to enter your house.

And then there's the matter that a fired bullet doesn't exactly respect property boundaries. Is killing your neighbours still an "acceptable consequence"?