Living in Colorado like bigbulls my decision can be made alot easier like he said with the "make my day" law since I can shoot anyone in my house.

With your senario if I met someone half way up the stairs with my shotgun in tow if I saw any type of weapon they would get a load in the chest as quick as I could pull the trigger. If there was no weapon that I could see he would be told to raise his hands over his head and if there were any sudden moves or he didn't comply he would get a load in his chest. If he complyed with my commands the little woman would be told to tell the police that I have a man on the stairs and I have a gun trained on him so they will know what to expect when they enter my home.

But under my circumstances my german shepard would have taken care of the problem the minute they entered my home and I probably would just wake up to a bloody mess in the morning since I'm a sound sleeper.