From a reader:

Your emailer writes: “However, passing a law that recognizes the need for such a self-defense action and therefore legalizes the shooting of strangers in the home would not be good, either.” Actually laws legalizing shooting strangers that have broken into your home (the breaking-in is the key) are pretty common. Here’s California’s… California Penal Code 198.5. “Any person using force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily injury within his or her residence shall be presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily injury to self, family, or a member of the household when that force is used against another person, not a member of the family or household, who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has unlawfully and forcibly entered the residence and the person using the force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred. As used in this section, great bodily injury means a significant or substantial physical injury. “ The unlawfully and forcibly is central in the California law. If you wake up from your nap and find a stranger sitting at your dining room table, it’s likely that some other member of the household let him in, You should refrain from shooting him. OTOH, if you hear the door being kicked in, you are perfectly within the law to use lethal force.

Me: I’ve received similar notes re: Texas, Washington state, etc.