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This is not a bad point to consider. After making your home unattractive to bad actors with fencing, lights, and a good sized dog (which is also good company), the odds of having to use a firearm become a lot smaller. If you do, you want something with which you are really familiar and hopefully shoot well.
For most circumstances, the best tactic is to be in a fixed location, with a line in your mind at which you would feel it appropriate to shoot a bad guy. That will vary by your house, your family composition, your risk aversion with regard to waiting, etc. IMHO, American LE and private citizens are far too reticent to use deadly force in self-defense, and put themselves (and likely others) at increased risk as a result. Your tolerance is yours.
However, for most personal defense, pistols and their rounds suck. Pistols are what you carry if you have no specific reason to expect a problem. If you have reason to expect to need to shoot someone and can't make arrangements to be somewhere else, you likely need a long gun with which you are proficient. I have both an AR (formerly my patrol rifle) and a shotgun (set up as much alike as possible; red dot, light, sling), but I expect them to be pretty much fixed position platforms. My AR is loaded with duty ammo that meets Doc Roberts' testing; the shotgun (M590) is loaded with 000 to ensure adequate penetration while maintaining a tight pattern at realistic distances in my home.
Your situation will dictate your tactics. I have a 6' fence with padlocked gates, and anyone who comes over that is already trespassing. If they try to get in to the house after hearing from a decent sized protective dog (the current one is a 95 pound RottX), I am pretty sure they are really bad and need to be addressed that way if they get through the door or a window.
