The subject of defensive gun use is always going to be fraught with issues. The reason is that many defensive uses of a firearm don't actually require police intervention. Shooting a rattlesnake that's ready to strike is a defensive gun use, but do the cops actually care about that? Not really.

Many gun control advocates argue that defensive gun uses aren't that common. They tend to cite the number of people killed in self-defense to bolster that argument.

There's just a problem with that. Not every defensive gun use results in someone being killed. It doesn't need to. Sometimes, just pointing a gun at the bad guy can make them run.

Sometimes, such as this incident in Nashville, it requires a bit more than that, but less than killing the SOB.

Anton Cosby, 32, is accused of breaking into the home on Shreeve Lane just before 6 a.m. Saturday. The victim and his family woke up to the sound of banging on the front door and windows.

The homeowner retrieved his firearm and gave Cosby repeated commands to leave. He told Cosby he would fire his weapon, according to police. Cosby then allegedly broke the kitchen window and began to climb through when the homeowner shot him once in the arm.

Police said Cosby dropped his revolver near the kitchen sink and ran away. Officers say they found him nearby. When they attempted to render aid, Cosby became combative. He was transported to Skyline Medical Center for treatment of his non-critical gunshot wound.

Officials have ruled the shooting as self-defense and the homeowner will not be facing any charges.

Cosby, on the other hand, is facing aggravated burglary charges as well as felony vandalism, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm while intoxicated.

So, a bad day for him all around.

There are a couple of takeaways here that I'd like to touch on, though. Obviously, the first is the benefit of having a firearm. Had the homeowner not had one, all he or she could have done was call the police and pray they got there quickly.

This is someone who was coming into a house while knowing there was someone home. He had a firearm of his own. There's no situation here that sounds like good news for the homeowner had they been unarmed.

But they weren't. Thankfully.

Yet another interesting point is that Cosby was (allegedly) armed himself. He had a revolver, yet the moment he met armed resistance, he took off.

Something I've noticed quite often is that for all of their desire to appear to be hard, most crooks are scared little bunnies. They're cowards. They're not interested in a fight. The moment you show you're willing to fight back on equal ground, they bolt.

Not all of them, unfortunately, but many do.

They carry guns because they're scared their target might be ready to throw down. If you've got a gun, they're likely to decide they don't want to risk it anymore and run.

That's why the defensive homicide statistics are useless. If the bad guy scampers off like a startled squirrel, they won't show up in those stats, yet the good guys still won.