From what I understand, you're more likely to be injured or killed with the weapons in your own home than an intruder is. If you arent master of the situation or you cannot bring overwhelming and deadly force to your defense, you shouldnt even TRY to resist with a weapon. Its just going to make you deader faster.
And you are right, it is a social not a legislative problem for the US in regards to guns. Firearms are an integral part of our culture - we have a long history of private gun owners 'making' something with their trigger fingers (often at the expense of others, but thats another story). Look at our independence movement and the minutemen, think of the image of the 'Hunter providing for the family', think of the 'taming' of the wild west - all of these parts of our history involve the 'rugged American' and his guns. Now, while that sort of thing is largely behind us, we still have that legacy and we're not letting go of it for better or worse.
As a result, there are lots of guns now, there always will be lots of guns, and as long as there are guns, we're going to have stupid people who get them. Its something we're going to have to work through and figure out on our own, and just saying "Ban them all" is a response that just wont work here. If you're not from the US, you might be shaking your head and saying 'why dont they GET it?' Well, I'm sure some day we'll "get" it, but until then, I'm going to enjoy my guns to the fullest, and NOT shoot holes through my walls at the neighbor.