Rule # 1: Have a firearm

From AZCentral.com:

A 14-year-old boy came face to face with a burglar ransacking his Mesa home on Tuesday and used a baseball bat to level the playing field.

Michael Six hid in his bedroom closet and called 911 after seeing a man using a screwdriver to break into a sliding-glass door.

The Kino Junior High ninth-grader talked in a low voice as he described the burglar's whereabouts.

Then, Michael, clutching an aluminum baseball bat, heard his locked bedroom door rattle as the man used the screwdriver to bust in.

"You need to get out of the window," the 911 operator told Michael.

"I can't," he answered with a hint of anxiety in his voice.

"I didn't know what to do," Michael said Wednesday. "I didn't think I could pop (the window) open. My adrenaline was running. I was scared."

The man was still clutching the screwdriver as he rummaged through the boy's backpack. Then, Michael, a 5-foot-10-inch, 150-pound former baseball player, stepped out and swung.

The burglar cursed as Michael nailed him on the lower back and on the left shoulder.

"Sorry, man!" Michael yelled amid the chaos. Michael said the man, described as "big," then "turned around and took (the bat) from me."

The burglar ran out the back as Michael, uninjured, busted through a window and met police.

Good for young Michael. He thought quickly and defended himself with the best weapon that he had access to. If his parents had possessed the foresight to have a firearm about the house and to have familurized Michael, and any other family members, with its operation then the young man wouldn't have been put into the position of taking on a "big" intruder with a baseball bat.

Let this be a lesson to all of you. Have a gun. And if you find yourself with only a bat then aim for the head and swing for all you are worth.