That works for the folks that have heard about the shooting, but not having the car stolen by a stranger was largely a matter of luck.
Shooting an intruder is a harsh, but lasting, lesson in deterrence. It's like the APCs and artillery pieces that sit outside the front gate of an Army base. It says, "We're bad. Don't mess with us." But unless you can post an armed guard to watch your stuff 24 hours a day, leaving the keys in the car is still not a good idea.
But my daddy is a stubborn old man.
And he's always got a firearm within arm's reach. Habits established in WWII, I guess.
I can't tell you how splendid it made us kids feel when daddy bagged the burglar (he was breaking into my bedroom window at the time). Instead of feeling helpless and frightened (the police took 45 minutes to get there) we were PROUD that our father was a man who took seriously the job of defending his family.
And it was a win-win, because the burglar got away with two charges of fairly heavy bird shot in his backside (I think it was #6, know it was 16 ga - dad's old Parker side by side). And I'm sure he told everyone there was a crazy man up the hill with a loaded shotgun at his side (it couldn't have been 60 seconds from the time I screamed until the first loud bang).