Checkboard,
Well, actually, yes, or something very like it.
That would surely be the best possible deterrence against burglars.
Look at it this way - if you were a career criminal, specialising in burglary, and a proper right of defence was available to a householder, shoot first and ask questions later and no prosecution, how long would it be until you thought about a career change?
It's a serious question for the country. If you literally cut people's hands off for a theft conviction, you'd find the rate of theft would seriously diminish, but it wouldn't disappear completely. It's a balance. IMHO the balance of toleration has drifted too far towards the criminal and his "rights".
This issue should be a godsend for the Conservatives. If they were to enact a proper right to defence in your own home, I might even start voting for them again!