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Ok I'm not trying to point out the fact that you were undressed to be funny and I have a serious point to make, or at least try to make. When I sleep at night I, like you, sleep with a pistol on my nightstand. I also keep a t-shirt, and some shoes I can slip-on (house shoes, old tennis shoes, etc) by my bed. I sleep in workout shorts so that's not an issue. Now the reason why I do this is so that if I hear noises while I am sleeping (as you did) I don't have to walk around half way dressed in order to check them out. I too work a late shift so I am usually in bed until around 11-12 am. This is more online with hearing noises since most houses are burglarized during the day when people are at work instead of at night when they are home. I know some are going to think I'm really strange for thinking this but the reason I'm not too cool with walking around in my shorts and nothing else is because of my previous law enforcement experiences. It seemed that many people I dealt with or knew about who had awoken to someone breaking in walked around as you had either naked or only partially dressed. In the course of chasing the hoodlum off they always stopped short of their front door because they didn't want to talk outside in a state of undress. Now I know that many will say chasing out of the house is unwise but I disagree. If you are unwilling to do so why clear your house? Call the cops and hold up in your room until they arrive or the guy attempts entry into that room. Also most times the person didn't follow the guy outside they couldn't provide us the make and model of a car, what the guy looked like, license plate, nothing. All they knew was that someone was inside and they hauled butt when the home owner made their presence known. I also saw cases where homeowners were shot and killed in their homes and they were undressed. In fact I remember reviewing an old file cabinet full of old cases one time and noticing that a lot of people murdered seemed to be naked in the crime scene photos. I thought this was ironic that so many people left the world dressed the same way they came into it. But I digress. Wearing clothing gives you a few seconds to wake up, I can slip an extra magazine into my pocket, or if need be I can actually leave my home in order to gather information about a fleeing suspect. Also maybe I'm just very shy but if I get shot and killed I don't want to be naked in the last photos someone will ever take of me. I realize this sounds grim but if you are sleeping with a firearm beside you at night you already understand there is a need for it. By understanding that you have to acknowledge the fact that you may lose an armed confrontation in your own home. So many people think it's automatic that they will come out on top in such a situation and while I believe most time they do that's not always the case. As far as following the burglar, think about chasing someone through your home with the lights out. If they are hauling butt more than likely you aren't going to get a good look at them. They can turn corners and run through doorways pretty quick. However for most of us once they exit the house they will have to cover open ground in order to flee the scene of their crime. This is a good opportunity to gather a good description of them as well as a direction they fled in and how they made their exit. Now if you can do this from inside the home through a window that's good but some can't. I know I can't. I'm also not suggesting you chase them down the street. Just stick your head out, get a good description and then go back into your home.

I may have been rambling a bit but I just don't feel that clearing your house naked is advisable. It lends itself to being unprepared in my opinion.