Should You Verbally Challenge A Burglar?

That is the subject of the following video:

VIDEO: "Do You Tell A Home Invader You’re Armed?"

USCCA (8 min.)

If you prefer to read the transcript, USCCA also has an article and transcript here. USA Carry had an similar article a couple years ago: "Should You Announce Your Presence? Home Defense Considerations."

    Announcing that you are armed and giving a verbal challenge have many of the same considerations, so I will go over them together.

    The considerations in favor of verbally challenging an intruder or warning them you are armed, as discussed in the articles, seem to be:

1. From a legal perspective, you have warned an intruder of possible consequences. This is especially important if you are on a telephone with a dispatcher as it provides proof that you attempted other means to diffuse the situation other than jumping directly to using lethal force. (I would note that even if you are not on the phone with 911, someone might be listening or recording the events, or another family member might be on the line with the dispatcher, so you should always assume you are being recorded). 
2. It may cause the intruder to flee. As the USA Carry article notes, most burglars are going to be operating under the assumption that the house is empty (or at least there is no one aware of what they are doing) and so a challenge of some sort might cause them to flee.  
3. If you haven't positively identified your target for some reason, and it turns out to be your spouse or a kid, it gives them the opportunity to correct your mistake. 

    The considerations against giving a verbal challenge or stating that you are armed seem to be:

1. From a legal perspective, an intruder might try to "game the system" by suggesting that they are just there by mistake or need help, muddying the water on whether it is reasonable to use lethal force should they ignore your commands. Of course, if they have a weapon at ready, this issue is moot.
2. From a tactical consideration, the fear is that you will give away your position to someone that is armed or potentially armed. Whether this is a problem is really dependent on circumstances. For one thing, you will need to verify your target which means that you will need to see them. If you have turned on lights or used a flashlight to illuminate the intruder, you probably have already given away your position. I think this is more likely to be an issue if you are alone and unarmed and trying to hide from an intruder than if you are armed. Unless, of course, you find yourself at a Christmas party in Nakatomi Tower at the wrong time....
3. Another tactical consideration that was raised was what if you just can't summon a commanding voice sufficient to intimidate a criminal or, worse, it emboldens the criminal to attack you. 

Anyway, those seem to be the main points raised in the article. 

    A couple more articles that you might like:

• "21 Things a Burglar Won’t Tell You"--Reader's Digest. 
• And for my occasional Australian reader: "How far can you go to protect yourself and your family inside your own home?"--News.com.au.