But I will bet with a fair amount of certainly that most homeowners arent standing around waiting for things to develop for them to think, "Hey!...I better go get my electronic ear protection so I can protect my hearing!" as the burglar/home invader works at making a noisy entry into their residence...
This is probably true, but it would likely be because "most homeowners" have never made plans, trained, or practiced for such a thing. For those who have (which should include most/all of us here), how is this relevant to whether it's a good idea to include hearing protection as part of those plans? Note that I wrote "plans," plural, here -- I'd like to think that we all take into account the fact that unwelcome intrusions take many forms.
To use an extreme example, someone whose "plan" is to blaze away at any intruder as fast as possible hasn't taken into account that the intruder might be the kid next door. One of the basics of home defense is to come with a flexible set of plans; as far as possible, they should include
maximizing the amount of time one has to assess the situation.
That may not mean much in some situations, but it may just as easily prevent a tragedy as allow a second or so to put on hearing protection. This is what planning and training are for: to allow you to make the best possible response in a given situation. Why assume that that the best possible response will
never include giving yourself a tactical advantage such as that offered by a good set of electronic muffs, and, incidentally, protecting your hearing?