Handgun or shotgun for home defense

[VUPDblue]

shotgun for sure
this is the order I keep shells in my shotty

1. Bird shot - to teach an intruder a lesson, if he does not leave after that
2. Buck shot - to severely wound him if he still wants to fight
3. rifled slug - this will surely end his day

If you are confident that the slug is a fightstopper, why not go with all slugs? The point of the exercise of aiming your shotgun at the BG and pulling the trigger is to stop the fight. By the time you've got the shotgun out, there is no continuum of force, it's deadly force, period. Shooting to wound is an astonishingly bad idea.

I do sort of the same thing. Mossy 500 .12ga next to the bed. First two shells are 00 rubber buck. The next four are 3" magnum 00. The real deal.
I figure if some dude can take two of those and still wanna fight, then it's time to go to sleep. Plus, it could be a big help in court proving that I tried to resolve the situation without lethal force.

Less-lethal in a shotgun has no place in a HD scenario (IMHO). Again, you have already made the choice to use deadly force by the time that the shotgun comes out. So what if your assailant is firing at you from the get-go? You'll be fighting back with less-lethal ammo, thereby handicapping yourself from the beginning. If I'm going to a gunfight, dammit, I want to have the bigger more effective gun. Again, there is no use of force continuum once the firearms come out. Why wouldn't you be prepared to end the fight from the word "go" instead of fooling about with less effective means?

If there is an uninvited intruder in my home, I want the danger to be over with ASAP. One single round of 00buck does more to make that desire a reality than birdshot or less-lethal options.

 

[clt46910]

These sit on the side next to it.

 

[public servant]

This is what I use. Has a LazerMax as well as the light. Then again I also have a double barreled coach shotgun if needed.

Sweet... Hey!! Wait a minute...that's my bedroom!!!!

 

[public servant]

If you are confident that the slug is a fightstopper, why not go with all slugs? The point of the exercise of aiming your shotgun at the BG and pulling the trigger is to stop the fight. By the time you've got the shotgun out, there is no continuum of force, it's deadly force, period. Shooting to wound is an astonishingly bad idea.


Less-lethal in a shotgun has no place in a HD scenario (IMHO). Again, you have already made the choice to use deadly force by the time that the shotgun comes out. So what if your assailant is firing at you from the get-go? You'll be fighting back with less-lethal ammo, thereby handicapping yourself from the beginning. If I'm going to a gunfight, dammit, I want to have the bigger more effective gun. Again, there is no use of force continuum once the firearms come out. Why wouldn't you be prepared to end the fight from the word "go" instead of fooling about with less effective means?

If there is an uninvited intruder in my home, I want the danger to be over with ASAP. One single round of 00buck does more to make that desire a reality than birdshot or less-lethal options.

 

[clt46910]

Sweet... Hey!! Wait a minute...that's my bedroom!!!!

oops, out of the wrong camera...

 

[public servant]

oops, out of the wrong camera...

Just leave the dog and the guns.

 

[public servant]

Why? Because why would I want to go walking through my skinny hallway, into a kitchen where someone could be waiting and have a nice long barrel to grab onto, when I go to investigate the thumping from the front of the trailer and the dogs going crazy, when a handgun is easier to employee in that tight environment, and easier to protect?

This would solve all those problems...tight hallways...barrel to grab, etc. I'm having a hard time justifying the price...but I want one just the same.

 

[kludge]

shotgun for sure
this is the order I keep shells in my shotty

1. Bird shot - to teach an intruder a lesson, if he does not leave after that
2. Buck shot - to severely wound him if he still wants to fight
3. rifled slug - this will surely end his day

Don't let the prosecutor find this internet post.

Esentially what you are saying is, "I did not want to use deadly force. Deadly force was not required so I shot him with bird shot. After that deadly force was still not required so used buckshot. After that deady force was reuired so I shot him with a slug."

The problem here is that bird shot is "deady force".

What Indiana Code says:

1. Deadly force was used.
2. Deadly force was used.
3. Deadly force was used.

IC 35-41-1-7
"Deadly force" defined
Sec. 7. "Deadly force" means force that creates a substantial risk of serious bodily injury.

<A name=IC35-41-1-8>IC 35-41-1-8
"Deadly weapon" defined
Sec. 8. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), "deadly weapon" means the following:
(1) A loaded or unloaded firearm.


IC 35-41-1-25
"Serious bodily injury" defined
Sec. 25. "Serious bodily injury" means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes:
(1) serious permanent disfigurement; (2) unconsciousness;
(3) extreme pain;
(4) permanent or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ; or
(5) loss of a fetus.

What the prosecutor will try to get the jury to see is this:

1. My intent in shooting him was to teach him a lesson.
2. My intent in shooting him was to severely wound him.
3. My intent in shooting him was to kill him.

What you are allowed to do under the law:

"A person:
(1) is justified in using reasonable force, including deadly force, against another person; and
(2) does not have a duty to retreat;
if the person reasonably believes that the force is necessary to prevent or terminate the other person's unlawful entry of or attack on the person's dwelling, curtilage, or occupied motor vehicle."

So a person is legally justified in using deadly force (slug, buckshot, bird shot, .22 short, knife, baseball bat) to prevent the unlawful entry of you home or terminate its the entrance after it has occured by reasonable force.

Slug, buckshot, and birdshot are all "reasonable" force given the circumstances.

trnsplntfrmohio, I'm not picking on you or singling you out. We all have to careful about the words we use and the intent that we imply.

 

[rambone]

Use a paintball gun if you want to teach a lesson. Use a shotgun if you want to defend your family.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

It's is situational, depending on if you have children or not. I still say that the shotgun is the best up close and personal sd weapon out there. Will a handgun get the job done yes, mine stays on my night stand.

 

[Bastispah]

i prefer a pistol for size ease in close quarters. But a shotty would be devastating at close range.

 

[Postal Dude]

I keep a loaded 870 behind closet door, glock in my nightstand. I would probably be more likely to grab the glock tho.

 

[dustjunky2000]

Less-lethal in a shotgun has no place in a HD scenario (IMHO). Again, you have already made the choice to use deadly force by the time that the shotgun comes out. So what if your assailant is firing at you from the get-go? You'll be fighting back with less-lethal ammo, thereby handicapping yourself from the beginning. If I'm going to a gunfight, dammit, I want to have the bigger more effective gun. Again, there is no use of force continuum once the firearms come out. Why wouldn't you be prepared to end the fight from the word "go" instead of fooling about with less effective means?

If there is an uninvited intruder in my home, I want the danger to be over with ASAP. One single round of 00buck does more to make that desire a reality than birdshot or less-lethal options.

I see your point definitely. The reason for the LL ammo is that I want to, more than anything, end the situation without death on either side. If I can stop the BG without killing him, then that's what I prefer. If he's firing back though, I can empty that mag tube pretty quick, and he's gonna get both LL rounds within a second. After that, he'll receive the other six real ones as well. I don't know about you all, but I can empty eight shells in just about 6 seconds. I can send off the first 3 in just barely over 1-1/2 seconds. That's enough for two LLs and a real one. (just had the wife time me with snap-caps.)

Also, those rubber buck pellets are nothing to sneeze at. If I was in a gunfight, a direct hit from those things would be plenty to put me down I think. It's not pepper spray. Those LL rounds are LESS lethal. And I would want to have it known that I made an effort to stop the confrontation without killing. That's the reasoning behind the LL rounds first.

Again, I see the reasoning for both sides here, I just prefer to go with the LL as a first choice so I can hopefully avoid a murder trial.

P.S. Also, I'm likely not going to be the only one in the fight. The wifey has her .45 right next to her in bed in much the same manner as clt46910 does. So even if he does get me while I'm blasting rubber towards him, he's gonna feel a few HydraShock .45 before he gets her as well.

 

[VUPDblue]

Contemplate this if you will: Supposing that some of those rubber pellets miss the BG and start bouncing around your house, how will you react when they come back your direction? I still think that less-lethal buckshot is an extraordinarily bad idea in HD...

 

[Mr. Habib]

I think it really depends on your floor plan and defense strategy. If you don't have kids or other family members that would require leaving your safe room then I would vote SG. 00 buck will stop anything that can walk through your bedroom door. If the situation requires that you search the house or possibly go to aid of family members, the increased maneuverability and easier one hand use of a handgun would come into play. Personally, I wouldn't go looking for trouble, my insurance will replace my stuff. My plan is to make a last stand at the top of my stairs, between the BGs and my loved ones. A really pi$$***** father with a Benelli and 9 rnds of 000 can make coming upstairs seem like a really bad idea. If I have to go to plan B then the XD loaded with HSTs goes with me. Just my.

 

[Lock n Load]

In the house, either a G19 or a Kimber .45 and since I live out I have the 870s for around the house and if we venture out in the fields or woods, then an AR w/ an ACOG goes too.

Depends on the situation, but they are all ready to go:

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

No more kids at home for us either. Although I keep the shotgun closer. The little woman knows how to use her .40 S&W on the nightstand if it gets that bad.

I don't answer the door at 02:00...this does...

Have fun with that.

He's kind of like an Wal-Mart greeter...always right there in the way...only angry.

Too bad we live in a society that an intruder won't think twice about shooting a dog.

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

Don't let the prosecutor find this internet post.

Esentially what you are saying is, "I did not want to use deadly force. Deadly force was not required so I shot him with bird shot. After that deadly force was still not required so used buckshot. After that deady force was reuired so I shot him with a slug."

The problem here is that bird shot is "deady force".

What Indiana Code says:

1. Deadly force was used.
2. Deadly force was used.
3. Deadly force was used.



What the prosecutor will try to get the jury to see is this:

1. My intent in shooting him was to teach him a lesson.
2. My intent in shooting him was to severely wound him.
3. My intent in shooting him was to kill him.

What you are allowed to do under the law:



So a person is legally justified in using deadly force (slug, buckshot, bird shot, .22 short, knife, baseball bat) to prevent the unlawful entry of you home or terminate its the entrance after it has occured by reasonable force.

Slug, buckshot, and birdshot are all "reasonable" force given the circumstances.

trnsplntfrmohio, I'm not picking on you or singling you out. We all have to careful about the words we use and the intent that we imply.

I know all this, I was being a wiseass, a cop buddy once told me if someone breaks into your house, kill them and never shoot them while they're running away. Anyway my shotty has 2 rounds of buckshot in the magazine and none in the chamber, hopefully the sound of a pump action shotty is enough to scare someone away in the dead of night. Other than that I'd plan on grabbing my 45 and I live in an apartment and would rather not have multiple holes in my wall.

 

[smitty12b]

Contemplate this if you will: Supposing that some of those rubber pellets miss the BG and start bouncing around your house, how will you react when they come back your direction? I still think that less-lethal buckshot is an extraordinarily bad idea in HD...

I agree with you 100% but some people, no matter what the situation, won't take a life. I am not one of them.

 

[kingnereli]

The shotgun is my choice. Pistols are quite ballistically limited and I won't deploy one as a primary if a long gun is an option like it is in a home defense situation. You give up very little maneuverability with a shotgun and it is quite possible to discretely answer the door with a shotgun in hand.