Home defense, shotgun or handgun?

357 revolver that’s a wristbreaker as my dad would put it.lol

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The LC9, that looks just like my EC9S

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Nice piece of hardware brother.

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I agree with @Johnnyq60, whichever one is closest, and both should defend you and your family just fine.

Something to think about (and I’m not trying to be “tacti-cool” here) is thinking about how you will maneuver around the house with each and how it will interact with family members.

For example, you hear the bump in the night and are going to check it out…is it easier (and are you more comfortable with), making that trip down to the kitchen/living room and clearing corners safely with your handgun or shotgun (that’s the question for you to answer).

If a break in actually does occur in the middle of the night and you’re wanting to get to your kids room, now not only do you need to consider how you’ll clear corners safely/quickly, but how will you grab your kids up and take them back to your bedroom (or execute whatever your emergency plan is) without muzzling family members? Will a handgun or shotgun work better for you there? (again a question for you to personally answer different people I would expect would have different answers, and neither would be wrong).

For me, it’s the handgun as my primary on the nightstand…knowing that I have long guns in he safe should things get really hinky and the .45ACP isn’t cutting it.

Just my thoughts.

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The answer to your question is, both. The handgun gives me time to get my long gun. Actually there’s a drill and protocol my wife and I practice. In short, it’s handgun, shotgun (which is nicknamed/code worded, if required) phone 911!
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My wife and I practice room clearing, once a week!

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To clarify.
Bedside companion


Nighttime companion with light!

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I notice a lot of people talk about lights on their weapon of choice. I’m old school, no lights. I have motion lights throughout the house. There are 2 basic types of home invasion. You are either up and about or you are sleep. There are three things I’m going to try avoid doing. First, I’m not going ‘looking’. Second , I’m not going to announce my location. either by light or sound. No working the action. Third, I’m not going to play fair. Of course there are always caveat s to everything, number of people living in your house, their location, etc. I’m staying in place in a covered position. I’m letting the motion lights give me a sight advantage. I’m calling for LE. If it’s a ‘in my face’ situation, I don’t want to deal with extra’s like chambering a round. I’ll have more that enough to deal with. Anyway, that’s what works for this old geezer.

I should add I have security cam’s inside and out. They are self monitoring/control. I use them ‘live’ to check outside noise and inside noise. if they haven’t already ‘notified’ me of a problem.

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Well I thank all of you for your comments. It gives me alot to think about. As to doing clearing drills of my rooms in the house. I have a really small house so it won’t be too hard to clear in like 2 moves LOL. But I do appreciate everything you guys have said. As a new gun owner it’s nice to hear different opinions. and now that I’m hearing some of them it’s allowing me to figure out that I have to do what works for my family in my house and it’s not about necessarily what gun is better but more like what’s easier for my particular household. So thank you very much for commenting on my thread. If you have more, please do. You can never have enough ideas.

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Then seriously, if your home is small, tactically I’ll have to recommend handgun for closest to your body and maneuverability. However, no matter how funny I may be, I don’t recommend clearing your own home unless you’re an experienced operator. Grab your weapon, family and phone. Barricade, keep phone line open with 911, and identify your target!

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How close do you expect the threat to be? How much time will it take for you to respond?

In the dark, in very close quarters a long gun can impede movement or even be leveraged out of your control.
Yeah, that sounds crazy but meth heads are crazy.
If you’re responding to the sound of broken glass or splintering wood, that would be another scenario. You can pick up the phone, open or lock doors, or turn on room lights with one hand----shotguns require two hands.

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Thank you for that Scott. Yeah I didn’t figure you were meaning for me to clear rooms LOL. I guess I was figuring that maybe the sound of racking a shotgun might have been a good way to scare somebody off so I don’t have to use it but meth heads in mind like you said John they are crazy and I don’t know the sound of a shotgun would scare them. So I’m going to go with handgun. Thank you for all your good points.

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If it’s a home invasion, nothing scares them! And you most certainly won’t be able to talk him/her down. If you plan to draw a weapon, remember the 4 rules of gun ownership. Stay safe!

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I have handguns staged throughout our spread out ranch style house. I do have my old Rem. 870 ready in the gun cabinet.

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You know Chris I’ve heard a lot of guys talking about keeping guns spread out all over the house . I have a 9 year old autistic daughter that prevents me from that scenario. When a gun is not locked up in my house it is beside me on me right there with me. Good point on them not scaring off, you’re right, they’re breaking into your house for a reason they know the chances. so I get that. They’re not going to run they’ll probably just react.

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A couple of things to consider:

Are you trained to clear a house? I’m not. The only time I leave the security of my bedroom (also where my gun safe is) is if I have to get to another family member.

How large/small is your house? Long guns are just that - long. (I know MOTO.) That can work against you in a small area. It’s also harder for a bad guy to get a good grip on a handgun that is easier for you to maneuver.

Staging guns with children around can be difficult, but not impossible. Small easily accessible safes can be chained in place through the house if you’re determined to stage firearms.

My suggestion is make a plan and train with your family.

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@NickC - I am actually leaning more (these days) to my revolver as well for home defense
S&W model 19-3 .357 for me it seems more like a safer choice and less likely to have a accidental discharge in the heat of the moment “grab in the middle of the night” situation.

@Dawn - EXCELLENT POINT All of you with Families read that twice!! - I’m single, no kids in the house and I would definitely follow that advice if I was staging

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“…a pistol puts a hole in people, a rifle puts a hole through people, a shotgun at the right range with the right load will physically remove a chunk of ■■■■ off your opponent and throw that ■■■■on the floor…” ~ Clint Smith

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I apologize beforehand as to what my observations are, and as to how they may be perceived by some. I am by no means the final word on anything, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. As stated in my initial introduction, I do have a considerable amount of practical experience, and I would like to present a few lessons I learned along the way.

Given the choice between a handgun or a shotgun for home defense, there are numerous things to consider. To start, let’s consider the weapon itself, free of all the “tacticool” accessories one may be inclined to add after the initial purchase. Tactics are tactics, and regardless of what you’re bringing with you to investigate that bump in the night, sound tactics still prevail. How long is the shotgun? Are you able to “cut the pie” in a narrow hallway or is your shotgun causing you to abandon sound tactics to maintain control of the weapon? Can you clear a room with the weapon in proper position to address an armed adversary or are you forced to perform a series of gymnastics to avoid furniture, children’s toys and various appliances? In most cases, the handgun will prevail.

The next aspect is ammunition. I have participated and preformed the FBI protocol with gelatin blocks many more times than I can remember. To those not familiar with it, the protocol was established to follow a set of criteria in determining how well various types and calibers of ammunition performed in certain media. The gelatin block represented human flesh without the necessity of using deceased animals or human cadavers. The ammunition was tested with a t-shirt on the gelatin block to see how the ammunition would perform with light (read summer) clothing. Next, the block was covered with multiple layers of clothing to replicate an armed incident in cold weather. The final three mediums were wallboard, auto glass and sheet metal. Keep in mind, this was a law enforcement test, and shooting around automobiles necessitated testing with the auto glass and sheet metal.

The results were fairly consistent throughout the testing process. Some hollowpoint ammunition became clogged by the heavy layers of clothing, and most were prone to shed their jackets when fired through automobile glass. However, the wallboard test is very relevant when choosing the proper ammunition for home defense. Contrary to “popular belief,” a good frangible round in 5.56 x 45 is much less penetrative than a 9mm in FMJ. As a matter of fact, short of high-powered rifle rounds, 9mm FMJ (full metal jacket) is notoriously over- penetrative. I have seen it penetrate three blocks of geletin and continue downrange. Shotgun slugs and 00 buck are also very penetrative. A good choice for the shotgun might be #6 lead shot, and a medium weight 9mm hollowpoint such as 124 grain is also optimal.

Accessories: everyone likes to accessorize, but before you sell the farm to have the gear of the week, here are some considerations. Should you mount a light on your home defense weapon? Well, there’s no doubt it’s convenient, and it’s absolutely necessary to be able to identify your potential target. Let’s say you hear a bump in the night, and go investigate with your light mounted shotgun. Finding no one in your secured house, you step outside and check the perimeter of your home. That’s when you come into contact with some neighbor kids up to some mischief. They are trespassing sure, but they’re posing no danger to you. Now the problem is you can’t use your flashlight effectively without pointing your weapon at things you shouldn’t be. If you turn off the light, you’re standing there in the dark. Maybe you have a quick detachment system which enables you to remove the light and maybe you don’t. It’s always best to carry another small flashlight with you, then when your weapon is no longer needed, you will have an independent light source.

What about lasers? In law enforcement, we ignored them. There are two glaring issues. You should never depend upon a sighting system that can fail. If your battery goes dead, it will always be at the absolute worst time. I have never seen a laser that is capable of illuminating a suspect well enough to establish a clear identification. So then the question becomes, “am I even pointing my weapon at the right person?” Once again, an independent light source is mandatory. Lastly, lasers don’t just project out to the suspect, they also eminate from your weapon. I can tell where you are as soon as you turn it on.
Lasers are OK, but they will never take the place of the principles of true marksmanship. Use a flashloght, and learn how to use your sights.

To sum this up, the best weapon you can use is the one you have. Maybe you can’t afford more than one. If your weapon is a shotgun, use the right load, make sure you have a good home defense plan in place and practice clearing your home with an empty weapon. I believe your best bet is a handgun, as it is so much easier to maneuver within the tight confines of a residence. One final thought: use your light switch, and turn on your lights. If you are clearing your home with a flashlight, as the bad guy, no matter how many times you turn off the flashlight and wriggle to a new position, I will immediately know where you are as soon as the flashlight comes back on. If I am crouched in the dark, you might not see me until it is too late. Turning on you home lights takes all the advantage away from the intruder, not you.

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I just started my membership yesterday at 11 p.m. and already I am glad that I did. all of you have very useful information in different situations and different walks of life. Thank you very much for your rapid responses. This is an awesome community.

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welcome Justin!

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