Shotgun or pistol in your home: Which is better?

I say: Why not use both? 

Let’s look at what each does well and doesn’t do well. 

Pistols are handy to have on you and are good for moving about and performing other tasks where a free hand is needed,  such as opening open doors, leading other people to safety and/or holding a flashlight. But they’re kinda lacking in the firepower department compared to a long gun. 

 A shotgun or a rifle brings A LOT more firepower to the table that a handgun just can’t match, but unless you’ve got an Ithaca Auto & Burglar by your bedside, you’re going to need both hands to work the gun. An AR-15 makes a dandy home defensive firearm, but be warned: They are LOUD in enclosed spaces. If it’s legal to do so where you live, consider buying a suppressor, elsewise, some active hearing protection for you and your loved ones might not be a bad idea if you’re thinking about an AR-15 for home defense. 

I have a Mossberg 500 in my safe room loaded with #4 buckshot, and I have a pistol (usually one of my CCW guns) on or near me at all times. The shotgun is for defense of the safe room, and the pistol is there to move around the house if needed. On my shotgun, I have a shotshell holder with extra buckshot and a few slugs. I figure 13 rounds or so rounds of #4 buckshot*, a couple of slugs plus the content of my CCW pistol(s) will be enough to stop most threats outside of a rampaging bungalow or at least enough to hold them off until help arrives. 

I consider both a shotgun and a pistol to be integral parts of my home defense plan, much like I consider a fire extinguisher and a smoke alarm to be parts of my plan for a home fire. Each has its role to play in keeping me and my family safe. My primary plan is to get everyone to the safe rom ASAP and wait there with my shotgun until help arrives. If for some reason I need to move about my house, it’ll be with a pistol and a flashlight if it’s at night. I don’t want to go from room to room clearing my house: I’ll leave the professional tactical work to the professional tactical people. 

Recently however, I noticed a flaw in my thinking. In my safe room, I had the means to stop a threat, but I didn’t have the means to stop bleeding. The nearest first aid kit to my safe room was downstairs in the hall closet. 

Whoops. 

Now in my safe room, I have a first aid kit and a bunch of Israeli field dressings and copies of my driver’s licence and CCW permit for easy identification if (God Forbid) I needed them. I keep an old unused cell phone nearby as well, because any working cell phone can call 911, regardless of whether it’s on a current plan or not. 

I keep all this stuff in our safe room because I don’t want to clear my house, going from room to room with catlike stealth: I want to get my family to my safe room ASAP and keep them safe, healthy and secure until help arrives. 

So what’s your preference? Pistol, shotgun, rifle, or some combination of all three? 

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* Why #4 instead of 00 buck? I live in the suburbs, and over-penetration through thin drywall into other houses is definitely a concern of mine. 

The Top Ten Things NOT To Say After A Defensive Gun Use

From the home office in Paulden, Arizona, the Top Ten things not to say to the cops when they show up.

10: TWO ALPHA!!! 

9:  Am I gonna be on “COPS” ? 

8: Y’know, officer, if you’d been doing YOUR job…

7:  Know a good taxidermist? 

6:  You say “excessive use of force” like it’s a bad thing. 

5:  Gosh, officer, the gun just went off by itself. 14 times. 

4:  What a tight group! I’ve NEVER shot that well sober!

3:  Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges

2:  That… was…. AWESOME!!!

And the #1 thing NOT to say after a defensive gun use… 

“Help me bury him in the backyard with the rest.” 

Buy the shirt online here.

Training Review: Combat Focus Shooting

I was fortunate enough to take a two-day Combat Focus Shooting class a few months ago, and I learned (and unlearned) a great deal.  The class is the first one I’ve taken that begins with the assumption you’ll start a potential gun fight on the wrong side of the power curve. You’ve been ambushed; you’ve either let someone near you who shouldn’t be, or something has happened (shooter, robbery, whatever) that you need to respond to. 

Read the whole review here.

Oops! This is What Happens When you Follow Biden’s Self-Defense Advice

A demonstration of the fatal problem with V.P. Joe Biden’s dangerous self defense advice.

Team GunBlogger’s advice? Don’t take self-defense (or any other) advice from Joe Biden.

 

Video credit: Practical Pistol competitor, Brian Ehrler