Traditionally, we think of the shotgun, as an ideal weapon for home defense. It possesses decisive stopping power at close range, and is easier to shoot due to its scattered shot and longer barrel.
But is the shotgun the perfect weapon for home defense?
Consider the following home defense real world scenarios:
1. HOLDING A CRIMINAL AT GUN POINT – Not every home defense scenario involves shooting an intruder. As per the FBI statistics 14 out of fifteen times when a gun is used by a civilian to prevent crime, it is not fired. Only one out of fifteen instances or armed encounters are shots actually fired.
The reality of the situation is that most likely, you will be holding a criminal at gunpoint, while you restrain him and call the police. In that instance, the pistol is more ideal than the shotgun. Consider holding a prisoner at gunpoint with a shotgun in one hand while trying to call on the phone with your other hand. A pistol, having been designed to be a ONE HANDED WEAPON, is much more effective for this purpose. With a shotgun, holding it one-handed creates the risk that a criminal at close range may snatch the gun out of your hands and use it against you, or he may take evasive measures and wrest it from you since a longer barrel gives the attacker more leverage to seize the weapon.
2. HANDINESS – A typical home would have limited space with lots of corners and hiding places. In this scenario, the shotgun or any other long gun for that matter, becomes an awkward weapon. Stalking a criminal indoors with a long gun also creates problems such as a protruding barrel which can be seen by your adversary around the corner, or having both your hands occupied and unable to fend off a lunge by your adversary at close quarters.
3. LETHALITY – A person who is shot with a pistol has a 4 out of 5 chance of survival. With a shotgun (using buckshot) those figures go down drastically to almost zero chance of survival. Think of it: as a civilian defender do you really want to kill your adversary, or to stop him? A shotgun gives you zero options: if you shoot your adversary he will most certainly die instantaneously. This can create a moral problem for most people especially if the intruder is simply a youthful offender or a minor. It may create also a legal problem later on if the killing is unjustified.
4. INDISCRIMINATE PATTERN – A shotgun fires its shot over a widespread area. This may be a problem, especially if you are shooting in confined areas of your home with other family members inside. Moreover, within the confines of a home which is only a few meters distance, the pattern is still quite tight enough to create a rat holed sized hole in a typical wooden wall panel of a home, and go through and kill an innocent family member on the other side.
Overall, I would say that the place for a shotgun is on a farm or on the street with police officers as a last ditch weapon where decisive stopping power is needed.
I have sucessfully used a shotgun to defend my family twice albeit without firing a shot. The main virtues of the shotgun which makes it desirable is its power and intimidation. The danger of a concealed bad guy grabbing your gun is more unlikely, though a good possibility, than facing an armed opponent, in which case you’ll be glad you ahve a long gun that can unleash a massive firepower. But I am not commenting to defend the merits of the shotgun for home defense. Whatever kind of gun a family man chooses to defend his home, I do not recommend that anybody hold a bad guy at gun point. Most civilians are not trained to hold people at gunpoint. It is a very dangerous and very stressful thing to do. Do not do it unless absoultely necessary. On one of the occasions I had to use a gun to defend my family, I held the perp at gunpoint to force him to retreat. In this case, the perp was also armed with a pistol but I have the advantage since I surprised him from behind.
Holding a bad guy at gupoint is a bad idea. It demands total concentration and total control of yur surroundings. Distance may not even play a significant advantage as the bad guy may also be armed with a concealed weapon and only waiting to wear you down or that you get distracted. It is very stressful to you, the bad guy and your family members. You won’t even know how long it will take for police or a backup will come to help you. And as holding a bad guy at gunpoint demand total concentration, I do not recommend doing anything else, like using the other hand to manipulate a phone to call the police. You don’t want to get yur eyes off that bad guy. And you can get easily distracted. If you have to hold someone at gun point, do it to force retreat. And if you have to use your phone, wait until the threat is over. Or let someone else do it for you.