How do you choose to defend your home and your loved ones? Have you chosen a firearm as the dedicated protector of what you have worked so hard to garner? If so, what’s going to protect you more effectively? A handgun….. a shotgun…. or a rifle? This question is as age old as the chicken and the egg. The need to protect ones’ home is one of the most common reasons that responsible citizens decide to purchase a gun. Home invasions (a break-in while you are home) are extremely rare (and rarely unprovoked), but if you do become the victim of one, a firearm is a powerful difference maker. If you are well trained, a home defense firearm can easily cancel out superior numbers or a bad guy’s greater physical strength. Your firearm can also afford you the opportunity to handle an assault that, if you were unarmed, you’d easily become the victim of.
Some shooters believe that the handgun is the way to go. The compact size, higher capacity magazines, and ease of deployment makes them a very attractive option. Handguns also make movement in close quarters easier than with the other two options, although they may lack some points in the stopping power category as compared to it’s counterparts. In case that you are dismembered and cannot operate the handgun, most are light enough for the wife or the kids to handle (of course only AFTER they have been trained on safe operation).
Other shooters prefer to have a 12-gauge (or some other gauge shotgun) at their disposal in case the SHTF. There are even tall tales circulating that describe defensive situations inside the home that have been ended simply by racking the slide on a shotgun and the sound scaring the bad guy away. With a shotgun you can almost guarantee maximum damage to a bad guy and shooters don’t even have to be a good shot!!! The downside is that they are heavier than handguns or some rifles, and they make movement in close quarters more difficult.
Higher powered rifles…AR-15’s, AR-10’s, AR-Pistols, and the like are a choice for some homeowners. Some of these options like the AR-Pistol accommodate even higher magazine capacities than handguns but still offer smaller overall size than full-size rifles. The higher round count is enough for some shooters to choose this option. Similar to shotguns, these may be heavier than a handgun and sometimes rifles make movement in close quarters difficult.
It is important for all shooters to understand that all three of these options have their merits in a home defensive situation. The best option for shooters to defend their castle is to use what they have trained on. Use what you are most familiar with. The best firearm in the world will pose no threat to a bad guy if you don’t know how to use it. As so frequently inculcated on the PSA blog, in a defensive situation, the first thing to leave us is our fine motor skills. Not having these at our disposal makes firearm manipulation 10x more difficult. Having a firearm that we know backwards and forwards will undoubtedly be the most attractive option. Best, at best, is relative and conditional. At PSA we’d rather you rely on your training than the “best” gun.
Some of our home defensive options are pictured below…..
*** If you are unfamiliar with firearms and/or their accessories, and want to learn more, PSA strongly suggests that you find, enroll, and attend a comprehensive and reputable firearms safety course. Firearms safety is all of OUR responsibility.
We want to thank you for taking out the time to stop by our lane at the shooting range!! We hope that you enjoyed your stay and hope that you stop back by early and often to catch up on all PSA updates! We truly hope that we were able to hit the target, and if you ever have any questions please don’t hesitate to shoot them our way!! We look forward to shooting the breeze with you soon again!!
And as always….remember to watch your six and stay low!!!