Handgun vs Long gun for Home Defense - a discussion starter

[Hamilton Felix]

I'll go with the crowd that prefers all three.

My Kimber .45
Her S&W .357
My Winchester 1200 Marine
Her 8-shot Remington 870
An AR carbine, a MAK90, an FAL and an M1A, within easy reach.

You never know what you'll face, and the goblins may be armored.

Oh yeah, keep a pistol in your bathrobe pocket. Trouble often knocks at the door late at night.

BTW, there is no reason to limit oneself to guns. She sleeps with a Kukri on the nightstand, and she has used knives. Brrrr....!

[jetfueller]

As I live in Canada we are not allowed to defend ourselves with deadly force. Now that being said just in case we are invaded by a black bear I have my Kimber in a fingerprint safe by the bed, a Snakeslayer under the pillow and a twelve guage real close. Who can tell in the dark that the "bear" was a bad guy. So much for our insane laws. When death is seconds away the cops are only minutes away.

[buckslayer]

A home is a close-in environment. Long guns are difficult to weild inside a residence and overpenetration is always a concern (even with handguns). Long guns are quite slow to bring up to a full-ready position and tend to have a slower return to target. They also tend to requrie 2 hands to operate. Given the right set of circumstances, long guns (espeically a shotgun) can give you a nice audible and visible advantage.

I must have missed that part when going through all of my MOUT training prior to my deployments where we did A LOT of raids using our M4s.

In reality, just like anyother gun, it all boils down to what you are trained to use. I am sure there are a fair amount of guys/gals on this forum who like myself, are pretty fast and accurate with our "long guns".

[mshean]

A pump shotgun of any gauge loaded with #6 birdshot and a smoothbore barrel, and/or a .45 of any make loaded with glaser 'blue' safety slugs, both designed to greatly limit/eliminate the chances of killing the neighbors while defending your home. How good would you feel while defending your home you killed a child/anyone sleeping nextdoor because you thought any high powered rifle or handgun ammo was the way to go?

[PDawg]

I must have missed that part when going through all of my MOUT training prior to my deployments where we did A LOT of raids using our M4s.

In reality, just like anyother gun, it all boils down to what you are trained to use. I am sure there are a fair amount of guys/gals on this forum who like myself, are pretty fast and accurate with our "long guns".

I concur, this isnt even clearing rooms that you have never seen. This is your house, practice defending and or clearing it. A Colt LE 6920 with proper round selection and a dot sight for me.

[Bighouse Doc]

A pump shotgun of any gauge loaded with #6 birdshot and a smoothbore barrel, and/or a .45 of any make loaded with glaser 'blue' safety slugs, both designed to greatly limit/eliminate the chances of killing the neighbors while defending your home. How good would you feel while defending your home you killed a child/anyone sleeping nextdoor because you thought any high powered rifle or handgun ammo was the way to go?

Birdshot is for shooting little birds. It is highly ineffective against human targets.

Glaser slugs make spectacular, shallow, wounds. They also are only effective with perfect placement of frontal hits only. They are worthless if anything besides a sternum or abdomen is in front of the slug. They also can fail to hit stuctures that meed to be hit hard in order to incapacitate the threat.

They have a place in prison armory, and specialized situations.

Neither of these ammo choices are good simply because they can NOT RELIABLY hit the "Off Button."

-Doc

[6shootercarry]

I choose a handgun because it is easier to use in close quarters and is a better weapon when the BG is right in your face which could be the case when in a home defense situation. The idea of wrestling with the loaded long gun in my home with wife and kids is unnerving..

I like the revolver for the ease of use loaded with .38special +P to reduce the possibility of a through & through shot. The .45 is also a good choice for the lower through shot probability..

My 2 pennies...

[B2Tall]

As I live in Canada we are not allowed to defend ourselves with deadly force. Now that being said just in case we are invaded by a black bear I have my Kimber in a fingerprint safe by the bed, a Snakeslayer under the pillow and a twelve guage real close. Who can tell in the dark that the "bear" was a bad guy. So much for our insane laws. When death is seconds away the cops are only minutes away.

Nice!

[B2Tall]

Birdshot is for shooting little birds. It is highly ineffective against human targets.

Glaser slugs make spectacular, shallow, wounds. They also are only effective with perfect placement of frontal hits only. They are worthless if anything besides a sternum or abdomen is in front of the slug. They also can fail to hit stuctures that meed to be hit hard in order to incapacitate the threat.

They have a place in prison armory, and specialized situations.

Neither of these ammo choices are good simply because they can NOT RELIABLY hit the "Off Button."

-Doc

Agree 100%. That's why my Mossberg 500 is packed with 3" 00 buck and slugs. Lights out.

[kelcarry]

Handgun is an easy reach if someone is trying to break into my bedroom thru an outside door at night. Handgun is an easy reach for just walking in and about my home. Shotgun is nearby in bedroom. At night, should someone break into my house I will be in my locked bedroom with my wife. I will not confront them in the rest of the house but will dial 911, activate the car alarm and then position myself with my shotgun; robbing stuff is not worth taking my life. If they wish to defeat my locked bedroom door, it will end their robbery in my home. Portability and convenience depending on what you are doing, and ease of use enter in my equation as to when and where I rely on the handgun or the shotgun.