My slightly fun mostly messed up scary night.

[Nfl Fan]

Another good thing about a shotgun as opposed to a handgun is that if you shoot and miss, your bullets aren't going to go through the walls and possibly hit innocents.

That was the point I was going to make. And accuracy isn't as important with a shotgun seeing as each shot is 9 pellets (assuming you're using 00 buckshot, the best size for protection) and the pellets are the calibre of a small bore pistol (can't remember the exact size now, been too many years, but I recall them being around .32) so at close range a single shot is like being shot 9 times with a small bore pistol. And as deeray mentioned, shotguns are very intimidating.

These are my thoughts as well.



Two things:

1) Nothing says "GET THE (bleep) OUTTA HERE!!!!" quite like the sound of a loading shotgun.

2) If you ever did have to pull the trigger, 00 buckshots do massive amounts of damage. Go shoot a pumpkin at close range if you want an idea.

We have a 12 guage and a 357 just in the event of a life or death situation. You have them hoping you never hav to use them.

BTW...
Did I see Josebach in here? Long time!

[joelamosobadiah]

so a 17 yr. old kid comes into your house with a bat and charges you/someone in your family, BLAM drop him, one shot, he's dead, kid had a family, good people, just got in with some kids that weren't real friends, I'd rather pop him with a 20-gauge...and let me clarify here people if you get shot in the gut with a 20 gauge, you're not going to hurt anyone...so you wound the kid, he heals up in the hospital and goes on with his life with a greater wealth of knowledge

No, it would be more like some 17 yr. old kid comes into my house with a bat and charges me or someone in my family and I take him down without firing a weapon. Or maybe just brandishing a weapon. But if he had a bat then I would have no reason to shoot him with anything unless he was significantly larger than I was.

, and NO I WOULD NEVER SHOOT SOMEONE JUST TO TEACH THEM A LESSON that was a little bit out there I never said that (not sure why you said that JAO), but I mean come one, would you really be able to live with yourself, AND, 2 shots would kill them, IMO go with the 20 gauge, but that's just my opinion.

frankly if someone broke into my house (especially a rowdy youngster that could learn from the experience instead of a lifetime of bad things)

I took this to mean that if he went on and learned from the experience (of being shot and wounded) that you were the one to teach him the lesson.

goes on with his life with a greater wealth of knowledge

Again in your most recent post, if he had a greater wealth of knowledge then he got it from somewhere. Both of those certainly sound like you are teaching him a lesson to me.

Anyway, bottom line is that guns aren't to be played around with. I am sure that you are well aware of that. So if you are shooting a gun at somebody you should have both intent and reason to kill. I wouldn't kill somebody coming at me with a weapon that I didn't think would be a serious danger to me. Even with a 20 gauge you aren't guaranteed that you aren't going to kill somebody. Only thing harder to live with than shooting somebody in self-defense would be killing somebody when you knew you didn't have to shoot them to kill them.

Leave the lesson teaching up to the authorities whenever possible.

[Nfl Fan]

Anyway, bottom line is that guns aren't to be played around with. I am sure that you are well aware of that. So if you are shooting a gun at somebody you should have both intent and reason to kill. I wouldn't kill somebody coming at me with a weapon that I didn't think would be a serious danger to me. Even with a 20 gauge you aren't guaranteed that you aren't going to kill somebody. Only thing harder to live with than shooting somebody in self-defense would be killing somebody when you knew you didn't have to shoot them to kill them.

Leave the lesson teaching up to the authorities whenever possible.

Good word, Joel

I had a boss who was a former cop. He always said, "If you have to fire at somebody, aim for center mass and empty the chamber."

[Tiki]

I almost bought a shotgun about three weeks ago, but than I pussed out. Just thought to myself "I don't really need a shottie."

[lmcjaho]

There's an appalling amount of bad advice being given here - next week when I get back to work (and my bookmarks) I will forward you some good info about home defense and guns Met.

Lots of myths and misconceptions being spouted off...

[joelamosobadiah]

There's an appalling amount of bad advice being given here - next week when I get back to work (and my bookmarks) I will forward you some good info about home defense and guns Met.

Lots of myths and misconceptions being spouted off...

Please if you can, post it here. I would be genuinely interested to see it as well. I have heard much of my information from extremely experienced and reliable sources, but I would still like to see what information you have.

[A Fleshner Fantasy]

There's an appalling amount of bad advice being given here - next week when I get back to work (and my bookmarks) I will forward you some good info about home defense and guns Met.

Lots of myths and misconceptions being spouted off...

Please if you can, post it here. I would be genuinely interested to see it as well. I have heard much of my information from extremely experienced and reliable sources, but I would still like to see what information you have.

I would agree with that. Everyone could use the info.

[FantasyMan13]

He does have that Life Alert thing, little button on a rope that hangs around his neck...the..."Ive fallen and I can't get up"...ya know?

Once I read that, all I could think about was that commercial....

All Senior Citizens Should Have Life Alert!

[steelerfan513]

The part where he says "come on" had me cracking up!

Yeah me too...in a way. I mean I didn't think it was funny but when I heard his pubescent voice I wasn't really that freaked out anymore...I was more angry. I wish I could remember the stuff I was saying when I ran after him, I'm sure that was a mess of pissed off ramblings about things I would do to him if I caught him.

It's just really messed up man because even though I can talk a mean game, thats just really not my style. I'm not a wussie at all and I'm not afraid to stand my ground, but for the most part I'm pretty passive, I'd really rather let stuff go. And I don't really like that feeling you get when you get all worked up and you're nearing what could be a violent confrontation. You know? When you're like all shaky and seeing red? I hate that. I don't know what would have happened if he turned and squared off with me...with me holding a bat. And to be totally honest I've never even hit anybody in the face before...in my life...I guess maybe when I was a really little kid. I've been in a few fights but for the most part they've been more wrestling brawls than fist fights, and most times I've defused confrontations with words or by intimidating the other person by talking really "loud." Or by group intimidation.

Whatever I don't know what the hell I'm talking about or what that has to do with anything...man I'm rambling again.

I know exactly what you mean man. I don't like hurting people and usually feel bad about it if I do, but if I feel threatened or of if someone gets me completely infuriated (which is very hard to do, I think I've only felt that way a few times in my life), then I will fight back. I've never been involved in a serious fight either, mainly because I'd get the s**t kicked out of me most likely. Still, I make it clear to people when they cross the line with me.

And don't feel bad about what happened or could have happened. You weren't trying to put anyone in danger, and you responded very well.

[josebach]

There's an appalling amount of bad advice being given here - next week when I get back to work (and my bookmarks) I will forward you some good info about home defense and guns Met.

Lots of myths and misconceptions being spouted off...

Please if you can, post it here. I would be genuinely interested to see it as well. I have heard much of my information from extremely experienced and reliable sources, but I would still like to see what information you have.

I would agree with that. Everyone could use the info.

He's probably talking about everybody recommending a shotgun. Where some of the reasoning being offered here is sound, there are also some drawbacks to a shotgun.

1) It's Unwieldy and hard to maneuver indoors when compared to a pistol.
2) It's MUCH easier to take it away from you.
3) It's MUCH harder to hide and secure.
4) In the small confines of a house, there simply isn't enough distance for the shotgun spread to expand as much as it's being talked about here. In other words, you still have to aim.

Having grown up around guns, I was always taught that revolvers were the best choice for inexperienced shooters because they're simple and easy to use. Point and shoot.