I agree with Mad Max that you need an alarm. I have mixed emotions about locked firearms. I agree that you have to protect little ones from accidentally shooting someone. However, if you really have to protect yourself from an intrusion; trying to unlock a firearm as fast as possible can be cumbersome to say the least. For that reason, I have a firearm or 2 or etc. and 1 of them is ready to go.
Here's my take on it. People are not going to rob you while your home most of the time. If it were a home invasion where they knew you were home, they would make sure that you weren't near a gun when they did it. They usually knock on the door and bust it down when you open it. So unless you have a loaded gun next to the door, you will be pretty much screwed.
All I can say is "only in america" I can never understand why guns are so important to most americans. If an intruder comes in, cant you either dial 911, let them steal your stuff which would be covered by insurance anyways rather than shoot him in the butt area? If the intruder also had a gun, you would be in a whole lot of sh** if he decides to return fire.
average response time is lik 5-9 minutes for 911. How can he decide to return fire if he is dead? And you are almost right. With all the crap int he world america is one of the last countries where you are free to defend yourself.
I bet it would feel nice to live in a home you know someone died in (that you killed) And no "atleast I'm alive/my family is safe" doesn't count cause you'll still have to live with yourself. It's not self defense when you're looking for it. See: Joe Horn from Pasadena, Texas.
freak'n tree huggers without this going to DD, this is a last resort thing. most people rob houses with handguns. a shotgun in a house is alot more useful. my main concern is the maximum placement and setup for the gun for a quick response yet, not have my nosy cousins/nephews be able to fire it. i think the way i have it now is the best.
I think a semi-auto rifle is best then a handgun then a shotgun. the shotgun is easily the worst because it is low reliability in semi-auto form or is a pump which is slow and impossible to use one handed. Also shotgun ammo is poorly suited to self defense. Little to no expansion.
Why not get a moat with piranhas? Perhaps 10 foot tall electric fence? Patriot missile defense system?
i'm not expert but from my online research, most people say a shotgun is the best for home defense. home invaders, if they're armed, carry handguns and often don't really aim in a gun exchange. with a shotgun, you basically just point in the right direction and you don't have to worry about a slug going through the wall and killing the neighbors. also, the pumping action of the gun should scare away even most armed invaders. i'm not an expert, it's just what i read. of course, i'm not a complete noob at using guns, i've shot a few pistols, a rifle, a semi-auto shotgun and my pump action.
At the range a home encounter will be (less than 20 feet) the shotgun will not spread its projectiles out as much as you think. Even a shotgun with no choke (ie full cylinder) will be at most 2 inches. Do you really want a gun that is not able to go through a sheetrock wall? My pellet gun can do that. Chances are if it cannot go through a wall it won't stop someone from killing you.
Get a small pistol with some shot shells, or rat shot... put those in the magazine last, after some slugs or hollow points. If the perp gets by some rat shot without running away, plug 'em, then blow a new one if they keep coming at you. Rule #1) Don't shoot anyone unless you are prepared to possibly have to kill them.
Best advice ever. Change it to read, "get a flippin' bazooka, and aim for the torso" and rule #1 still applies. Most home invaders will leave if shot... by door or by death... or wounds dealt that lead to a hospital and subsequent jail.
I know this may be shocking to you, but there are some people out there that would be perfectly fine living with themselves if they were forced to kill someone else out of the need for self-defense.
I would say secure your doors, and get dogs and a monitored alarm first. Then get a gun if you need it, but keep it locked up. The doors/dogs/alarm would buy you time to get to your guns, but they would be safe from loved ones in everyday life. I've posted this here before, but my mother's home was invaded about 15 years ago. It was the middle of the day and her car was in the driveway. It took the police 3 hours to finally show up after she called 911 from hiding in the closet. The thieve(s) just kicked in the front door which set off the chain alarm. They ran away momentarily, but came back and disabled the alarm and burglarized the house while she was hiding. She was traumatized by the event, and couldn't live in the house anymore. In the new house we secured the doors with 3" screws, and later added locking storm doors. She added some window locks. She adopted 2 dogs. She got a monitored alarm system and pepper spray. Now she feels pretty safe, but she obviously still thinks about that day. A few years ago, when I visited her for Christmas, I left a door unlocked overnight. She woke me up the next morning by screaming at me for forgetting to lock the door.
If you are going to use deadly force, then USE DEADLY FORCE! Shooting warning shots or dummy loads for a few rounds is r****ded. The decision to use deadly force is a yes or no decision. Using gimpy ammo as a kind of compromise is insane.
They have awesome screen doors that look pretty normal but are freaking stout for security. I would suggest these for anyone concerned about security if they have a gun or not.
