Off-topic: Something for home defense?

[suicideneil]

Motion sensitive lights setup around the property makes for a great deterrent ( with cctv too perhaps ) , though I'm wondering if a civilian can buy beanbag rounds for a shotgun, or even load the shells with rock salt- still highly effective at stopping someone in their tracks without killing them unnecessarily...

[cmac]

Originally Posted by suicideneil

Motion sensitive lights setup around the property makes for a great deterrent ( with cctv too perhaps ) , though I'm wondering if a civilian can buy beanbag rounds for a shotgun, or even load the shells with rock salt- still highly effective at stopping someone in their tracks without killing them unnecessarily...

Neil,
That kind of thinking can get you or you family killed. My friend Rick who is the SWAT officer had a nephew that was murdered 4 years ago. He and his boss came out to his car and saw two guy trying to steal his radio, now Rick's nephew was like rick not a guy that you want to mess with. Both he and the manager began to beat these guys up. Now in Texas this is grounds for killing these guys. At this point if he had a gun with lethal rounds they could have held them at gun point till the police got there, instead they chose to take matters into their own hands. The guy that the manager was beating up managed to get away, and ran to his truck. That punk grabbed a 45 and came back to shoot both of them in the back. If you are in a situation where you have to pull a gun you better not be faking. The only reason to pull a gun is if your life or the life of your family is in danger. In this country if someone is brave enough to try to steal something they most likely are capable of more. If you chose to confront them you don't want to bring a knife to a gun fight. Use lethal force only if you have no other option. It would be horrible to get to that point and then they have the advantage.

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by suicideneil

Motion sensitive lights setup around the property makes for a great deterrent ( with cctv too perhaps ) , though I'm wondering if a civilian can buy beanbag rounds for a shotgun, or even load the shells with rock salt- still highly effective at stopping someone in their tracks without killing them unnecessarily...

Only issue is that you will get your balls sued off if you shoot someone and do not kill them. Welcome to the USA, make sure you give the guy a cup of coffee to tip on himself, that way he can sue folgers too...

I have never actually pointed a gun at someone (cause you shoot things you point guns at, at least I do) but I did have to "display" a gun at a bum/transient once to get him to stop and turn around... I am sure I could have whooped his ass, but pointing my finger at the gun I was carrying to my truck made him turn and flee. Had he not stopped I would have shot him, end of story.

And shot gun barrel length has nothing to do with capacity... Most "field" shotguns have 28" or longer barrels and typically have a 5rd tube with a plug to limit the capacity to 3 3" shells. A home defense gun will have a longer tube, most allow 7-8 2 3/4" shells, or 1 less 3" shells. 2 3/4" is just fine for home defense, no need to go up to 3" shells, which will kick more.

[simplechamp]

I currently own 2 firearms: a Ruger Mini-14 Tactical carbine, and a Springfield XDm 9mm pistol. Bought them 90% for plinking and targets, 10% for self defense.

I agree that the shotgun would be a great home defense firearm. It's next on my list.

Might want to consider a laser sight. Usually I am not a big fan of lasers, but for this application it can be very beneficial; getting you on target in low/no light situations and under high stress. Plus, it can serve as an extremely effective deterrent. Any criminal that sees that red dot fly across the wall and land on their chest won't be sticking around to find out where it's coming from.

[cmac]

Originally Posted by simplechamp

I currently own 2 firearms: a Ruger Mini-14 Tactical carbine, and a Springfield XDm 9mm pistol. Bought them 90% for plinking and targets, 10% for self defense.

I agree that the shotgun would be a great home defense firearm. It's next on my list.

Might want to consider a laser sight. Usually I am not a big fan of lasers, but for this application it can be very beneficial; getting you on target in low/no light situations and under high stress. Plus, it can serve as an extremely effective deterrent. Any criminal that sees that red dot fly across the wall and land on their chest won't be sticking around to find out where it's coming from.

I don't think depending on a laser is a good option. I think they look cool and when they work it would be a good deterrent, but I think the sound of racking a shotgun is much more effective. I would not want to depend on that laser and have battery malfunction in that critical moment. I think if you are going to fight use the front sight (preferably Tritium). You could have the laser, but don't bet your life on it.

[BrianG]

So I went to a local store (Scheels) and took a look around. They have a pretty decent selection and even have a "home defense" shotgun section. My two favorites for simplicity and price was a Remington 870 Express (http://www.remington.com/products/fi...c-7-round.aspx) and a similar Mossberg. Personally, the Remington had an overall better feel and had less play in the mechanisms.

But then I started thinking; if I have a gun in the house for defense, it obviously has to be readily accessible during emergencies, but it also should not be accessible to curious kids. Those two criteria are mutually exclusive, are they not? How can I have the firearm ready to use quickly, yet safely put away? This is probably the biggest argument my wife has against firearms in general. If I can answer this question, I think she'd be much more apt to allow it. I could put the proverbial foot down and say I'm getting one and that's that, but I have to live with her, so I'd like to find a more persuasive argument. Until then, I'm stuck potentially bringing a bat to a gunfight if an armed intruder does break in.

[J57ltr]

Originally Posted by BrianG

So I went to a local store (Scheels) and took a look around. They have a pretty decent selection and even have a "home defense" shotgun section. My two favorites for simplicity and price was a Remington 870 Express (http://www.remington.com/products/fi...c-7-round.aspx) and a similar Mossberg. Personally, the Remington had an overall better feel and had less play in the mechanisms.

But then I started thinking; if I have a gun in the house for defense, it obviously has to be readily accessible during emergencies, but it also should not be accessible to curious kids. Those two criteria are mutually exclusive, are they not? How can I have the firearm ready to use quickly, yet safely put away? This is probably the biggest argument my wife has against firearms in general. If I can answer this question, I think she'd be much more apt to allow it. I could put the proverbial foot down and say I'm getting one and that's that, but I have to live with her, so I'd like to find a more persuasive argument. Until then, I'm stuck potentially bringing a bat to a gunfight if an armed intruder does break in.

To answer your question Brian of keeping a loaded gun safe and have easy access. There is a lock that mounts the firearm to the wall and is push button combo. It keeps the action locked and the stock and barrel are visible. I am looking for the manufacturer and a pic I took when I was at the gunshow last month. Here it is.

http://www.shotlock.com/Gallery.asp

[J57ltr]

One of the things I see in this thread is a bunch of misinformation. About half of you don't know what the rules are for your state and the other half doesn’t know what is legal and what is not. Do your research and then make an informed decision. NFA laws are Federal make sure that ha rifle has a minimum of a 16” barrel and a shotgun has at least an 18” barrel, If you want a barrel length shorter than 18” you have to pay the $5 tax stamp and classify it as an AOW (any other weapon). Short barreled rifles are a $200 tax stamp and a same with suppressors (if you can own them in your state). Paperwork on these things take a minimum of 3-4 months so it’s better to go with an 18” barrel shotty. Rifles are too powerful background becomes a problem.

Jeff

This is what you need:

http://autoweapons.com/photosv/supershorty.html

[ssspconcepts]

Saiga 12 from Lonestararms.com

I just started working for a company called parabellum armament and they have this

http://www.parabellumarmament.com/pasite/defender.htm

In the works. Sounds like it would be perfect for what you need. Still a prototype but very cool IMHO. Other than that a nice safe with a keycode lock or a lock and key is the only thing quick really. A bit expensive though.

[scarletboa]

Originally Posted by bigsteel

I just started working for a company called parabellum armament and they have this

http://www.parabellumarmament.com/pasite/defender.htm

In the works. Sounds like it would be perfect for what you need. Still a prototype but very cool IMHO. Other than that a nice safe with a keycode lock or a lock and key is the only thing quick really. A bit expensive though.

that is the coolest "safe" home defense weapon i've ever seen. i wonder how much that thing is going to cost?

also, i agree with j57ltr about using bird shot for ammo. that's what i have loaded in my 12 guage and its very effective and doesn't penetrate as much, which is always nice when shooting indoors

[Finnster]

Well, they found the guy dead just down the rd about a mile away... Least I can sleep tonite.

I was thinking about this thread this am, and that was I was wondering Brian. I have a shotgun I keep.at my father's house. I was thinking it would have been nice to have. Otoh, wth do I do w. it all day? The alert has been out for 12hrs. I'm trying to clean up and settle kids down etc. Am I just walking around with it all day and nite? Strap it to my back as I'm hooking up the sump pump to a battle backup? Doing the dishes? Cleaning out the gutters.? Just sit in front of the door waiting and freaking my kids out over someone who will likely never come?

Idk. They are a good idea but its hard to see actually taking a shot @ someone. Just. Freaked out today....

Well, i don't have any kids, so i can't offer anything on that front. I don't know how old your kids are and i know accidents do happen, but usually it is kids that their parents didn't properly educate them about guns who have been involved in gun related accidents. People who know nothing about guns are more likely to harm themselves with one. This is just like if people didn't teach their kids to know that speeding cars are dangerous and to look both ways and listen before crossing the road; there would be many more children being hit by cars. I think the best thing would obviously be a safe that has a keypad would be fairly easy to get open in a hurry; rack a round, safety off, and boom. Next thing would be a trigger lock. Another thing would be to practice speed loading so that you could possibly keep ammo in a seperate place until needed and load it on the fly. If you close your bedroom door upon hearing a threat, you should have plenty of time to load. Another thing is that if your arent old enough to learn about guns then they most likely can't operate a shotgun either as long as you keep the chamber empty and closed. Also because of the slide safety on a Mossberg it is a little harder to throw off safety than the 870, albeit not enough to depend on that safety feature only. One other thing, although a rifle or pistol takes more practice to be good at hitting your target, it has the advantage of having a seperate magazine which greatly increases how fast you can load the weapon, which means you can keep the mag in a seperat e place.

[2genewb]

well brian, if you lose the battle with the wife, those knifes i posted will go clean through an entire turkey bones and all in one chopping motion if you put a little force behind it. as we all know, cutting off a safety off and loading a clip puts you at a major disadvantage when the would be robber is already locked and loaded. also... lunging in a hallway could put you clean through the perpetrator given the weight and point on those knifes. a bat can't do that.

you could still keep a gun safe across the room or a small one under the bed for added security. the knifes would just bridge the gap between those possible critical moments. perp downstairs... get the gun. perp in the room... grab and swing high. :D having the extra option may just give you that leverage with the wife as well. you could possibly convince her that this way the guns will stay put away.

[josh9mille]

Just buy the gun, you wife couldnt be mad forever. Make a deal with her, you can buy the gun and she can buy the whole Oprah series box set on DVD.