I will concentrate on #2.
It is my number one make me cringe and walk out of a gun store, when I hear a salesman tell a customer (or even just agree with them) that you don't even have to aim a shotgun. Younger me would open my mouth and start arguments. Now I just walk out and never come back. You do need to aim and train with a shotgun. Pattern it if you don't know what the spread is. (Take a IPSC target or a piece of butcher paper, set it out to the maximum in-home distance you will be shooting it at, using the gun, ammo and choke you will be running for HD, and actually find out how much that shot will spread.) With my VR80 using Federal 00 or #4, it's about 4". That is NOT "It will hit everything" spread. And if it was, you aren't putting much shot on target.