My take on the "best" gun for defense

[chopinbloc]

I got another article published in a minor blog. Not much to crow about I guess, but I'm still proud of myself.

What gun is best for home defense? You may as well ask “What car is the “best” for driving kids to soccer practice?” or “What computer is best for watching squirrels water skiing?” It’s a very broad question that has been covered approximately as many times as the question of whether Kirk or Picard was the better captain (Kirk), but I intend to put a little finer point on it, to look at it from a different perspective than you may have seen before, and perhaps remove some misconceptions you might hold.

In practical terms, the “best” weapon is the one you have when you need it. The best weapon to have at hand is the one with which you are most proficient. You should invest your time and training budget on learning to become most proficient with the tool that is most technically suited to the job. If you believe that you don’t need professional training, then you REALLY need professional training, but that’s another article. So what weapon is best suited for the job?

The rest is here if you're interested.

 

[Noah]

That's a really good write up on that issue, actually. You covered all the bases of every type of weapon while staying objective (the usual problem in the numerous forum debates on this topic) and you backed up your points really well without rambling, with just the right amount of detail and technical stuff.

I like it.

 

[tarosean]

You covered all the bases of every type of weapon while staying objective

"Five minutes to reload" was objective? LOL

 

[JSH1]

I should carry a holstered handgun in my home? Not likely. Do you also wear a helmet at all times and have a roll cage installed in your car?

 

[gym]

The best one is the one I always have, my PM9, I may have another one, but the least I will ever have is the Pm9, it goes everywhere with me from the gym to the bathroom. It takes up no space so that one is the least I will have at any given time.

 

[Queen_of_Thunder]

The best gun for defense is whatever gun you have be it a 22 or 454.

 

[Monkeybear]

Having a gun and knowing how to use it are great assets when someone is trying to kill you. That said I think it's important to find a Home Defense solution that is pragmatic, sustainable and to avoid getting caught up in "@ss-kick fantasies."

 

[AK103K]

I think to be realistic about it, having a handgun (or two ) on you all the time is the only way to have yourself covered. If you dont have it on you, you really dont have it, no matter how close you think it might be, and/or how fast you think you might be able to access it.

Im sure we all have rifles and shotguns, and maybe a few other things floating around and handy, and some have training with them as well, but if you needed something "right now", no matter where you are, or what you were doing, are you truly as prepared as you think you are?

 

[JSH1]

Having a gun and knowing how to use it are great assets when someone is trying to kill you. That said I think it's important to find a Home Defense solution that is pragmatic, sustainable and to avoid getting caught up in "@ss-kick fantasies."

Exactly. Statistical speaking the most dangerous thing most of us do is drive a car. If one wants to reduce the likelihood of being injured or killed that person should focus on making the act of driving as safe as possible. That would include taking advanced driving classes, installing a roll cage, and wearing a helmet. How many people do that? Almost no one. Why? Because your friends and family would think you have gone crazy paranoid and make fun of you.

Yet how many men that won't even wear a seatbelt in a car think that carrying a gun with them everywhere is a completely logical way to reduce their risk of injury or death?

I fall into the camp that believes a shotgun is about the most practical gun one can own. Not only can someone protect their home in the very rare case of a home invasion, they can also hunt every game animal in North America, and shoot clays.

 

[Frosty Dave]

Good writeup, I'm bookmarking it to pass on to others.

By coincidence I read someone else's much longer dissertation on the topic this weekend. That author proclaimed the shotgun to be the greatest HD weapon ever, but then when he went on to discuss rifles, his objections were that a rifle's length meant it could be grabbed by an assailant and also made it difficult to maneuver inside the home.

Logic that makes you go "hmmmmm."

Glad to see you didn't fall into anything like that.

 

[AK103K]

I suppose this is really just an extension of the "do you carry a low cap, or a high cap, and a reload or not?" thing.

We all live (or die) by the choices we make, so make your choice, and youre good to go, or not. Makes no never mind to me!

I got mine, and if and when I need something, and after the hounds get done with you, and I figure out if the AK clashes with my jammies, or if the AR goes better with my Gumbo Monster Mudder tread slippers, I'll deal. Awww screw it! I got time, I'll set up the belt fed, it goes with anything. Not to mention, Mr. Manly will be proud (just see pg. 2374 of your Manly manual). Now wheres my damned ear plugs?

 

[MedWheeler]

JSH1 writes:

If one wants to reduce the likelihood of being injured or killed that person should focus on making the act of driving as safe as possible. That would include taking advanced driving classes, installing a roll cage, and wearing a helmet.

.. as well as buying the latest, most-expensive European "safety" sedan offered each year.

I've tried this point before as well. Just look at all the gun-show commandos touting how "safe" they keep their families and themselves with the most-expensive guns, then follow them out to the parking lot and see what they (and their families) arrived in. I've seen quite a few of those types trust some rather-questionable heaps to get around in.

 

[AK103K]

Hey, since we're bringing cars into it, a month or so ago, there was a bad case of road rage here in south central PA. The boy was driving a pretty nice car, but oops, he forgot his gun. The other guy didnt, and the victim got exactly the kind of help you'd expect from 911. The cops got there after the fact, and took the report.

On the plus side, they just had a little blurb on the news, they figured out what color the other guys car was from paint chips.

 

[tarosean]

I've tried this point before as well. Just look at all the gun-show commandos touting how "safe" they keep their families and themselves with the most-expensive guns, then follow them out to the parking lot and see what they (and their families) arrived in. I've seen quite a few of those types trust some rather-questionable heaps to get around in.

You can afford a lot of fancy gear if you don't have car payments. Just as some view guns as "tools" the same can be said of vehicles.
Course I drive a 1 ton dually with real steel bumpers, so what do I know?

 

[JSH1]

You can afford a lot of fancy gear if you don't have car payments. Just as some view guns as "tools" the same can be said of vehicles.
Course I drive a 1 ton dually with real steel bumpers, so what do I know?

As I well know, I haven't had a car payment is quite a few years. Just remember that you can't deny the laws of physics. Lots of mass and rigid bumpers are only good if you collide with another car. When you smash into a immovable object extra mass is just for energy for your car to absorb. Oh and medium-duty trucks are held to a lesser safety standard than passenger cars and light-duty trucks. Statistically the safest class of vehicles is a full size passenger car.

As to guns and self defense. There is no "best" gun for self defense. That choice comes down to a person's comfort level with different types and their experience. I personally would never recommend a semi automatic to a new shooter or someone who isn't going to spend a lot of time at the range. Sometimes simple is better and it is hard to beat a revolver or break-action shotgun with external hammers for simple reliability.

 

[gym]

If you have never had armed intruders in your home, it's easy to think no one else has either. A gun on your person is the only real form of self defense, not thinking you will have time to get one out of the safe. That door crashes in real fast, get in touch with me if you think it can never happen to you.

 

[Tedzilla]

A Ruger LCP (or comparable pocket pistol) in the right hip pocket and the wallet in the left is a nice compromise if you don't want to carry a service size weapon to defend your home. I live in a very low crime area. I am not involved in high risk activities and subscribe to the theory pistols are a tool to get you back to the rifle you should have been carrying...
That said, I'd feel awfully foolish if my door was kicked in and those I'm responsible for suffered from me not shooting back.
(Ak103K's right... Where are those ear plugs! I 'll forget/have no time for them! I know, win lose or draw the rest of my hearing is gone if I fire a 12ga/.308 in the house!)

 

[Theohazard]

Carrying a gun everywhere -- even inside your house -- isn't for everyone, but it works well for me. My wife and I live in a three-story house near a bad neighborhood that would be easy to break into, and we have one child with more to come. Stashing guns around the house for easy access just doesn't make sense from both a tactical and a safety standpoint. Instead, I just carry my Glock 19 everywhere. If I'm not wearing my normal jeans and a holster, then I wear a belly band and sweatpants or shorts. It's really not inconvenient and it saves a lot of steps if my door is ever kicked in. Also, it doesn't hurt having a 70 lb. pit bull mix and a 70 lb. German Shepherd/Dutch Shepherd mix, both of which are pretty protective of the house.

 

[BigBore44]

Your best "weapon" for SD/HD is preparation. It's not the gun.
Remember the 6 "P's" rule: Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. You can have the highest quality firearms manufactured. But if you haven't or aren't fully prepared how to use it, you will still perform poorly.

A person with $3,000 custom 1911 that they can't get to is much worse off than a person with a $150 HiPoint in the hand.
A $1500 "HD specific" shotgun in the safe is worthless compared to a H&R in hand.

And the list goes on.....

 

[AK103K]

Where are those ear plugs! I 'll forget/have no time for them! I know, win lose or draw the rest of my hearing is gone if I fire a 12ga/.308 in the house!

I cant hear for a couple of days if I shoot a .22 in or near the carport without without ear plugs. Probably still wont hear anything if I fire anything centerfire indoors that isnt suppressed, even with them. That (and work) is why I keep a bunch in my pocket, and every long gun Id consider "social", has a set as well.



But youre right, Ill probably still forget. Then again, with all that racket with the dogs gnawing on them, Ill probably want them before I even get to the point of needing to shoot.

Remember the 6 "P's" rule: Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

I always heard it as the 7 P's...."Prior" Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Either way, its always amazed me at how many have never heard of or follow the thought.

 

[chopinbloc]

Great posts, guys.

If you carry a gun when you leave your home but not inside the house, then you are fooling yourself. The likelihood of a violent attack either in or out of the home is fairly low but being at home doesn't reduce the risk by much. Having dogs is a great deterrent but if someone is determined to get into your home, they will deal with the dogs.

My earpro goes on the rifle.

 

[FAS1]

Congrats on the well written article. I get their feed on my Facebook page and already read it. The article has quite a bit of interaction from their readers and that's what they are looking for.

 

[AK103K]

Having dogs is a great deterrent but if someone is determined to get into your home, they will deal with the dogs.

True, but they wont likely do it quietly, or at least around here it wont be quiet, our Rotties live inside with us, and usually go off before the drive alarms, and you'll know exactly when and where something is wrong.

Nice AR too.

I have an AAC M4-2000 on one of mine, and while I can shoot it outside without plugs, I still wouldnt really want to shoot it indoors without them. Im not even sure Id want to shoot my suppressed Glocks inside, although I have shot both the rifles and pistols from inside my car port without protection, but they still kicked up the "crickets" in my head pretty good.

 

[gym]

And we have been over this a hundred times, bad guys go to good neighborhoods to steal. They usually live in a place that doesn't have what they want. I lived in the most expensive luxury high rise in the borough of Queens, with security and attended parking.
I owned Hair salons, not exactly a seedy business. It only takes 1 person to tell someone that you have a nice house or expensive things, and that's it. Sometimes it's just overheard from a 3d party, don't assume that you have to be involved in some bad thing to get robbed, you could be a banker or accountant, if a lowlife thinks you have something valuable that's all it takes, aside from nice cars that get followed home and your wife wearing a Rolex etc, or telling a girlfriend how well her husband does., especially if you deal in a cash business.
Or you invite someone to a party and they bring a friend, male or female, next thing, several people who were at the party get robbed, or held up. Mine ended up being a person "female" who owned a lucrative business, and was involved in masterminding 16 or 17 home invasions of people in the same business.
If you guys knew what woman tell their hairdresser, you would not allow them to leave the house. The money, trips they go on, when they will be away, who is home and when. What jewelry they have and where they keep it. Just because you are careful doesn't mean your wife and kids are. My dad has a closet full of guns, he even has a machine gun, "this kind of talk is what ends up leading to other things down the road". One day one kid says , hey where does tha kid live whose father has all the guns, that's all it takes.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Why should you carry a holstered pistol in your own house, though?

I think a better question is why would you choose to continue to live in a neighborhood or place that makes you think you need to do this? I'm not saying you shouldn't have a gun convieniently at hand in multiple locations of your home, but it will be a cold day in hell before I live in so much fear that I feel I have to be armed all the time in my own house.

You should use what ever firearm type you are most familiar with, and use proficiently. I shoot handguns, so that's what I use.