First line of warning- many dogs, ranging in size fro, a mini Dachshund to Great Danes.
First line of dense, M97, 22" barrel, 6 rounds of #1 buck on board, with three more buck rounds and two slugs in the butt cuff.
Next up, a Remington 1100 with a sighted slug barrel and a similar payload.
Next, an M94 carbine, full of 170 gr. soft points in the magazine and butt cuff.
An RIA 1911 is generally close to my hand, and a Mini-14 with a magazine full of Winchester Ranger rounds is always an option that can dropped into the batting order at any point.
Two Ruger SA revolvers are also kept loaded and accessible, chambered in .357 and .45 Colt and loaded with defensive ammunition. Sometimes I wear one of these instead of the 1911.
Milady's side of the bed is defended by her Colt Woodsman and 10/22, and she shoots both admirably. Her job, if the balloon goes up, is to arm herself and then call 911. She knows what to do until the sheriff actually arrives, as well.
Years ago I was living in a nasty part of town, and part of my HD battery was a 12 ga muzzleloading shotgun loaded with 95 grains of powder and six .457 rounds balls per barrel. All six balls would stay on a full-size silhouette target at 20 yards.
In the event of Bad Things Happening, I prefer a long gun to a handgun 100% percent of the time. Under stress, I know I will use any long gun more effectively than any handgun.
