What are you using for home defence? Rifle, Pistol or shotgun?

[wrs840]

I don't even mean to bash a Judge, it's a wonderful beater holstered OC sidearm for a farmer. I wear one when on a tractor or a dirtbike on my personal Ponderosa. But there's a 442 in my back pocket too, and a 30-30 likely in the tractor-cab to boot. Different tools. Yes, the Judge is best as Copperhead-medicine.

Les

 

[ljnowell]

Mossberg 1300 speedpump

You mean a winchester maybe?

 

[nathan]

Glock 19 with night sights at bedside. A SA .45 ACP 1911 as secondary weapon.

 

[Stuntman_Mike]

SPAS 12 and Mini 14

 

[possom813]

Right now, .38 in the desk drawer within easy reach, 9mm with 18rds on the nightstand about 8 feet away, .30-30 with 7rds about 10 ft away(only because I'm going hunting in just a few hours).

But it varies day to day, I like to keep it fresh...But the .38 is really never more than an arms length away and loaded with 5 shots for short range stuff, first shot is shotshell and more of a distraction to get the other four 115gr hp's on target.

 

[wgaynor]

Ar15 and 20 gauge under the bed (easy to access cuby hole), .22 Mrk III 22/45 next to the wife's side of the bed, .22 rifle in the bedroom closet, .44magnum in the hallway. The others are kept locked up.

 

[MichaelLopez]

Pistol is batter to me to use and quite safe to lock in a cupboard there are four children at my home so to avoid miss use the weapon i always keep pistol at my home.

 

[Autolycus]

I have either a Glock 17 or a Sig P226R (in 9mm) to keep my home safe.

 

[scythefwd]

Amstaff/ American bull mix (85 lbs) with a cattle dog as backup (40 lbs) and a 16 oz framing hammer. Never claimed to be smart, but I live in a very low crime area.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

A well known fact while shooting under duress.
Pistols are known to shoot low. revolvers especially. Even law enforcement officers have been known to shoot low with a wheel gun because of over squeezing the handgrip.
This is one reason why I don't have near the confidence with a pistol as I do with a shotgun.
When I deployed to the Balkens I definitely wasn't jealous of those who carried a pistol.
A shotgun spreads one inch per three feet and stll needs to be aimed.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Pistols don't shoot low under stress. Some poorly accomplished shooters shoot low under stress, but the guns shoot where aimed.

 

[mountainpharm]

Glock 36 until I can get to this, which is loaded with 00 buck.

 

[freakshow10mm]

The concern isn't necessarily you getting convicted of anything, but rather the risk of you being forced to spend tremendous sums of money to defend yourself. Additionally, your M-16 may be confiscated as evidence. Hopefully it will be treated well, and eventually returned.

In a justified shoot, I am immune from civil lawsuits. Under Michigan's castle doctrine a person who unlawfully enters my home is considered under Michigan law to be there to cause great bodily harm or death and deadly force is justified. This has been upheld more than once since the castle doctrine and self defense package was signed into law (used to be common law upheld but they just put it in the statutes a few years ago). The weapon used does not automatically make the act illegal. If I use a machine gun or a baseball bat, it is of no consequence.

Gary Fadden somewhat famously wound up spending about $45,000 (in the mid 80's) to defend what should have been a clear-cut case of self-defense, after he used an AC556.

Is that the H&K employee case? Didn't H&K foot the bill for that? Least that's what the 'net rumor is.

Maybe Michigan law has some statute to render this point moot. You may wish to consult with your lawyer. Maybe you already have. I'm just repeating what I've heard--that almost anything else is a better choice if you need to defend yourself.

If a machine gun is good enough to defend my country with, it's good enough to defend my family with. My county prosecutor agrees.

 

[mljdeckard]

freakshow, what he is saying, and I absolutely concur, is that historically, you are much more likley to be prosecuted for legitimate self-defense if you use a full-auto, no matter how clean the shoot was or how legal the weapon was. The process of GETTING CLEARED in the shoot might break you.

 

[General Geoff]

Home defense gun is a Springfield M1A Standard, full 22" barrel, equipped with a 20 round mag loaded with Hornady 110gr TAP rounds (yes i function checked them, over a hundred rounds, not one failed to cycle the action).

 

[CoRoMo]

Posted by mljdeckard
On THR, we follow the law, period.

You often post this, but it is simply not true. But I think I know what you mean to say.

I'll side with freakshow10mm. Tools are tools. But I'd love someone to cite an example of this historical likelihood where anyone got "prosecuted for legitimate self-defense if you use a full-auto, no matter how clean the shoot was or how legal the weapon was."

 

[TexasRifleman]

feakshow, what he is saying, and I absolutely concur, is that historically, you are much more likley to be prosecuted for legitimate self-defense if you use a full-auto, no matter how clean the shoot was or how legal the weapon was. The process of GETTING CLEARED in the shoot might break you.

There are simply not enough cases of legally owned machine gun defenses to draw ANY kind of conclusion about that, so I don't know you you can say that really.

The HK case is always thrown out at how costly it can be, but keep in mind we're talking about inside the home in this thread. The HK deal was a VERY different set of circumstances.

The other famous use of machine guns for defense did NOT result in big money spent on lawyers, nor did it result in the gun being confiscated for a long time.

The case in question was the gun store owner (can't remember his name now) who used a legal machine gun on TWO different occasions (1 was an Uzi, can't remember the next time) to defend his own property, the gun store, against intruders.

Both of those were ruled legit self defense and no charges were filed.

It's such an extremely rare occurrence to use a firearm in defense of your home anyway, then add the rarity of machine guns at all, then add the rarity of those owners who decide to use them in their home defense situations.

Please post a case where a legally owned machine gun was used for defense in the home and the homeowner had more problems because he used a full auto.
I'll patiently wait, because you won't find any.

Hell, post ANY case where someone used a machine gun in their home for defense. Doubt you will find more than 2 or 3 stories, if any.

 

[acmax95]

870 with 20" barrel and +2 extension is in the closet loaded with 00 buck with a buttcuff holder of 1/2&1/2 slugs and buck.

Whatever I carried that day is on the nightstand with a flashlight.

 

[psyopspec]

In my quarters, I have:

Colt M-4 with light and red dot.
M-9 Pistol with laser grips.
Couple Frag Grenades.
Kabar.
Night Vision Goggles.
Body Armor.

Not too far away I have:
A tower with some guys in it, who also have long guns, some crew-served weaponry, and radios to call for more guys with long guns.
A bunker.

Never felt safer.

 

[freakshow10mm]

Feeling safe and being safe are not one in the same.

 

[RS14]

Is that the H&K employee case? Didn't H&K foot the bill for that? Least that's what the 'net rumor is.

"'H&K protected me," says Gary. "They picked up the tab for about half of my legal bills, and got all the publicity for it, until I quit a few years later. Florian Deltgen (at that time CEO at HK) told me after an argument with the vice president that one or the other of us probably had to go, and the vice president wasn't going anywhere. I accepted a job offer from Beretta USA and then resigned from H&K. Deltgen stuck me with the remaining bill, which I paid off at 10% interest." The bill had amounted to more than $45,000.

["F you and your high powered rifle!" The Gary Fadden incident - The Ayoob files
American Handgunner, March-April, 2004 by Massad Ayoob ]

TexasRifleman, you're absolutely right that there have been very few such incidents. I'm convinced, not by historical evidence, but by various arguments about how such a weapon could be perceived by a jury, that using a machine-gun for self defense is likely to be more expensive than a more pedestrian weapon. Personally, I would prefer to use something else, but as long as people are aware of the potential ramifications, I have no objections if they choose to defend themselves with such a weapon.

 

[ozarkgunner]

I have a shortened Moss 500 with a light in a special holder I made that fits under my side of the bed. There is also a 30-30 336 standing in the corner by my side of the bed. And a 9mm in my jacket that I wear daily that sits by the front door. Also another pistol in my bug out bag that goes every where with me, that sits in the living room by the front door.

 

[EdLaver]

Mossberg 930 SPX (First two shells are 00 Buck, next two are 1 0z slugs, and the remaining is 00 buck) backed up by a Glock 22 with a Insight WX150 light loaded with Hornady 155gr Hornady XTPs.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Psyopspec:

In my quarters, I have:

Colt M-4 with light and red dot.
M-9 Pistol with laser grips.
Couple Frag Grenades.
Kabar.
Night Vision Goggles.
Body Armor.

Not too far away I have:
A tower with some guys in it, who also have long guns, some crew-served weaponry, and radios to call for more guys with long guns.
A bunker.

Never felt safer.

You are carrying some of the finest gear around. Research and development does a good job continously.
That Colt M4 will beat out a pistol anyday.
I want you to know we are proud of you.

 

[ctbullseye]

Maverick 88 w/#4 buck, Kel Tec Sub2k, Colt Python 357 my Belgian Shepherd and my pet rattlesnake, Fang. If this fails, May the good lord help us! Tried sleeping with my 82A1, but moving 30+ pounds in the night is a bit cumbersome, never mind if I was to need it and missed, might kill my neighbors 2-3 houses down the way!!
Psyopspec, Thank you and may the good lord bless you and your fellow soldiers for keeping watch.