I'd rather have a pistol because
- Can shoot it with one hand, leaving the other free for cellphone/flashlight.
My shotgun has a flashlight on it for this reason.
- You can't really answer the door to strangers with a shotgun.
Sure you can. You can even make sure they don't see it, if you're inclined to be neighborly.
- Shotgun is harder to maneuver around hallways and corners
True, if the area is particularly tight. However, of you practice with it, you'd be surprised what you can do with proper technique. When I do building searches, I don't leave my M16 or shotgun in the cruiser.
- You get 15+ shots with a pistol
True, but the 4-6 shots you get with a shotgun are more likely to result in immediate stops, and topping off is not difficult.
- It's much harder to try and wrestle a pistol away from someone than a shotgun
With proper technique, both should be very hard.
- You can keep the pistol in a small handgun safe by your bed, if you have kids. Harder to safely store a shotgun and have it ready to go.
Harder, but not all that hard.
- There are more places to practice with handguns. Both of the ranges near me don't allow buckshot or slugs.
Possibly true, but this doesn't apply to everyone, of course.
Just having a shotgun does not preclude also having a handgun. You can have a shotgun in a rack in the closet and a handgun in a safe by the bed. If you have time to get to the shotty, great. If not, the handgun is readily available. If you need or want to go houseclearing, you should probably take a moment to put on your pants. If you're doing that, you can easily have a holster on your belt with no additional prep (just leave the belt looped through the pants and the empty holster on the belt). Put your handgun in the holster, grab your shotgun or carbine
with a sling and go check out what just went bump. If you encounter a tight area you want to clear, sling the long gun and transition to pistol.
In truth, after you've done it a few times, you can probably clear your whole house pretty adequately with a long gun.
Mike