Shotguns Suck for Home Defense

Shotguns suck for home defense. First off, they’re loud. Permanent hearing damage can result from firing a gun indoors, especially a shotgun. If you lose your hearing after the first shot, how can you hear if an accomplice is sneaking up on you?

They’re long, even with a minimum 18” barrel, and difficult to tightly maneuver in a doorway that’s just ten inches wider than the minimum shoulder-fired shotgun. Don’t be thinking about getting a Mossberg Shockwave or pistol grip shotgun, they’re illegal (and they really do stink at home defense, seriously).

Shotguns don’t magically kill everything they’re pointed at. Across a house, you might pepper two people with the spread. Then you have to deal with over-penetration. 5.56, designed to “tumble” in flesh, does the same thing on contact with drywall. The most common self-defense load, 00 buckshot, will penetrate typical residential walls, potentially killing your spouse, children, or neighbors. #4 buckshot is also dangerous. At least it’ll put a handgun magazine’s worth of essentially medium caliber pistol bullets into your average burglar all at once.

John Wick used a pistol. You didn’t see anyone grabbing that by the barrel and pulling it away from him. Plus you can put a suppressor on a pistol and not make it five feet long. 

If you want to scare people with the racking the slide sound, just get a sound board app on your phone. Boy they'll be surprised when you Glock them in the face. 

Have you thought about an M44 Mosin Nagant with the fold-out bayonet (an SKS will also work)? One jab in the chest is all that's needed to turn that home invader into a screaming weenie, no hot dog pun intended.

Oh, but what am I going to put my flashlight on? you object. Duh, use your other hand. Plus there are a bunch of rail options out there now for everything. Or just get a strobe flashlight.

Lastly, if you didn’t pick up the facetious, exaggerated tone so far, don’t use a shotgun because President Obama shot one.