Almost stopped reading right there. Shotguns are great, but I like to ability to kill things up close and at a distance. In fact, the worse things get, the more likely I will be to engage at greater ranges.
A shotgun is a great home defense weapon and can be impressed into service beyond that, but the moment that I transition to an open area outside of a building, I prefer a rifle/carbine, most any rifle/carbine, to a shotgun.
Roger that. Inside I want my pump shotgun and .357 revolver at the ready. Outside I want a semi-auto 9 mm handgun and a rifle. Preferably a .30 caliber rifle. An AR-10 or M1A will do just fine. Saying one firearm is always better than another in any situation is like saying it's always better to use a wrench than a screwdriver.