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The idea that a shotgun is a "death ray" that wipes out everything in front of it will be disabused by a couple hours on the skeet range (or upland hunting).

You still have to practice. Anybody who does skeet, trap, or bird hunting will tell you that you don't aim it, you point it . . . but you still have to practice pointing.

Any goblins that bother you are probably going to be closer than a skeet or trap clay and a good deal larger . . . but you can't just point the shotgun in their general direction and hope for the best. Practice, practice, practice! I concur that the Remington 870 is your best choice . . . and if you ever get into bird hunting (or hunt tests) you have got yourself the perfect all purpose bird gun too. 12 ga has a pretty hefty kick so you need to be ready for that, if that worries you, get a 20 ga. or a 16 ga. if you can find it. My dad shot a burglar with a 16 ga. double (with bird shot) and the guy never came back . . .

I would also recommend a reliable sidearm for when you can't get at your shotgun. Since you are starting out, stay away from the autoloaders for a first gun. I would recommend a good .357 revolver with a short but not stubby barrel (stubbies lose too much velocity and are hard to aim, plus they kick worse.) The great thing about the revolver is it is the original point and click . . . no slide or jams or magazine to worry about. You'll only get six (or five) shots, but you can buy a couple of speedloaders and (again) practice, practice, practice. The great thing about .357 is it holds .38 Specials too, so you can practice, practice, practice with the cheaper (and low recoil) .38s until you are confident.

If you really get into shooting is time enough to think about getting a semi-auto . . . I swear by my 1911A1 and .45 ACP is a better caliber than .357, but you don't want to fool with all the extra stuff to learn on your first handgun.

Just my

Oh, I also concur with don't keep your shotgun in the crawlspace. OR in the attic space (if that's what you meant). Humidity is very very bad for firearms, plus you can't get at it when you need it.

My youngest child is still not responsible enough to be trusted with firearms unsupervised, so I keep everything locked up. My pistol is in a small security safe bolted to the bedframe. The safe is keyed by four finger-contoured buttons, so I can open it in the dark. My shotgun is in the gun safe, I usually wind up getting it out when there's trouble (like when the police chased an armed robber into the woods back of our house . . . I put the kids in bed upstairs and sat in an alcove in the breezeway with the 16 ga. Browning in my lap. (The cops got to him before he got to me, he should thank his lucky stars because I was loaded up with No. 2.)