[muir_redwoods]

Pump-action shotgun, 12 ga. if you're small or frail, get a 20ga. Mossberg makes a nice one and so does Remington. Most folks like the Remington 870. If you don't have the time or inclination to practice a shotgun will still work pretty well but you should find the time to practice. many report that just the sound of the slide being racked will scare off most folks. It would scare me. Use OO buck shot if your neighbors aren't too close, use bird shot if they are. Either way, you will dissuade most malefactors with a shotgun

[dljordan]

"Either way, you will dissuade most malefactors with a shotgun"

The sound of a shotgun being racked is a sure attention getter.

[wtc911]

Shotgun? No LEO types (including yrs trly) I know rely on shotguns. The last thing I want to do is find myself wrestling with a guy twenty years younger and thirty pounds heavier at three a.m. in my darkened living room over a long gun. I used to run workshops in home defense. Every time someone offered that sliding rack on a shotgun bit I'd hand him a broomstick, turn off the lights and tell him to come down the stairs or around the corner holding the stick like a weapon. Got it away from them every time. You don't have to lead with a handgun.

If you want to stand on the porch and scare folks the shotgun will do it but inside the house...not for me.

[brazzaville]

Good evening.
"...if you're small or frail, get a 20ga. Mossberg makes a nice one..."

That Mossberg 500 in 20ga. is perfect for young ones and other smaller people. I prefer the Remington 870 in 12ga. for a defense weapon but the Mossberg makes my wife happy.

Michael Frazier

[Crooked Constituent]

The only firearm I own is a small ruger .22

What kind of multi purpose firearem would you suggest I add to the collection?

I would like to have one for protection at home or in a catostrophic event like the hurricane, and/or survival situations, like needing to kill a varmint for food.

[ThanhPhero]

Racking a pump 12 will scare off folks who have never heard it before. It's genetic, I think. I have seen that work.