[MeOnTheBeach]

I recently had a female family member ask me what gun to get for self defense. I told her to get a Glock 23. I said, any home intrusion will put you with in 10ft of the intruder. You don't want to be carrying anything where someone could reach out and grab the barrel.

Now if I'm wrong, someone please correct me.

Joe Biden giving gun advice...errr really??!

I always thought of him as a spit wad kinda guy.

[mylife]

Any fool that grabs the end of a shotgun that has a finger on the trigger will let go of it PDQ!

[lacrew]

Joe’s mental image of the encounter is that his wife hears a rustlin’ in the bushes, while she’s sipping tea on the balcony of their chalet.

Then she simply picks up her trusty Elmer Fudd double barrel, and scares the riff raff away...so they can go prey on somebody a little less high brow.

For the rest of us, our mental picture involves feral youth busting through our door en mass and destroying everything and everybody important to us. That’s because we’re not as smart as Joe.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Actually, from my studies, I've learned that a shotgun with a short barrel (18”) and open choke loaded with a light shot (#5 or so) is a better home defense gun. I wouldn't use a double-barrel like Joe the Jackass suggests, but a tactical pump like the Remington 800 series. Depending on the model, they hold up to 8 rounds, so you have plenty of follow-ups. And you get the benefit of the “racking” sound which reports have found scares the tingle down Chris Matthew's leg out of intruders.

The problem with a pistol is that it is very difficult to hit your target, especially in the middle of the night when you are scared and adrenaline is pumping and someone is in your home.

The other problem with a bullet is that, if/when you miss, the bullet can go through several walls and still be lethal.

The many follow-up shots in a semi-auto pistol are an advantage, but there is the disadvantage that if you miss 7 or 8, that is 7 or 8 bullets tearing through your walls. Many smaller calibers also do not have the stopping power needed to down an intruder that is crazy or on drugs. Mel Tappan recommended nothing smaller than a .40 caliber. Read his Survival Guns for details.

The shotgun gives you a much larger target pattern. You can miss a little and still hit your target. When you hit, the grouping of that light shot still has all the impact needed to down any intruder. If some of the shot misses, it will lose much of its power hitting wallboard (buck shot will still retain quite a bit). If you miss completely, the shot will penetrate the wall board but much of its killing power will be lost.

Frankly, if an intruder is close enough to grab a shotgun out of your hands, you're no safer with a pistol. He or she (let's not be sexist here and think that all dangerous intruders are male) is too close.