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My son and I were discussing home defense. When I was married to their father, the kids used a 22 rifle. He had a 12 gauge shotgun, also. I gave up going shooting years before because the recoil knocked me on my rear, even with a sofa pillow in my shirt. I've also tried to shoot a 1915 Turkish Mauser. Fun. I wasn't exactly taught how to shoot well.

My problem is that I can't afford the guns you all are talking about. How do you take WWI or WWII surplus and make it work for you? I don't worry about burgulars (don't ask), we live in an established housing tract with houses close together. Still, with everything going on these days, I'd feel better having something besides ingredients for molitov cocktails.

Anyway, thank you all for a very informative view on weapons and using them around children and child safety.

First bit of advise get a Type 3 FFL. $30.00 for 3 years, allows you to order direct for the C&R firearms.

Cheapest route.
Handgun. CZ52 7.62x25 Tokarev $125.00
Rifle lite Yugo SKS 7.62x39 $100-200
Rifle heavy Yugo M-48A 8mm Mauser $100-125
Rifle heavy M-44 Mosin 7.62x54R $45-89

"I don't worry about burgulars (don't ask), we live in an established housing tract with houses close together."

That is false confidence, unless I have misinterpreted your statement. Burglars, especially the most dangerous ones who are likely to be violent, don't really care how close together the houses are, or how long your subdivision has been established. In fact, they often don't even care whether you are at home or not, or if you have a dog.

Perhaps you would do better to buy a .410 shotgun- that is STILL equivalent to a .41 Caliber pistol, considered quite adequate by a lot of Western LEO's. But you have to be trained until you are confident in it, and you MUST be willing to use it. If not, it (or any other weapon) will be taken away from you and used against you. That is why a lot of police do not recommend that citizens arm themselves for home protection- only a certain percentage actually have the moxie to shoot an intruder. (That percentage varies geographically, I think).

Something like a 20 gauge shotgun, with a substantial recoil pad, would be just the thing. Even a .410 would be better than nothing. Either can be had used for no more than the military surplus stuff you mentioned. Mossberg makes a an inexpensive 20 and .410, already in "home defense" configuration, but a "hunting" shotgun could be shorted to the legal minimum and would probably suit your needs just fine. The "hunting" gun would be easier to find and probably less expensive on the used market. Check out the next gun show in your area. They are usually fairly well advertized, but you can go to www.shotgunnews.com for a schedule of shows in your area.

Use the lighter, "target" loads, rather than the heavier "field loads" at least for practice, and always wear ear protection when practicing. If you ever need to actually use the weapon to defend yourself or your son, you'll never notice the recoil, or the muzzle blast, although your ears will notice. Fit is less important with a defense shotgun than one used for wingshooting, but it still matters, particularly in the area of felt or perceived recoil. One that fits better will not feel as if it "kicks" as much. If you were shooting your ex's 12 gauge, it was probably way too long for you, and that both increased felt recoil, and reduces accurracy.

Someone mentioned a .45 ACP Marline camp carbine. That's a good choice, but may be slightly outside your budget, and I do mean slightly they aren't really very expensive, and you can buy them at WalMart through their catalog, or could last time I looked at their catalog. However another similar choice would be something called the "Patriot" Carbine. It goes for about $125 to $150 and is chambered for 9mm. Not as good a choice for home defense due to overpenetration problems, although if you use frangible ammuntion, such as Corbon, it might be acceptable. I can't vouch for its reliability, you'd have to shoot it alot to find out, but you tend to get what you pay for. I know it's a blow back type action, only possible because a carbine can use a heavier bolt than a handgun. It is a handy little thing, and recoil is reported to be very mild. Certainly better than no gun at all.