well, my girls have never had an interest in learning to shoot a gun, and I have never pushed it. They are scared of them, and never go near them. Your husband is right. Buying a handgun and then keeping it locked up unloaded with the ammo some place else is a waste of money. What's the point. Handguns serve one purpose. Well, unless you are into competition shooting. The one purpose is self-defense. To put down someone who is trying to harm you or your family. Keeping them unloaded defeats the purpose.
Now, if you are a hunter and keep long guns in the house, then I can see the wisdom of keeping them unloaded. But I don't hunt. Never have. My guns are for one purpose...to kill the turd that intends to hurt me or my family. The shotgun is for that purpose also. In fact, my shotgun cannot even be used for hunting. The barrel is too short, and the magazine holds more than you are allowed to have when hunting. It is a riot gun. I have it loaded, 00 buck, 12 gauge slug, 00 buck, 12 gauge slug, alternated for 7 rounds. It will stop any intruder. Great for the wife that doesn't like handguns.
RE: loaded long guns, we grew up in the country and used them on "varmints", etc., that came around "in the middle of the night" to do harm to domestic birds, and animals - of course the same holds true with "two-legged varmints". ;-)
I don't have a shotgun yet, though I intend to get one in the future (for exactly the purpose you describe). I wonder if such heavy loads are necessary when the use is likely to be indoors & at close range, though -- I wouldn't want something that would penetrate a lot of walls and potentially endanger unintended targets (like sending a slug through my neighbor's house). Any advice on that?