I respectfully disagree. The normal spread from my Mossberg 500 is between 2 and 3 inches at 15 feet. Not enough to make a real difference in most situations.
A shotgun will NOT save you from bad marksmanship.
People planning to use a shotgun for personal defense need to put in range time, just like handgunners, in order to be competent. I use mine at an indoor range and while I've had people complain about the noise, I've never known anyone to experience any bladder or bowel control problems upon hearing me rack a round into the barrel. Racking a shotgun will not intimidate a determined intruder into submission. Be prepared to shoot
Shotguns are not miracle weapons. If you hit someone with a 00 load you are not going to blow anybody to pieces. Be prepared for a follow up shot. This means learning to master recoil (through practice, at the range) and racking the gun while it's still on your shoulder.
Two things a shotgun does give you versus a handgun are a longer sight radius, which improves accuracy, and a whole lot of stopping power.
Excellent advice.
I’ve had to take several people to the range to prove to them with their own shotguns that the pattern just doesn’t open up as quickly as most people think.
In every case I insisted that they measure off a potential shot inside their house before departing for the range.
EVERY single time we get there and set up a target, the first thing out of their mouth is “Wow that’s close!”.
After that it’s rarely a surprise when the charge spreads only a few inches, especially when they’re using an Elmer Fudd gun as opposed to something more suitable for impromptu social engineering.
Guns are an equalizer! I like them. Guns beat a knife every time! Even Kung Fu has a hard time with guns, unless you can catch the bullet in your teeth!
All you have to do is point a 12 gauge in the right direction! Some people couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a bazooka!