There is NO room in our home that you have to leave to get a gun. Hi-Cap Glocks in every room and one on each side of the bed in Master BR. We use them not because we particularly like them [no PRIDE of ownership], but for the same reason we use a shovel to dig a hole. We are in the country, behind gates. If we need help, we are IT. Our motto for life is,"Carry every step, shoot every day!"

I voted for a shotgun. I have revolvers close by and they do get the nod for checking out the house when you hear that odd noise but are pretty sure it's just your stupid cat....

If I really think someone is in my house....I'm grabbing my Mossberg 500 loaded with #4 buck and 6 slugs in reserve and getting my family behind me...phone will be next to me with 911 already on the line....recording everything.

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Retired Career Security Guard

Did you miss the part where I said I couldn't get through the bedroom door with a long gun without banging into something?

In MY home, I might just as well use a long bow or a naginata as a shotgun bigger than an Ithaca Auto-Burglar.

My guess is that your home looks VERY different from mine.

I don't draw any UNIVERSAL conclusions from the configuration of MY home. You should probably not draw any from yours.

Wow. Our house has 13 rooms. To use your method, I'd need 14 Glocks. One for each room plus 2 in the MBR.

That's a lot of Glocks.

I think it's easier to carry one gun in my pocket during the day. And perhaps another larger one in a quick access safe.

I won't ever have a light on a handgun.

I have no desire to have a flashlight, which in order to employ I must pointed a loaded firearm at, or even in the general direction of, another person.

I once saw an episode of "Cold Case Files" in which a guy was in bed with his wife when he heard noises coming from the other side of the house.

He picked up a bat and went to see what the noises were... whereupon an intruder stabbed him in the heart, killing him.

The intruder then raped the wife and set the house on fire.

Escaping, the wife alerted the police... who immediately treated HER as the prime suspect, proceeding to torment her for YEARS.

Ten(?) years later, the actual murderer and rapist was found, I believe, serving a sentence for another crime.

At the end of the episode, the now vindicated wife declared that she wished that she'd died in the attack.

Bats are for baseball and softball and formerly, for discipline in Imperial Japanese Navy enlisted flight school.

Weatherby PA-08 TR 12 ga

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

When another person mentions to me what his/her preferred home defense weapon is, I am certainly not going to disagree with them, not matter how I feel personally.

There are numerous videos by numerous "professionals" who give valid arguments from everything to a handgun to a shotgun to an AR. That's fine. That's their opinion and no matter what I say, I probably won't change it.

For me, in my situation, it depends. I have lots of options at my disposal, as do probably most of you, and am willing to implement any (or all) of them depending on the particular situation.

First off, I live in a fairly rural area and it's just me and my wife, so I'm not concerned about a round going through my house and into my neighbor's bedroom.

Okay, with that being said, let's go through a few different scenarios.

If Miss Judy and I are sitting at home watching the ten o'clock news and someone comes busting through the door, I have a handgun at my ready disposal. Usually it's either a .45 Colt, .45 acp, .357 magnum, or a .38 with +P's, but it's no more than 12 inches from my hand at all times.

If it's in the middle of the night and I'm awakened by somebody either in our bedroom or making his way down the hall, I have a handgun there on the nightstand. Again, usually one of the above.

Now, let's say it's two in the morning and we're awakened by someone trying to break down the front door. They haven't made it through yet, but they're trying. Let's say I've got time to call 911 and go downstairs while Sing Sing Tommy is still hammering away at the door.

In that situation, I'd go to the kitchen, fix myself a snack, and go sit in my easy chair and wait. Then, when he makes it through the door, he would be met with a load of double-aught buck. (Remember, I'm not concerned with over-penetration here.) I want something that when the coroner arrives, the perpetrator's body and head will be leaving my home in two separate bags.

Now, like I said, that's just my opinion. Who am I to disagree with someone else's choice for home defense, whether it be a .22, a baseball bat, or a Chihuahua named Mitzi?

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Pack light and cinch tight.

I was trained to use a handgun to check and clear. That's what I use.

My house has a lot of corners.

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Halfway and one more step

I have more than on firearm for home defense. I use a New York reload. I prefer handguns and use the bedroom defense. We stay in the bedroom until the cops arrive. You can steal what you want inside my house until then, just don't come down the hallway.

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Have Gun Will Carry

I rent.

My bedroom door wouldn't keep out a tubercular five year old with muscular dystrophy.

Any intruder is going to be on me LONG before the cops show up. I'd rather get the drop on HIM in familiar territory in the dark, than vice versa.

Besides, I'm simply NOT going to call the cops every time I hear a noise. Pretty soon they're going to stop coming... or find something to charge ME with.

The last time I heard something here that MIGHT be an intruder, it turned out to be a collapsed bookshelf. I'm not going to waste the cops' time and make myself look like a bedwetting coward in the bargain.

Two reasons: the practical and the tactical.

Practically, we'd prefer not to shoot anybody. Aside from the legal complications--being charged, facing a grand jury, or just being sued by the "victim" or his family--we'd also have to contend with the psychological consequences of killing somebody. No matter how justified we might be.

Tactically, we may be ninja quiet and know our house well, but ain't nobody that quiet. Moving through the house puts us at a disadvantage. While we have to move and constantly expose ourselves to new positions, our potential opponent can simply choose an advantageous position and wait for us to happen upon him. We'd prefer to not be on the wrong side of an ambush if we can at all help it.

And we can! The way most houses are designed, all of the bedrooms are accessed from a single hallway, or off a single larger living area. So all we need to do to control the parts of the house with people in them--the only non-replaceable things in that house--we just need to control that area, be it a hallway, or the top of a set of stairs, or even just a particular corner of the living room.

And the bedroom is ideal. It's typically the most interior room of the house, furthest from the main entrances, normally with only one way in and out. Setting up there means we can't be flanked except from outside the house, and can control that critical hallway.

Seriously, my home is 27' X 30' the farthest distance you can be from me and I can still see you is 20'.

The thought of firing a rifle in my home scares the hell out of me. I'm almost positive it would go all the way to the outside brick wall (2 apartments down) before it stopped.

I carry an M&P9C at home so that would be my home defense weapon

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Retired Career Security Guard

I know that I'm gonna wander out and say "Howdy . . . "

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

From my perspective, there are no material possessions in my home worth killing, dying or going to prison for. I would do everything I could to avoid engaging an intruder with lethal force.

To each their own. But if someone breaks into my house they're going to get a good dose of lead poisoning.

I work hard for what I have. And the act of breaking in immediately puts myself and wife in danger. And I couldn't live with myself knowing that I should have stopped a bad guy in my house that just broke into my neighbors house and hurt someone.

The feeling of being violated never goes away. You won't sleep for weeks and you'll never trust anyone again.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Me too. I ain't waiting until someone opens the bedroom door where both me and the wife are.

Our plan is that I wait for them to come down the hallway towards the bedrooms while the wife dials 911. She's also armed.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

first line of defense in my house is my trusty 85# pitbull, followed up by either of my semi-autos I can get to. next is the sheriff deputy with his K9 and scatter gun right next door. lastly, my short tempered wife and her trusty frying pan.

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Regards from THE Old Fart

Yep, the "Don't Wake The Baby Gun" is getting pretty popular for HD

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Glenn
FAS1 SAFE

I qualified for LEOSA in July w/a Glock 17 and it has become my home defense weapon, replacing my Model 10 4".

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

I am not a fan of baseball bats for home defense as you have no room to maneuver a bat. For that matter, I am not a fan of baseball bats for defense period as a trained individual can overcome them relatively easily. While I wouldn't want to fight someone with a baseball bat I wouldn't choose one as a defensive tool either.

All that said, if you walk into an ambush, you can be stabbed in the heart while carrying a shotgun or pistol or any other weapon.

My step-daughter wanted a pistol but absolutely refused to agree to train with one. Just wanted it to "scare" someone away. I bought her a combat tomahawk instead. (Not to be used as a throwing weapon.)

Oh, I don't have a Chihuahua named Mitzi but do have a "vicious" cavapoo named Archie. In my opinion just the sound of a dog barking will keep most people from attempting a burglary but really Archie's only job is to wake up the people that both have a gun on their nightstand.

Any revolver without an internal lock, I don't want anything else that could go wrong. Model 642, Model 442.

A snubby M-64 is my primary home defense, until I can get to my Mossberg 500.

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Support your Police, & NRA

People who enter occupied dwellings tend not to share that attitude. In fact, some of them (like Hays and Komissarjevsky) positively ENJOY killing people over their property and money... and just for the "fun" of it.

Anybody who enters my home KNOWING (or reasonably suspecting) that I'm there is a THREAT, a threat which needs to be neutralized.

In Ohio, I'm not going to prison for shooting somebody who when told to leave, after forcibly entering my home, makes himself an immediate and credible threat to life and limb. I have the rebuttable presumption of justification.

NO plan I will EVER have will EVER be premised on the rationality, common sense or basic decency of somebody who enters my home without my permission, where there's a reasonable likelihood that I'm home. Such a person is almost invariably at least open to the possibility of doing me harm. I'm not letting ANYBODY do me harm.

My impression of the show was that there was at least some sort of physical confrontation before he was stabbed.

I doubt that the deceased had a lot of expertise or experience using a bat as a weapon, and the results showed it. If I had to guess, I'll bet that he took a swing at the intruder who ducked and stabbed him.

Assuming reasonable situational awareness, it's ALWAYS going to be easier to pull a trigger than swing a bat. In order to use the bat, you have to AT LEAST get to within the length of the bat minus 2-3 inches from your assailant. The firearm has no such limitations, nor is the recovery time between engagements anywhere similar.

Thanks for all the input on this. Couple things I found interesting.

Semis out numbered revolvers 2-1 and on a S&W forum to boot.

Not surprised by the percentage of those who chose a shotgun.

But, not I surprised that handguns were favored by far.

Didn't know what to expect on the carbines.

I am sure everyone made their choices for valid personal reasons and situations. Even the governor people, I don't get it but I have been known to have my own opinions and they don't always mess with everyone else. What suits one person don't work for another. Some drive Ford pickups some drive Buick sedans. Its all good.

I do know it would be a bad idea to use this forum to scout for potential home invasion victims.

I'm on the road and I'll check when I get home, but one is Unique with a 135 gr. Speer Gold Dot at about 1050 fps. About any powder will do, just load near the starting loads of the .357.

I'm also trying to develop a 135 gr GD load for the .38 J frame, but I haven't got any numbers. The numbers I got with other bullets haven't been promising. Not that they wouldn't work, but they don't anywhere near the energy that I hoped. I can't wait to get to the range to clock honest efforts at an SD round.

UPDATE: Man I'm crazy visiting NYC. The best loads were with Power Pistol.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

A bat can be a devastating weapon, but like any weapon, it has its limitations.

It's only really powerful about halfway through the swing. Caught early, it hasn't yet had time to build up the speed necessary to translate its mass into damage. Too late, and the user is trying to slow the swing down instead of swinging through the intended target. It's also got a tendency to glance off whatever it impacts. Not to mention that the ones I used even in little league were 28"-32" long, making it rather ungainly unless you use it inefficiently as a thrusting weapon.

In other words, even if you managed to connect with the thing, there's a very good chance that the strike would be ineffectual for whatever reason.

Coincidentally, good to read up on what kinds of injuries can be inflicted by various improvised weapons. Goes to the "reasonable person" standard should you ever stand trial. One such picture got shown to a group of medical examiners in training. It showed a fairly large man, who would have been over 6' 6", if he still had a head. Suffice to say, there was a fair amount of gore, but nothing that could be identified as once having been a human head. The instructor asked the students what weapon they thought had inflicted that damage.

Most guessed a shotgun. A few thought it was some kind of machinery accident. Several thought explosives, including one guess of "hand grenade".

It was a standard, household hammer, wielded by the deceased's battered wife. She stood, IIRC, 5'4". Got tired of being slapped around, grabbed the hammer, and when he didn't take her seriously, cracked him square in the skull with it. Once he was down, she just kept going until she decided she was finished.

Yeah, but have you ever tried to concealed carry a pitbull? I did once and got bit in places we don't discuss in polite company.

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Get off my lawn!

[QUOTE=Cal44;139196873]Wow. Our house has 13 rooms. To use your method, I'd need 14 Glocks. One for each room plus 2 in the MBR.

That's a lot of Glocks.

I think it's easier to carry one gun in my pocket during the day. TAnd perhaps another larger one in a quick access safe.[/QUOTTo To borrow a quote...We all have to seek our own salvation..My home is not as big as yours so I only have 11 Glocks in the house. Four vehicles with one in each. I wish you much success with your plan...Carry every step, shoot every day!

All very valid points.

Another being that the intruder may well have a gun.

I live in a townhouse with fairly narrow stairs leading to the bedrooms. I couldn't effectively wield a baseball bat even if I wanted to. A hammer would be a better choice in close quarters than a bat if one had to go with improvised weapons.

I lived in NYC for a couple years where it was illegal to even have a pistol without the proper licensing and that was impractical and expensive to obtain. There you were limited to what you could have legally. (Or at least I limited myself to legal means.) My home kit there was a Streamlight strobe flashlight and an Emerson Karambit. Even today I work on a military installation where we cannot carry firearms so my daily carry is two Emersons and that flashlight.

I will do everything in my power to prevent anyone from harming me and my family. That doesn't mean lethal force is the solution to every home defense solution. One size does not fit all and you have to respond to the scenario at hand appropriately based on it's unique specific dynamics.

Deadly force should always be the last resort for ethical and legal reasons and remember that it's pretty difficult to protect your family if you're in prison. Most home defense scenarios are not home invasions by violent armed intruders. Many times petty thieves break into an occupied resident unaware someone is home or the homeowner returns while the crime is in progress. Such incidents could turn into violent confrontations requiring an armed response, but if you have a choice to avoid it becoming such without compromising protecting yourself and your family, it's by far the most sensible option to do so.

I've also seen several cases where developmentally disabled individuals sometimes became confused and wandered into the wrong house. Many wouldn't likely respond to commands to leave, but I would hope the vast majority of armed homeowners would use some personal restraint, discretion and common sense in dealing with such cases rather than immediately open fire.

A very measured and rationale perspective from Rob Pincus...

Depends on your situation and where you live. My night stand gun is the same gun I carry every day (Glock 23). No need to wake up drowsy and handle a firearm I don't carry every day and fumble with safeties, etc. I voted carbine as that is what I would head to if the threat was something my Glock can't handle

NYC has never been on my list of a place to live or work. My best friend from college spent a year or two there working for Micro$oft. He hated it. I'm never again living some place where the city motto is, "We don't have to protect you and we won't let you protect yourself."

Ironically, while there's strict preemption of firearms law in Ohio, every little burg can make their own knife laws, to the point where it's just not worth it for me to carry one, at least where I don't need it for work.

I have a Governor that I would reach for first. Then move to the 870 if I had the time.

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"The Dude abides"

It's hard to imagine a situation where somebody KNOWINGLY forces his way into my home that won't involve deadly force on SOMEBODY'S part.

If I find you in my home, and if AT GUNPOINT I tell you to get out and you DON'T, you're not there to play backgammon.

I'm not playing footsie with people who force their way into occupied dwellings.

maybe but ive been using pumps for as long as ive been shooting ill stick to what im use to.

I voted shotgun but have a mixture of SD options around the house including semis, carbines and revolvers...

There's only one normal way in, and it's ALWAYS locked. The ONLY way in without my permission is to kick in the door or bust a window. There's NO "innocent" connotation to EITHER.

NOBODY is EVER going to "wander" into my home. Anybody who FORCIBLY enters is a threat and isn't going to be given the benefit of any doubts. They get ONE verbal command to leave. After that, it's on. I'm not going to be one of those people who ends up dead because he tried to "negotiate" with an intruder.

That's a mess.

When I worked in DC I lived in VA because of the difference between the gun laws in the District and Maryland and VA.The former two were draconian.

That is a mess with the locals establishing knife law in OH. I have always known the state laws where I worked or traveled often but OH sounds like a PITA. I carried the CQC-14 in DC because the blade length had to be under 14 for it to be considered a common pocket knife unless proven otherwise. In NY the Emersons might or might not have been legal depending on the cop or prosecutor because of how they can be opened and a vague interpretation in case law. I wasn't walking the city with no tools though so took that much risk.

In FL we have a four inch or less limit for "common" pocket knives but that doesn't really apply with a CWL anyway as far as carrying.

Anyone fire any of these at night or indoors with no hearing protection?

I chose shotgun..less penetration I suppose what my thinking. I feel comfortable with my 12g double cowboy gun. And I'm good at reloading..but never tried it at night in the dark after firing it inside..gotta be hell on the head, eyes and ears i'd think?

A G43 is my carry gun, I compete with it in IDPA and PPC so again, can manipulate in blindfolded if need be. Got some liberty ammo last week to try out - that ammo seems to not over penetrate.

I see weekly on the news people with bullet holes 1 or 2 rooms inside from a gun shot from a drive by. I figure there's enough questions and hassles if you shoot the bad guy..putting holes in a neighbors house isn't something I want to, um, talk my way out of.

Sure..sure. We never miss our targets, but just once we might not hit the X.

True, I've never let anyone in.
But it seems to be pretty common - some bible pusher, utility worker or such comes to the door and gets inside...

If you keep your gun in the bedroom..you're screwed. Gotta carry always everywhere...it would seem.

Is a glock good in a pool? LOL

We've managed to do away with some of the worst aspects of concealed carry in Ohio, but it really does need to be changed into a "Concealed WEAPON License". I don't see why it should be legal for me to carry a .44 magnum anywhere in the state (subject to STATE law), but not a common pocket knife.

That being said, I carry a gun so that I don't HAVE to defend myself with a knife or a club. I'm looking to be left alone, not to be in a "fair" fight, participation in which indicates a SERIOUS lack of planning on SOMEBODY'S part.

Anybody not previously invited besides the landlord and cops with a warrant can keep right on moving. I don't even open the door to the cops. The last time they came (wrong apartment), I talked to them THROUGH the door. That leaves any unscheduled/unwanted visitors with ONLY one alternative: FORCE. Anybody who kicks in the door gets their MOS changed to "bullet trap".

I grew up in Chiraq in the '60s during a rash of home invasions. I almost never get unannounced visitors. When I do, I NEVER answer the door without a gun in my hand.

I don't have a pool. And yes, with the aquatic spring cups, a Glock can be fired under water.

The only time I carry a knife over a gun is when it is illegal for me to have the gun regardless of the CWL. (Like where I work 5 days a week.)

When I was younger I left the 357 in the car because I didn't have a CWL valid in the state I was traveling through. I ended up being approached by two car jackers even after three assertive warnings to stay away. I was able to dissuade them from completing their act with a 3.5 inch Gerber positioned to slice the lead jacker's carotid. Frankly that puts them WAY too close for comfort and I am lucky that 1. He didn't pull whatever was in his hand in his hoodie pocket before he was in my lethal range and 2. That he decided it wasn't worth the fight with the crazy dude with a knife and veered away cursing me as he walked briskly away. (The second dude out and out ran.)

CWLs and reciprocity have come a long way since then and there is not a state I would visit where I cannot carry now with the exception of NY as my wife's family lives there. Heck, I have a 22 magnum Pug that fits nicely in my swim suit.

Does "it's on" mean open fire?

A few years back I opened the door to a woman(well dressed, petite, middle aged driving a very nice, new Buick crossover who looked rather scared) who tried to push her way past me into my home demanding to know where her daughter was and yelling her name. Turned out her daughter had gone missing and she simply had the wrong address of where she thought she might be. I had to hold her back while explaining her mistake, but it took a few minutes for her to calm down. I imagine if she had gotten by me, she would have ignored my initial commands to stop and leave and went charging through my house searching for her daughter. Had she gotten past me, do you think I should have simply shot her?

It does on tv and in the movies? If we watch the movie online everything we read and see online is true right? Lmao that Nagant has the cylinder that moves forward to seal the gasses and noise.

I open the door if someone knocks.

I ALWAYS have a gun in my right hand behind the door.

Two US Marshals were pounding on my door at 0600 looking for one of my daughter's friends. (Yes, long talk with daughter followed about her choice in friends.) Anyway, I tuck the pistol into the small of my back, let them in after checking their creds and tell them I am going to very slowly put my pistol that is in my belt on the kitchen table.

First my dog is on guard? He works for cheeseburgers. Next my semi auto is on guard but if you wake up the misses your on your own. She gets meaner than a wolverine if you wake her up.

Ever watch duck dynasty when Phil took the wife and DIL wild bore hunting. He told them to cover there ears but they were too busy talking then he shot. The women weren't happy.

If I wake up the wife in the middle of the night and say cover your ears she would say what?????? Googoots(squash)