As a homeowner would? Never.Netpackrat wrote:During your time in, how many times did you see US forces defend a house from the inside, as a homeowner would?
If anyone had to "defend" a "house" they were part of a fire team. In addition to M16s, they had M240s, M203s and M67 grenades. The one "home defense" item I really miss in that mix are the M67s. You can keep the rest.
I didn't say that a shotgun wouldn't work for someone else as a home defense weapon. I just don't feel it is my choice.
I hear a lot of people, who also have no experience with defending a house from the inside, claiming that the shotgun is the ultimate home defense weapon. I'm not one of those believers.
I know two home invasion survivors. One individual, one couple. Both were surprised. One had a dog, who either slept through the event or was cowering someplace - either way, the dog did not provide warning. Both had guns, however they were locked-up for "safety", and effectively unavailable.
Both now have shotguns, handguns and rifles hidden in convenient places around the house. Loaded. One has a "lupara" by the bed - a cut down double barrel shotgun with double triggers. If I had a shotgun to keep by the bedside, that would be my choice.
The one who had the dog now has three dogs. Two are yippy and obnoxious little dogs. One is a seriously large, quiet and professionally trained attack dog.
One other minor lesson from their experience. They both have a couple of T-mobile or Walmart "drop phones" hidden in the house. They tell me their biggest PITA is remembering to keep them charged (911 calls don't require "minutes"). The guns don't require much attention - shoot once a year (or maybe it was last year), clean, reload.
I've done some training at Gunsite. One of the classes included home defense scenario training. That training included "combat" style shotguns, carbines and pistols.
As a result of that training, talking through scenarios, and talking to my friends who dealt with home invasions, I decided my mode of response would focus on handgun, then rifle. Too many weapons gets too confusing, especially when it's in the dark, I'm half asleep, and panic is setting in. It's hard enough in the middle of the day in a "fun house" exercise.
Why rifle and not shotgun? If a handgun doesn't solve the problem, a shotgun won't either. If I've gone to slide lock with my handgun and the problem is still there, then I'm reaching for the rifle, not another magazine. At that point, over-penetration of my rifle rounds is the least of my concerns. I also don't want to be deciding between reaching for a magazine, a shotgun or a rifle with my mind foggy and confusion whirling around me. Just drop the pistol and grab the rifle.
That's just my inexperienced opinion. To each his own.
