Your handgun seems great, until you actually need it.

[tactikel]

IMHO an AR-15 in .223 is the ultimate close quarter weapon. My instructor at carbine class opined that an AR packs 30 hard hitting rounds, is light and short, is a familiar platform,easily modified, and can engage threats from 1 meter to 400 meters. There's nothing wrong with a 12 ga or a Glock 17 if that's what you are used to, just understand your limitations.

 

[Balrog]

To each their own ----- and I REALLY mean that.

Did a few thousand house & wharehouse and business searches as an LEO.

And still favor the hand gun for room to room & house security.

MUCH easier to hold a REAL bright light,can of Mace and whatever other less than lethal force you might actually get to use.

IF there was the slightest chance of a "home invasion" then I would go to a real weapon like the M-4 or 12 bore.

But as long as my house is secured [ and it is VERY secured ] then I will stick with the handgun for answering the door and other household chores.

As I stated = TO EACH THEIR OWN.

I think for a room to room search, you might be right about a handgun. But in my situation, all I needed to do was cover an entry door from a fixed covered position just a few feet away. Wouldn't a long gun (shotgun or carbine, I don't really care which) be a better choice?

 

[Balrog]

IMHO an AR-15 in .223 is the ultimate close quarter weapon. My instructor at carbine class opined that an AR packs 30 hard hitting rounds, is light and short, is a familiar platform,easily modified, and can engage threats from 1 meter to 400 meters. There's nothing wrong with a 12 ga or a Glock 17 if that's what you are used to, just understand your limitations.

I would have been just as happy with an AR as a shotgun, but would point out that there is no distance in my house where I would have needed the range of an AR.

 

[Danoobie]

6. When you are looking at an intruder at your back door in the dead of night, your handgun feels small and ineffective, and you sure wish you had picked up your shotgun instead.

THIS is something I consider, when I'm looking at the gun, IN THE STORE. Why I carry full-size.

OTOH, Balrog, you certainly have a well-ordered security setup, and if your WERE to finally need
to resort to your firearm, after all those precautions, it would reflect well upon you, in your defense, and justification.

 

[Kleanbore]

In that situation I would only have to shoot once. Take that to the bank.

If you hit with that one shot.

There have been a sufficient number of incidents related here in which the defender failed to hit effectively with a shotgun to make it clear that an effective hit with one shot is by no means a certainty,[/QUOTE]

 

[Manny]

The problem with long guns for home defense is explained in their name, LONG guns. Moving through the confines of a house most shotguns and/or rifles are exceedingly awkward. They do offer decisively more fight ending power, so I do have both a rifle and a shotgun for HD use, but they are as short as I can legally get without going through extra government nonsense, a 5.56 Tavor bullpup and my newest aquisition, a 12ga Mossberg Shockwave. Both these gems are a hair over 26" and are exceedingly handy. The Mossy backed by a handgun is now my preferred choice. A very confidence inspiring combo.

 

[huntsman]

How was my security breached exactly? The guy never got inside my house, I was alerted to his presence, and able to observe him on camera until he left. I had time to arm myself and secure my family. He just walked up off the street on my property and there is not much way to prevent that. I realize that a gun is not the be all end all. But if I need a gun, I would far prefer a shotgun or an AR to a pistol. Are you saying you disagree?

Entry through an unlocked door seems like a breach to me, as for gun my shotgun is what I'd use to cover the 50 yards from my front door to road but a handgun is what I carry around the house.

 

[Kleanbore]

Entry through an unlocked door seems like a breach to me,

A breach of what? He entered the yard through an unlocked gate.

....my shotgun is what I'd use to cover the 50 yards from my front door to road....

Surely you wouldn't contemplate shooting someone in your yard from your house!

 

[huntsman]

No he entered a garage through an unlocked door.

Not unless the house is fired on first.

 

[Hanzo581]

No he entered a garage through an unlocked door.

Not unless the house is fired on first.

*Detached garage.

 

[Armored farmer]

Balrog,
Thanks for bringing this matter to the surface.
I have made my h.d. long guns more accessible.

 

[Balrog]

To clarify: the trespasser entered the backyard through a closed but unfortunately unlocked backyard gate. The only door he opened was an unlocked door on a detached garage, and there was no one in the garage. He never made any attempt to mess with any of the doors on the house. The closest he ever got to a door to the house was 12 to 15 feet. I don't see anyway you could justify use of deadly force. I also think in that situation, you are better off to stay inside your locked home, get your gun, cover the doors, and call the police. I certainly would not want to shoot a person in that situation. They are not posing an immediate threat and I think I would have a hard time convincing a jury my life was in danger since I was behind a locked door. Even if i did convince a jury that somehow this was justified, I don't want to pay a lawyer to defend me and miss about a year of work and life because of the case.

My mistakes were that my gates were not locked and doors to the detached garage were not locked. Lesser mistakes were bushes that needed trimming and poor lighting. I could have made much worse mistakes with judgment, I think.

I think sticking my head out the back door and yelling at him would have been a bad idea. It might have escalated the situation to the point that he shot me or I shot him. It would have also opened the only barrier between my family and the trespasser. I think hunkering down with a gun and a phone call to 911 is a better plan. Police are trained to deal with stuff like that; me, not so much.

 

[huntsman]

Was it the garage door that triggered the alarm?

 

[Balrog]

Was it the garage door that triggered the alarm?

It was a side door on a detached garage. The garage door, i.e. what you drive through, was down.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

This thread has gone so awry.

Indeed there is much more to home defense than the gun you keep by your bed.

Kudos to all you folks relying solely on shotguns and AR's, I wish you all the best. I am confident and proficient with my semi 9mm hand gun with 18 x 2.

The only way a shotgun or AR is getting broke out is if the Soviets are 'chuting in Red Dawn style (or similar situation).

 

[Armored farmer]

could have made much worse mistakes with judgment, I think.

Yeah,
I really don't want to shoot someone over a few gallons of gasoline, or an armload of powertools, etc.
Bust into my house........get carried out.

 

[Kleanbore]

Bust into my house........get carried out.

A commonly voiced sentiment,, but the post is permanent and public and could be used with devastating effect in civil and/or criminal court if there is ever a shooting death with any inconsistencies among the evidence.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

I think the OP did just fine. The great thing about defense in depth is that it increases the likelihood that your firearm choice will be irrelevant. I would much prefer to keep an intruder outside of my house than to be forced into a gunfight in my living room, no matter the gun!

 

[Balrog]

I think the OP did just fine. The great thing about defense in depth is that it increases the likelihood that your firearm choice will be irrelevant. I would much prefer to keep an intruder outside of my house than to be forced into a gunfight in my living room, no matter the gun!

I absolutely want to avoid a physical confrontation if at all possible. Keeping the bad guy outside is the way to go.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

My mistakes were that my gates were not locked and doors to the detached garage were not locked. Lesser mistakes were bushes that needed trimming and poor lighting. I could have made much worse mistakes with judgment, I think.

This is just the way my mind thinks but when I owned a home I did a perimeter check before settling in for the night. Check the gates, check the garage, check the garden shed and call it a night. Did it every night right around dinner time when we were in for the night.

 

[JR24]

4 leggeg alarms are a great deterent as well.

Feeling your pistol is inadequate is relative (though I agree).

I was black bear hunting in AK and had a Grizz come in that was large enough to reach me in the tree stand, shoulf he have wished. My .300 win mag and. 44 mag felt awful small looking at that beast.

 

[Blkhrt13]

Pistols compared to a rifle or a shotgun are no contest. My smallest centerfire handgun right now is a 9mm. I feel okay with it. From the other end it looks big enough when you point it.

 

[Elkins45]

The problem with long guns for home defense is explained in their name, LONG guns. Moving through the confines of a house most shotguns and/or rifles are exceedingly awkward. They do offer decisively more fight ending power, so I do have both a rifle and a shotgun for HD use, but they are as short as I can legally get without going through extra government nonsense, a 5.56 Tavor bullpup and my newest aquisition, a 12ga Mossberg Shockwave. Both these gems are a hair over 26" and are exceedingly handy. The Mossy backed by a handgun is now my preferred choice. A very confidence inspiring combo.

I'm not planning to move through my house. Let trouble come to me, I'm not that anxious to go out and meet it. I have both a pistol and a shotgun in our bedroom. Which one I choose depends entirely on how much warning I get. Likely the pistol will be in my hand as I move toward the closet for the Mossberg.

 

[Balrog]

I'm not planning to move through my house. Let trouble come to me, I'm not that anxious to go out and meet it. I have both a pistol and a shotgun in our bedroom. Which one I choose depends entirely on how much warning I get. Likely the pistol will be in my hand as I move toward the closet for the Mossberg.

Not everyone has the luxury of being able to hunker down in the bedroom. If you have small children in other rooms, you need to be able to get to them.

 

[Varminterror]

I can relate to the mental counter-reality juxtaposition of an intruder within your perimeter and a handgun in your hand. In college, I had someone walk into my apartment late one night. I was awake, playing video games, in a back room. I had a .44mag vaquero which always lived on the table beside my computer. The intruder walked in, and I remember the feeling - if you would have asked me for height and weight in that instant, I would have said 7ft tall and 320lbs. While in reality, he was about 5'10" and 180. That moment of the unknown and unknowable was a split second, but felt like an hour.

Contrary to your situation: I put my hand on the revolver (knowing it was unloaded). Suddenly, the intruder felt very small, and my Vaq Mag felt like the sword of St. Mike. I don't fancy myself clever, but I asked him if he wanted a shot... If he wanted to play nice, I had vodka, if not, I had this... He was just some frat boy who had gotten the wrong side of the apartment building looking for his buddy's place. He hung out for a bit, played Halo, and drank a little vodka with me, and went on his way. Legally, it would have been a good shoot, emotionally, it would have been terrible. But I remember the transference in my emotions between the realization of threat and the realization of protection - bluff as it was, I knew I had a hand on a gun and he didn't, and that was enough for my confidence.