The Best Guns for Home Defense

Must agree that this post left me feeling really uncomfortable. Don’t forget that this blog is readable internationally, and in many countries, such as mine, obtaining firearms like these is nearly impossible – Thank Goodness!

I was starting to enjoy the latest articles and liking your blog again, but this post showed an almost gratuitous slant towards owning a firearm. I am not a gun hater – I used to competition shoot centre fire rifles in my younger days, but this post left me feeling really uneasy.

“Some of the information is generalized and all readers should conduct further research before making any decision.”

You neglected to mention one important option: do not own a gun

I’m one of those internationals and have to admit I’m shocked to find this article on your site. What were you thinking? I’m off to remove myself from the RSS feed.

This article is appropriate in taste as far as this blog is concerned, as it provides a good examination of beginner firearms, as well as stressing the need to learn to use them properly. Any man interested in providing his family with additional protection could do far worse than following the advice posted here.

@Jimmy- to implicate The Art of Manliness with the murder of children seems a bit far fetched in terms of the articles content. I’m not entirely sure your comments have real relevance when you consider the article is about responsible weapon purchase, and use.

The comparison to cigarettes is also a bit out there…

@Drew- You say you are not a “gun hater”, but you say thank goodness its is almost impossible to obtain one in your country. Seems a bit conflicting to me.

@Tom- Statistically it is shown that if you have no experience using a firearm it is more of a hazard to own one. However if a person knows how to handle a gun, the opposite becomes true.

I would also have liked to have seen information on proper Firearm storage. A high shelf just doesn’t suffice, in terms of accessibility, and safety.

Aside from that, Bravo! Good start.

One of the proudest days of my life was the day my father entrusted my with the defense of his home and my family by informing me where I could find several of the loaded guns he kept, and making them accessible to me. It’s not about “killing people”. It’s about defense of your home and your family. Especially your family. And that is one of the manliest things there is. On that day, my father saw me as responsible and trustworthy enough to use his guns only when necessary, make the decision to use it or not, and to guard him and/or my sisters when he couldn’t. In short, he saw me as a man, and I have lived up to that trust. I never needed to use them, and I am thankful for that. But had it been necessary. I could and would have.

That said, the article does leave a bit to be desired, but does not deserve the criticism it has received. Teach your children responsibility, and you needn’t fear that they will hurt themselves with your guns. Lock them away until that point, and permit them access only when you feel they are ready.

I am frankly amazed at the closed-mindedness of the previous commenters. In parts of the world (not just the USA), firearms are an important part of people’s lives. Personally, I have been a firearms user since I was quite young, along with many of my friends from school. All of us were taught proper gun handling and did not do stupid things with them … as a matter of fact, after I was allowed to handle real guns, I was not allowed to point any weapon (even a toy one) at anything that I did not want to shoot.

Also, I have one major pet peeve that I have developed as a historian … unreferenced facts and figures … where did you get your facts about the 8 children? According to the CDC’s figures*, in 2006 there were 1,593 children between aged 0 and 17 killed by firearms, which provides an average of just over 4 per day. So, where are your other 4 children per day? Just to compare, 4,301 children of the same ages were killed in motor vehicle incidents (nearly 12 per day). My purpose with this refutation is not to argue with you but to question the ‘evidence’ that you cite for your argument. Too many people make too many grand statements online without REAL support!

* To double check the figures, go here – http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html

You never know when an apocalypse (whether personal or global) might be right around the corner. Just in case is a good enough reason for me to own a gun. It doesn’t augment or compromise my manhood. It gives me one more possible way to protect my family. I’ll do everything I can and learn everything possible to meet this end because it would be irresponsible for me not explore every option. Gun ownership may not be for everyone but it doesn’t hurt anyone to be familar with the basics. Good post.

The emotional reaction to an inanimate object that many people have is comical to me. The statistics cited portray an emotional, irrational, and unrealistic paradigm. For instance due to the high frequency of iatrogenic deaths in the U.S. you are hundreds of times more likely to die at the hands of a doctor than a law abiding gun owner (Or an unlawful gun owner for that matter). You are also more likely to die by drowning than by firearm. Get your priorities straight. The second paragraph of the article very clearly states that training is the most important aspect to embark upon before owning a firearm. It may not be explained in that paragraph but the most important parts of that training will be safety rules, proper handling, and proper storage. How many of you get into a thousand pound vehicle and believe it is more dangerous than a firearm? Vehicles kill more people than accidental and intentional gun deaths every year. Nowhere in this article did anyone try to convince or persuade anyone to purchase a firearm. In fact the disclaimer preceding the article was quite adequate. As for the cultural differences, yes, we Americans tend to be a self reliant bunch. In my life I was brought up by men that taught me to “do it your damn self”. That is a manly attribute that many in modern society seem to lack. I have been trained in the military and in police training to handle firearms. I can tell you there is little difference between a police officer and a “civilian” when it come to protecting your loved ones or yourself when there isn’t a police officer nearby to do it for you. Remember when seconds count the police are only minutes away.

What Robert said. Levitt has a good discussion of the relative risks of firearm ownership in his book Freakonomics.

I’m also from the UK, so don’t assume anti-gun hysteria is universal over here.

Oh man, you guys really get me going:
First I want to make myself clear that I know that no one of you wants to see a child die. And I do recognize that many guys handle their firearms properly. I know that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Here in Switzerland almost every man has a gun (we all have to do military service and take our assault rifle home) and the number of incidents is relative low.
Buuuuuuut….

@Thad: Ok, so let’s assume that your statistic is right. Thank god, “only” 4 children per day are dying. Aren’t that 4 children too many?
The question remains: Why do children and teens die everyday of gun violence? Because people make mistakes or are not thoughtful or are simply criminal. On every 100 responsible weapon owners there is probably one unresponsible weapon owner (or more). You have to take that into account. And giving those people the idea that they should buy firearms is in my eyes not helping.

And let’s take a look on how the blog entry is written. The article is written by a firearms salesman. He cannot have a neutral view. He mentions the responsible use of a weapon and training only two times, basically in one small paragraph.
I owned and shot an assault rifle myself. Therefore I know what a powerful instrument a gun is. You have to be really careful with it. A real responsible gun owner should mention that. But nothing much of this is described in the article, nothing about the dangers of weapons, nothing about the proper handling. In my eyes the article is merely an infomercial about firearms. I think this was a bit cheap.

And the argument about “protecting your familiy”: Can anyone give me reliable numbers on how many crimes were prevented because the man of the family used his gun? Did anyone of you fellows ever protect his familiy with a gun (no, not you police guy)? These are not entire rethorical questions, but I am really sure that at least here in Europe, the numbers are very very low.

If you take the irrational emotion out of the equation a gun is just a tool. It can do nothing without the volition of man. When a man chooses a tool to drive a nail he could use a wrench or a rock. However the best tool is a hammer. Why? Because it was designed to drive a nail. If a man chooses a tool to protect his family, a firearm is a great tool. The cultural aversions and irrational anthropopathism are based on ignorance and assumption. Put those aside and look at it rationally. It’s just a tool. There is no reason to be afraid of any tool unless the man wielding that tool intends to do you harm.

“Manliness?” maybe not. I actually consider defense a universal responsibility.

I understand some of the objection to equating “manliness” to firearms, but there is the issue of responsibility. I live and work in a city with one of the highest murder rates per capita, and highest burglarly and assaults. Unless a police officer is parked outside my door when I call 911 I can’t reasonably expect them to prevent harm from coming to me. My protection is my responsibility. It’s not a matter of insecurity, it’s a matter of practicality and responsibility.

But as said before, the key to self defense isn’t in the tool, it’s in the TRAINING. There’s a reason houses with guns have more accidents… it’s because the people did something wrong. Professional raining is the key. Yes it is expensive, but these aren’t toys.

I really take objection to your placement of revolvers above semi autos. With pistol rounds the actual mortality rate is in the teens. ANY pistol bullet is inherently underpowered. a .22 can kill a man and a .44 mag to the chest might just cause him to shudder. It isn’t a caliber race, it’s about shot placement. See what the largest bullet you can shoot accurately is before you buy. You are shooting to stop them from hurting you. If, after six shots, they still find you a worthwhile target, you are in trouble. High capacity pistols suddenly become a worthy alternative. I also have to disagree that revolvers are more reliable. Certain pistols, Sig, Glock, xD, M&P, are extremely reliable. But stay away from gadgetude, or “I have to have this because I said so.” It’s all about what works FOR YOU. And most importantly, about finding a safety training course, and then a practical shooting course AFTER that.
You’ll also need a safe. Not a locker, a SAFE. So you’ve just quadrupled your ownership costs. Owning a firearm responsibly is an expensive proposition.

And no, I’m not a salesman.

The anti-gun Europeans having fits here need to lighten up a bit. Gun ownership is deeply ingrained in American history and culture and just because foreigners don’t understand that, it’s no reason to disparage it. The right to keep and bear arms is something we take very seriously. As de Tocqueville noted, Americans have a special concept of liberty and independence and, as we see things, keeping a weapon for self-defense is a matter of principle that is related to this. Why should the government tell law abiding citizens they can’t keep a gun? I would be more concerned with the multifarious nanny-state encroachments on every day life so evident across the pond than with loyal citizens owning a gun in the US.

“Nothing wrong with a little shooting as long as the right people get shot.”
–Dirty Harry

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed…

–Second Amendment to the US Constitution

I’m sure if this article was about choosing the correct knife, or sword, or bow and arrow nobody would’ve even blinked… the shotgun is my personal weapon of choice for home defense… you don’t have to be an expert shooter to hit a target and if someone come’s a-knocking on my door at 11pm and I action that pump on the other side of the door they might think twice… (see below)..

Durham police seek three in home invasion

Durham, N.C. — Durham police are seeking three men after a home invasion Monday night at 2850 Courtney Creek Blvd., the Century Creek Apartments.

The suspects are believed to be driving a blue 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis with North Carolina license plate WPJ-2888.

Police identified one suspect by name. Harry Emmanuel Roberson, 19, of 2995 Crystal Lane in Lumberton, is wanted on charges of larceny of a motor vehicle and armed robbery.

Police described the other two suspects. The first man was black, about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs 220 pounds and was wearing a black and gray hoodie and pants, police said. The second man was black, 5 feet, 11 inches tall with a skinny build and was wearing a red hat, red shirt and red pants, police said.

Anyone with information about the incident or the suspects’ whereabouts is asked to call Durham police at 919-560-4415 or Crime Stoppers at 919-683-1200.

This occured not far from where I live…

Guns? Guns?? Guns?!?!?!?! AoM, you’ve betrayed me!!!

Just kidding.

Politics aside, I think all readers need to realize that some information posted on this site is not provided because it is a way to increase your “manliness.” Some articles are just informative pieces targeting a male audience. While gun ownership in itself might not make you more manly, the information provided here is a good starter point for anyone considering owning a firearm for self defense.

I would also like to remark to US readers that it is very unfair to stereotype Europeans as being gun-haters living in nanny-states. I find it very patronizing to be told to lighten up a bit.

And for anyone remarking on my former gun owner statement: I’ve quit the gun ownership simply because maintaining and keeping them was too expensive. I can still buy any gun I want, except those used by the Belgian Army (like the Fabrique Nationale P90).

I grew up with weapons in the house, and am comfortalbe with the idea. I agree with the comment that most gun deaths involving kids are the fault of the parent…who here hasn’t heard a news report on a gun related shooting where the kids “found” the parents loaded weapon and killed themselves or one of their friends? I don’t think I have ever heard of a parent killing a family member while defending his home (although I am sure it’s happened).

Although I imagine it would be hard to dig out, I am sure there are statistics citing the number of times armed home owners have sucessfully defended themselves against home invasion with the proper use of a weapon. I just don’t think it gets reported very often, as it doesn’t tug at the heartstrings as much as learning another child accidentally killed him/herself.

I agree with the blog that revolvers are more reliable than automatics…and I have shot enough rounds through both types of weapons to know this for a fact…but the poster is right when he says if you fire 6 rounds and still have tragets you are in trouble, so I can see both sides to that argument. Also – revolvers have no safety switches on them…only a trigger guard will keep a revolver from being used accidentally.

Lastly…there is an anecdote that claims…”An armed society is a polite society”. I don’t actually subscribe to this, as there are certainly people in the world who should never be allowed to have a weapon. But…I truly believe that predators prey on the weak, and a burglar will think twice about entering a home where he knows an armed home owner may be waiting.

Kennesaw Georgia is a beautiful city. One of my kids went to college there, and we love the place. The city has a unique gun ordinance…where ownership of a gun and ammunition are “required”. Naturaly…there are conditions. The entire city is not armed. But many are. The crime rates there have dropped pretty drtamatically…credited, in part, to the law. Here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennesaw,_Georgia

Scroll down to the Gun Law section

Thanks for the article, maybe it will help someone realize that they are responsible for there own protection. The police are a deterrence, and they are usually there after the fact.
**Training first, more training, then maybe a firearm.** Some good books on the subject are by Massad Ayoob: “In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection” and “The Truth About Self Protection”.
First it is proper mindset, and situational awarness. Then maybe a firearm. **You don’t have to own a firearm to have the proper awarness.**
I am glad you host articles by different people with different beliefs and that we are all “manly” enough to be courteous to respect others.

@ Bob Iger, the S&W 686 can be loaded with a .38 special or a .357 round. If recoil is a problem for people the .38 special is much lighter than the .357 and marginally lighter than the 9mm. However, most people with small hands will find a 686 hard to shoot well. I agree with you on the 9mm. It is an excellent round.

I live in a country that almost banned the use of handguns. They can’t be used for self defense. I own two, they are both legal, for target shooting and I find it unfortunate that even if my home was invaded by masked gun men all I can do is call the police and wait for them to get there, too late. It’s idiotic! The guns bans in my country have not saved anyone from crime and it has not made anyone safer. Look at the facts!

Brett , I congratulate on this article.

I would’ve never expected the responses that this article has received, at least from what I imagined was the normal AOM reader. I bet Teddy Roosevelt had guns, and I bet he could outshoot Chuck Norris with them!

As an American, I know that gun ownership is common. I would go so far as to say it is “normal.” I’ve only shot a handgun one time, but I’ve shot rifles and shotguns many times. As a Boy Scout (a very manly thing for a kid to be involved in,) gun safety, maintenance, and shooting skills are taught at every summer camp.

Properly maintained and stored guns are safe, period. Leaving an old, loaded revolver under your pillow, on the other hand, is crazy.

OK, everyone, seriously: Stop bashing posts on this site just because you disagree with them. This is a blog. Blogs are designed to offer articles that appeal to segments of their population of readers (or potential readers). No single post can exhaustively appeal to everybody who happens upon it, so don’t be surprised when you run across an article that you don’t particularly care for.

There were some movies on the 100 Must-See Movie list posted recently that I didn’t find particularly manly. Moreover, movies are heavily censored or banned outright in some countries. *Gasp* Does that make that particular post controversial or (at the very least) a bit iffy? Maybe (in some people’s eyes), but others of us find movies extremely enjoyable.

If you don’t like this article, go find one on AoM that you think is really awesome (there is a wide variety to choose from, so this shouldn’t be too hard an assignment), and let those of us who responsibly enjoy firearms and firearms lore read and discuss this one.

This is the Internet; no one is forcing you to read about things you don’t like.

(And by the way, I thought this article was extremely well-written and informative).

I learned to shoot shortly after I could walk. I got my first BB gun when I was about 6 or 7 years old. As a child I qualified as a marksman in a local shooting league. I moved on to .22 rifles and 12-gauge shotgun (trap shooting). My favorites today are the M1 Garand for rifles and 1911 for pistols.

I too an a little suprised with the Anit-gun sentiment as well. I realize in certain foreign countries the belief that guns are ‘evil’ has been ingrained in the culture….but like another poster eloquently put: A gun is just a tool. It is neither good nor evil….that is left up to the user of the gun.

As far the content of the article itself:
1. I agree that the pump shotgun is the best for home defense. Simple to use, and great stopping power. I own a Mossberg 500 Crusader as well (slightly different variation of the above picture as it has a pistol grip making the total gun lenght short to along better movement in enclosed spaces and hallways).
2. I also have a Steyr 9mm semi-auto pistol as well I keep in a quick access safe downstairs in our living room (bought it for my wife for Valentine’s Day…lol…). We live down a private road where you can’t see the neighbor’s house’s through the trees, and with two young daughters, I wanted her to have something available if need be. The 9mm, while not having the stopping power of higher caliber guns, also doesn’t have the recoil.

For women, here’s a good site regarding Firearms:
[URL]http://corneredcat.com/[/url]

Bravo AoM. Nice read.

“Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of American, cannot succeed with any lesser effort.”
— John F. Kennedy

I knew it! As soon as I saw what the article was about, I expected the emotional extremists to rant about the evil of guns. There are not only appeals to emotion to bypass facts, bad comparisons and selectively citing “facts” that are accepted as true but are, in reality, downright spurious. http://tinyurl.com/olff94 Gun haters simply do not respond well to logic.

As for saying AoM is irresponsible for publishing this in the first place that’s ridiculous. If someone cuts himself because he’s been shaved with a straight razor, assaulted by his barber, got a skin rash because he was attempting to exude a “manly” smell, etc., we should be consistent and blame AoM for every mishap, not just with guns because someone decided to buy one because they read this article. Perspective and consistency, people!

David Cox had a comment about the “manly” movies article that was spot on. Not every article is for everyone, move along. (Sorry if I’m misunderstanding Mr. Cox, it’s my take.) This blog is not an instruction manual for the insecure that says, “Do all of these things and it will make you a REAL man”. It’s for information and entertainment. Take what you want, leave what you don’t. Cowboy up, fellows!

Agreeing with amazement at how hysterical anti gun owners get and how Europeans want to tell Americans how to run their country. Here is an article about fake statistics used officially for Canadian gun control http://xrl.in/2rc3

I think it’s important to point out that AoM presented this article very responsibly. If you look, you’ll notice that going out and getting properly trained was stressed several times. While there was no mention of shotgun spray or storage, as has been pointed out, I think it’s worth noting that the article said repeatedly that a gun is more of a danger to the family if the user is untrained. I can’t agree more.

There’s no need for any anti-European bashing, or posturing between people who are pro-gun or anti-gun. This is an overview article that doesn’t at all promote going on a killing spree of other human beings; rather it’s a primer on home defense. What could be more manly than having the ability to successfully defend your loved ones at home? The comment about using the phone instead of a gun is well-made; but I think consideration should be made to use both in combination. What I think has been omitted from this discussion (perhaps not intentionally) is the fact that most people who commit home invasions aren’t rational, calm people who will give you time to dial 911. As someone who’s been involved professionally with public safety for a number of years, I can tell you that the percentage of break-ins in this country by addicts hopped up on meth looking for something that they can sell for their next fix has increased dramatically. These folks are dangerous. A MAN who wants to call himself that needs to have the tools and training available to him in order to make quick, life-saving decisions for himself and his family. The reality of life is that a firearm is a necessary tool, and I think that AoM has presented a good, responsible overview. I hope they follow up with more details.

Boy there sure are alot of opinions out there about this blog and wether it should or shouldn’t be promoting handguns as a means of self defense. Look I own a shotgun a rifle and pistol, But I wouldn’t feel comfortable using them in the same house with my sleeping family. Who knows where the bullet or shell might end up. The main take away from this article should be “know how to defend your family”, if it be with guns then know everything there is to know about them, i think that is what the writer was trying to get at here.

My personal method of self defense for my family is a choice of three baseball bats. I turned the bats on my own lathe. I know how my bats work, and if I need to put the smackdown on some rudy poo candy a$$ who thinks it is cool to boogy through my home, you best belive I am going to open up a 55 gallon barrel O’ whoop on him.

Just for the record, my guns are kept in a safe place where my kids can’t gain access to them. My kids are also trained in gun safety. Although my guns are safely out of a child’s reach, I can have my hands on one in a matter of seconds in case of an emergency. God forbid that someone broke into my house and the cops found my family dead with an empty gun in my hand or a gun in the gun cabinet. To each his own…..

I work in the firearms industry, am a avid competition shooter, and general firearms enthusist. There is a lot of thought and resposibility into owning a firearm and deciding to protect yourself and loved ones. These need to be worked though of course. The truth is that in the majority of cases the police will not be able to respond in time to save you. They will come and write a report after the fact, but the damage will be done. To take responisibilty for ones own protection is a manly thing to do. It does not just mean buying a firearm, it is the training to become proficient and mental resolve to “stop a threat” if nessasary. Back in more civilized times it was a mark of manilyness to be profficient in arms. Today it is just one more thing that society tries to emasculate us with.

As far as firearms for home defense a good choice is whatever you can commit to practice and training with.

The amount of intentional ignorance and misinformation in some of the above comments is shocking.

Whether you like the subject, or not
whether you believe it’s a manly thing to protect hearth and home, or not
whether you believe dialing 911 will prevent you from being shot, or not
whether you live in a country where your right to self-defense is inhibited, or not
whether you believe a gun is a tool just like a car, and can be misused similarly, or not

The fact remains; this article was an introduction to the subject of home defense, using the most modern and common tools available to the bulk of the blog’s audience.

I applaud AoM for addressing this subject. Please, don’t let some of these moronic haters deter you from creating more articles like this. The fact that such ignorance has been shown in the comments proves conclusively that this information is SORELY NEEDED.

Bravo, sir!

9-1-1 doesn’t work fast enough, and who said that the firearm is just for the man. I tend to believe that the firearm in my home is for my wife. I can fend for myself if I had to, she however is 120 lbs. If a man had found a way to enter our home it would take 9-1-1 5 minutes to get there, 3 at best. Thats a very long time. Being a pacifist is only okay when your life isn’t in danger.

Robert and Len: I must admit that I agree with you in one aspect: that a gun is nothing but a tool. Its purpose, however, still sets it apart from other tools, in my opinion. A hammer, a glass bottle, a kitchen knife are all things that may be very effective when it comes to harming or killing someone. Unlike guns, however, killing is not what they are MEANT for.
What a gun does, and what it is made for, is killing. While I agree that the intention of picking up a gun may not be “evil” by any means (e.g. self-defence), it does not change the fact that a gun is not made for cutting meat or driving nails into a wall, but for killing (for whatever reason). I can only hope that whoever owns a gun is aware of that.

I cannot say why, but as a matter of fact, guns have always somewhat fascinated and interested me, yet I would never want to have one in my home and I think the world might be a better place had they never been invented.
I am not trying to tell anyone how to run his/her country, it’s nothing but my personal point of view and I realise and totally accept that there are people who disagree.

Over here in Germany, weapons regulations are rather strict, you cannot get a gun just like that, and *personally*, I am very glad of this. Whenever I hear of guns being owned in a german household, it’s almost always because of some kid who has gone on a shooting spree with his daddy’s private collection, never because of someone firing his gun in a self-defence situation. Like I said, that doesn’t mean I don’t accept people thinking otherwise, but as far as I can see, private gun ownership has done way more harm than good recently (at least in my country, that is).

Being a conscientious objector and pacifist, I know that my views might be biased, but in any case, I must say that I did not really enjoy this article. My definition of “manliness” doesn’t necessarily involve owning a gun or the willingness to use them. Someone (I think it was Gandhi) once said “There are many causes I am willing to die for. There is not a single one I am willing to kill for.” Does that seem unmanly to you…?
Anyway, I’m not going to quit reading this blog because of this article, everyone has the right to express his/her opinion (as long as it does not go against other peoples’ basic rights).

Anyhow, it’s a difficult topic, but before anyone starts calling me a “gun hater” (I don’t *hate* them, they’re *tools*, after all ), please understand that not everyone has the same views and values, and that this might *not* even be a *bad* thing.

Thanks,
Chris =)

Wow, I can’t believe all the anti-gun comments. A phone isn’t for defense. It’s to call the cops after the crime, if you still can.

MEN have been SHOOTING GUNS for centuries now. Ever since someone figured out how to add a projectile and gunpowder into a metal tube. Guns are used for hunting, for sport, and for war. Insecure men are usually not the ones buying guns. And I might also say that unfortunately, guns are used for crime. I’d rather have a gun in my house to kill an intruder (I live in Texas where we can kill intruders), than a baseball bat.

I just think it is a shame that our cousins across the pond have lived in a big brother culture for so long that they actually accept that guns are bad.

The best bet for someone unskilled in firearms is the Mossberg Model 500 Persuader 20 gauge. It is small and easy to maneuver with in tight spaces. The kick is light enough that I’ve fired it one handed. And as someone once said the sound it makes when you load a shell would probably be enough to persuade them to try an easier target.

Ok, the Atlantic suddenly seems bigger than I thought.

Again: I know that guns are just tools (though unlike cars, with the sole purpose to kill). It’s the people using them that I worry about. Sorry for not sharing your positive image of human beings. But I think that there are many psychos and idiots who are on the brink of getting a gun and I am concerned that some of them are amongst us readers (I’m pointing at no one) and were encouraged today to do that.

Second: Sorry, I didn’t realize that you have that big a safety problem over there. You really seem to worry about someone breaking into your house and murdering your family. I’m only just now realizing that you really fear that. Sorry, I live in a country were I can let the house door open at night. Nanny states have advantages too.

By the way, as it seems you have really stupid burglars over there. Why do they always break into your house WHEN YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILIY ARE STAYING THERE? I mean, don’t they check first and wait until as few people as possible are in the house?

@Tim: Nice one! To responsible lock away his gun and to effectively use it against a criminal somehow contradicts each other.

And Finally:
Nobody wants to take away your precious right to play cowboy and buy guns. The only thing I was saying is that I personally think it’s really stupid and shouldn’t be encouraged via websites like AoM. But of course Brett is the chief here and can decide what he wants to publish.

But think of an article about how cool and manly it is to smoke cigarettes. Wouldn’t you at least frown at that? Of course no one has to tell us about the risks. And of course, it’s not forbidden and we all have “the right” to smoke. But I guess for most of you it would be just ridiculous. And that’s what this article of this gun salesman is for me (and many others): just ridicoulous.

No mention of safe storage, especially with children in the home, is given. Poor taste.

I think this article is important on this site simply because some of the debate/discussion that it has inspired.

I very much appreciate those men (and I use that word with correlative meaning) who have argued their stance on guns logically, without being critical of others beliefs. In the end, ownership of firearms is a personal choice. If a man decides that a gun is his best choice to defend his home, then so be it. But he’d best be damn well trained to use the thing and make sure it stays out of reach of the untrained. Conversely, I can see how some might be uncomfortable in the home. But, as some have said, the core of the article is (or at least should be) concerned with defense of the home, so every man, even without firearms, should have a plan.
I’m personally torn on the issue of gun ownership. Perhaps the paradoxical views come from such complex role models as Atticus Finch (a true man), who, despite being an accomplished marksman, dislikes guns. This is something I will have to come to terms with when I actually have a family. But the choice I make will be the one right for me, and I respect any other RESPONSIBLE and SAFE decisions that any given man makes.

Ha, ha, ha, ha!!! Guns seems guns are still dangerous territory for conversation.

I don’t have anything against guns. I grew up in a rural area, so rifles were pretty common. But I don’t know if you stand a chance against a real intruder, unless you’re up on your Rambo training (FYI, owning a gun doesn’t make you Rambo.). Unless that intruder is unarmed (my dad always takes guns out to his cabin because we have problems w/ bears).

Nothing wrong w/ guns, only w/ guys that live w/ the illusion that owning a gun makes them manly. As 311 so bluntly put it, guns are for p*ssies.

The ability to defend one’s person and family is a serious responsibility and the epitome of ‘manliness’. If the best weapon of the times to do this was a sword or a bow then I would want a blog to cover those instead and have the best available to put me on a tactical advantage with anyone who intended to do me or mine harm. Since firearms are superior to any other weapon system for absolute self defense, this was a well written blog for the basics on firearms.

To those who would rather use a phone against a criminal who would harm them, since I have been a law enforcement officer for 29 years I will grant you your ‘moral superiority’ when I finally arrive at the scene several minutes later to investigate the crime scene of your body and track down your attacker to put in jail. I am good but I can’t be everywhere, instantly. I have worked natural disasters such as hurricanes where looters and bad men preyed on others and there was no phone service to even call 911. Man up and defend yourself with the best available. Self defense is a basic human right.
Lt. Mitch Snider, Deputy Sheriff MCSO

Criminals carry guns, so a knife or bat won’t help you much.
Call the police while the intruder is raping your 13 year old. Nice choice.
Cars kill people.
What if Jews had guns in Pre-Nazi Germany….
When oil becomes so expensive we begin having power outages, and people start robbing for food or medicine……..
I do have to agree that owning a gun isn’t necessarily manly. I live in TX and many of the women I work with are better shots than me.
FYI: if you have a home security system and someone breaks in, you can’t use the phone to call the police because that is how the alarm contacts the security company, and how said company communicates with the homeowner. The line will be busy

Hey Matthew, did you just call your dad a p*ssy?

I was surprised to see this article. I believe guns present more a risk to the families they seek to protect than to those who seek to harm them. I live in South Africa, which although not a war zone, is a dangerous place to live. A panic button and a locked door are perfectly good measures for protecting oneself, and its a regular thing for someone living in the city to get burgled or mugged in this country. Furthermore, the majority of the criminals who have guns have stolen them from private owners.

I love your blog, Brett. I’m a huge fan, and have heavily evangelized it to all of my friends. This post on guns only makes sense if you first have a balanced introduction on the average person actually owning guns, the pros and cons. In my opinion there is nothing manly about owning a gun, and yet I do support the right of those who do choose to own firearms assuming that they do not have a background or intention that makes them a loose cannon, pun fully intended. For that matter I am not a fan of abortion either (except for in extreme circumstances where health is endangered or fetal viability has all but been ruled out), but still am pro-choice so that we can make that choice for ourselves. Isn’t it ironic that most of the time the folks that are so pro-gun are so anti-choice on matters of abortion? I always found that to be startingly hard to comprehend.

Anyhow not everything on your blog is perfect or agreeable by all, so no worries. I do really enjoy most every post, though. I am glad that posts like this can stimulate discussion, because the ability to disagree and yet be respectful is VERY MANLY.

Keep up the great work Brett. You have many fans in Spokane Washington!!

To the folks that have said, “just call the police” I say this:
The Supreme Court has ruled that police are under no legal obligation to protect you – none. They cannot be sued or even taken to task for not showing up quickly in response to an emergency call. Their job is the general maintenance of law and order – not to save your butt if an intruder is in your home.
In addition, just look up “Tueller drill.” There is a lot of textual detail available about it, as well as a handful of video demonstrations on YouTube.
Simply put: someone with a contact weapon can inflict a mortal wound within seconds.
I think it’s fair to say that an intruder can break down a door or smash a window, enter your home and inflict a serious or fatal wound to at least one occupant in thirty seconds or less. Thirty seconds would be a truly astonishing police response time – it’s often far longer than that.
I have no qualm with someone that wants seriously train up on martial arts, disarming drills and contact weapons – at least they don’t live in a bubble world and want to prepare.
But I truly damn those who excoriate AOM for running this story.
Knowing how to defend one’s self with in any fashion is a truly “manly” skill – no one is overcompensating here for anything.
It’s not like the article is saying “buy a gun and all will be well.” – there’s an appropriate gravitas here, and an emphasis on safety and training.
There’s a non-legitimate gun culture of “gangstas” and wanna-be tough guys who use firearms recklessly and unlawfully here in America. That’s what our media presents to the world.
The reality is that there is also a legitimate gun culture, a far larger segment of the population. These are tens of millions of people that take their guns and all of the responsibility that comes with them very seriously.
Thank you for the story, AOM. Do NOT let anyone sway your into self-censorship for fear of offending the readership.

I wanted to comment on this article because of the content, not the topic. I was shocked to see such a furor over this – I really didn’t expect all of that – I guess I wasn’t aware of the strong feelings that our European brothers have about gun ownership.

My two thoughts are these: “stopping power” is a sham used to sell big bullets, and home-protection guns are for killing. Let me expand.

“Stopping power” is an attribute given to larger bullets. However, Mythbusters did a good job of showing that anything short of a deer slug from a shotgun won’t affect a person’s momentum. If you want to stop someone the only way to do that for sure is with a kill-shot, and even a .22 to the head is a kill-shot. Like someone else said. Get a bullet you are comfortable firing well, because accuracy is the only stopping power you have.

Be prepared to kill, if you own a gun for home protection. Your first decision isn’t caliber or style or ease of use. Your first decision is whether or not you are ready, willing, and able to kill another human being to defend yourself and your family. Think long and hard about that one before you start shopping for a Glock.

–Jeremy

“How about an article on why we don’t need guns to feel or be perceived as manly?”

Read the article again, it says nothing about owning a gun will make someone more manly. All it states is that these type of guns would be good for home defense. If an article such as this makes you ‘uncomfortable’ in some way, maybe you should reevaluate what it means to be a man.

“There is absolutely no need to have a gun in the house.”

Sure there is, what if some guy hopped up on LSD breaks into your house looking for money for his next fix, and nothing is going to stop him?
Are you going to stop and call the police and hope they get there in time?

Perhaps you have a knife or baseball bat to defend yourself, you have to get pretty close with those. Chances are something is going to happen to you in the encounter.

Sure you could close your bedroom door and hope the guy leaves, then he could go harass another household.

As a man it should be your responsibility to protect those around you from obvious harm, while still protecting yourself from harm. A gun is just the right tool for the job.

**If a child of yours kills him or herself with one of your guns, you have failed as a parent. **Same with knives and power tools.

And I’m not arguing for or against gun ownership here, I just thought the Nazi comment was particularly ignorant. I can understand both the European and American mindsets when it comes to gun ownership, although I don’t really subscribe to either one myself. I don’t own any guns, but I do respect the rights of those who do.

Glock 45. Reliable, and has knock down power.

when seconds count the cops are only minutes away…
I’ve had the crazies on my property before – telling them I have the cops on the phone does nothing – once they knew I could defend myself they moved on.

To AoM, thank you for running this article. I am truly sorry it had to turn into a hysterical debate(I agree with those who said that fear/emotion has no place in debates).

The long and the short of this debate is that if someone intends to do you and/or your family physical harm you need a way to defend against them. Guns allow this. If you want to abolish firearms you must abolish all weapons, and that is impossible(anything can be a weapon).

To those of you who do not understand the second amendment to the constitution of the USA, I say this: if you want to keep your rights, any of your rights, the second amendment must stay. The amendment allows for the people to bear arms so that a well regulated militia is possible. First and foremost the people as individuals must have the right to bear arms, that includes firearms. Second they must be able to organize in a regulated way.

Firearms and any weapon are part of life. Humans will always find a way to do harm to one another, history has shown this. Trying force this to change this is a fruitless effort. We need to become better educated to prevent the harming of one another.

You don’t take away the weapon, the person must change for the better.

Pieter,

Yeah a phone is better then a gun…. cause yeah the cops have teleporters and can be there instantaneously…..

Maybe I’ll just carry a cop instead of a gun…. yeah a cop is much more reasonable to carry around.

An excellent and well-balanced article. Far too many times, I see such articles bogged-down with b-s about “stopping power” and shot capacity, etc. Simply select a firearm you are comfortable with and practice, practice, practice. If you can’t hit your target because you can’t control the gun’s “stopping power” what good is it?

Alas, I’m always amused when someone takes out the tired-old discredited Freudian drivel about firearms being a crutch for a flagging manhood. Such nonsense!

As to you timorous and perhaps even pusillanimous European chaps, we Americans have private ownership of firearms. You Europeans still have antiquated Royalty. There’s the trade-off.

I half agree with some of the comments on here – I also see that the writer of the article was trying to say in regards to the respect guns should have. Personally I think the article was fine, if you’re interested in guns; however as some have said it should have included more about safely storing your gun.

I’m from the UK, and you can’t own a gun in the same way as in America – and I really wouldn’t want a gun in the house with my to little kids, unless it was in a safe and I always had the key with me.

I don’t hate guns, I shoot air rifles and it’s a great feeling to go out onto the plinking range and shoot a few targets. My view, though, is that guns should be kept for sport only.

Henrik, it’s ask if you act like guns never existed before kids… It’s amazing the ignorance in this thread.

Sport only?! WTF?! You’re completely brain-washed. The UK elitists have done a great job! Congrats to them!!!

The response to this article is ridiculous:

1. Men are apt to disagree on things big and small. But despite their disagreements, their shared company is valued. Show me a man who ends a friendship for some intellectual disagreement, and I will show you a man who is petty, emotional, humorless. These are the sort of men who would refuse reading this blog because they disagree with one article. They are weak.

I’m not even a frequent reader, although I probably will be one very soon.

2. Part of being a man is taking care of your family, giving them food and shelter. Outsourcing the job of protecting your kin to the police is not manly. Even if it’s the best course of action at times. Don’t confuse your politics with manliness.

WOW!! It’s too bad we can’t reply to posts individually. Most of these MEN posting here need to go buy a dress. JIMMY says 8 kids die a day because of guns, what are you citing. Moreover I would be willing to bet that many kids die of drowning worldwide each day, BAN WATER! How many die in car accidents? BAN CARS and all motor vehicles.
Then Pieters tries to say the PHONE is your best weapon???? How long does it take the cops to get to you??? 2-3 minutes is WAY too long if your about to have your head blown off because the only gun is in the hand that’s about to kill you.
As for myself, I’ll stand up, BE A MAN, and defend my life. BY god if someone is going to try and kill me or my family he’s got another thing coming!!! I’m NOT going to lay down and take it, I’m not going to ask him to wait 5 or 10 minutes for the cops to show up so it might be a fair fight.

Finally! A blog entry I can enjoy! As an American, I have the Constitutional right to own a gun, and like it or not, the fore-fathers thought it a great idea. For personal and home defense, there is NO substitute for a firearm; you can call the police, but you’ll be dead (or worse) before they arrive…and it IS manly to defend yourself and your family, by whatever means necessary.

In my personal collection, I own a .40 cal. Glock 23, a .45 cal Colt ‘73 Peacemaker, a .30-06 cal. M1 Garand, an 8mm K-98 Mauser, a 9mm Beretta, a .45 cal. Government Model 1911 Colt, and my personal favorite (which stays at the ready, within arms-length, especially at night), a .45 cal Thompson M1A1 submachine gun. No, I’m not paranoid, and no, I’m not an extremist….I’m just an American, exercising my right to own arms (and a liberal Democrat, to boot).

Thanks, Brett.

Technically, the 2nd Amendment isn’t about protection from crazed criminals… It’s about protection from tyranny in government… I hope the government in the UK never decides to lay the smack down Stalin/Hitler/Mao style… You all are sitting ducks.

Most of you anti’s have probably never handled a gun and yet you have these crazy, radical and ignorant opinions against them. How much sense does that make?

Wow. I wasn’t really expecting this sort of response to this article on AoM!

Owning a gun doesn’t make you manly. However, the attitude that comes along with *responsible* gun ownership is very much so! You’re taking responsibility for yourself, and your family. It really is all about responsibility.

People keep citing accidental shootings of children by other children as a reason we shouldn’t have guns. I say it’s a reason we shouldn’t have dumb parents.

The ownership of a gun is a great responsibility, and it includes the responsibility to train your kids in the proper use of a gun, and the power of a gun. Take the kidos to the range (if they’re old enough) and shoot a watermelon or water bottle for them. Explain that a gun can easily do that kind of damage to a person, and they should never *ever* point it at another person. Teach them the NRA gun rules (1. ALWAYS point a gun in a safe direction – treat any gun as a loaded gun, 2. NEVER put your finger on the trigger until you intend to fire the gun, 3. Keep the gun unloaded until you intend to use it) Let them target shoot, but watch them closely, and correct them.

Regardless of age, teach the kids that they should never, ever touch a gun, or allow a friend to touch a gun, without a responsible adult present. The NRA has the “Eddie Eagle” videos that I remember seeing MANY times throughout my life.

ALWAYS keep your guns stored safely. Unloaded and locked is always best, since an empty gun can’t shoot (though you should always treat it like it could) but a home-defense gun should be kept in a secure, quick access safe (the keypad is designed to be operated by one hand, using multiple button presses, with a spring-loaded door) and the younger kids should not, under any circumstances, know the access code. A shotgun in the closet or a gun in a drawer is really not safe, especially if your kids ever have friends over.

My parents did all of these for me. I’m 20 now, and I know how to get to a gun in this house quickly and safely, if God forbid I ever had to.

I think this sort of training is really important for kids, and it both de-mystifies the firearms you see on TV (you quickly learn that no-one can shoot like Jack Bauer) and enforces the grave responsibility that comes with holding a gun. Those are missing, both in the gangster/poser, golden glock culture and in the gun-averse culture.

MaddSkillz, what exactly is it that makes you so strongly dislike people from Europe (be it just the UK or Europe as such) by default?
In case you did not know:
Xenophobia is not exactly manly, nor is it a sign of intelligence. It simply a proof of the ignorance you’ve just lamented. And, more importantly, it’s a foolproof sign that you are one of those guys that (according to people from both sides of this discussion) should never have access to a gun.

Regards,
Chris

Guns in the hands of responsible people are a great choice for home and personal defense. A weaker person CAN defend against a stronger person or group of people. If you have a issue with firearms DON”T get one. I am responsible for my safety and the safety of my family. Owning a firearm provides me with a last resort option to protect myself and others.
The firearm is not and should not be the first choice, but as a last resort it can be very effective. Responsible people have a plan on what to do in the protection of thier family and self. When secounds count and the police are minutes away I choose to have a firearm ready to thwart the would-be attacker, if the stuation forces that.

GUN CONTROL:
The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.

My family and I have made the choice to defend eachother if need be. We refuse to be a victim! If your choice is to allow yourself to possibly become a victim that is your choice. The writer is offering you another option and I commend him for that! If you don’t like his advise don’t take it. Be he is being VERY responsible in my opinion! Thanks

Charles (#105) summed up my thoughts pretty well. In fact, I’m also from Alberta.

Personally, I would feel less safe with guns in the house (especially a loaded gun…I can’t believe that so many people keep loaded weapons in their homes; that’s not even legal here, as far as I know).

I live in the city with the highest murder rate in the country, in a neighbourhood where many of those murders occur, and I’ve never once felt the need to purchase a gun.

But, I suppose that comes down to a matter of culture. Gun culture isn’t ingrained in Canadian society the way it is in America.

I don’t have anything again people who choose to won firearms, but I feel the need to have one. Owning a hunting rifle would be one thing, but I can’t imagine why I’d ever want to own a gun for “home defense.”

Adam, feeling less safe and being less safe aren’t the same. Hopefully you realize this.

Also, equating what’s right to what’s legal is also an intellectual shortfall.

By the way, just read this on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States) :
“Overall robbery and assault rates in the United States are also comparable to other developed countries, such as Australia and Finland, notwithstanding the much lower levels of gun ownership in those countries.”
Makes me wonder whether that is the case *because of* or *despite* a lower level of gun ownership in those countries

Also, the same article said:
“Criminologist Philip J. Cook hypothesizes that if guns were less available, criminals may likely commit the crime anyway but with less-lethal weapons.”
- Okay, just a hypothesis, but still… makes one think, doesn’t it?

While this doesn’t directly relate to the article, but it’s still interesting for the discussion that’s going on here…

Regards,
Chris

@Chris (comment 62): About Gandhi:

“Gandhi guarded against attracting to his satyagraha (resistance to tyranny) movement those who feared to take up arms or felt themselves incapable of resistance. ‘I do believe,’ he wrote, ‘that where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence.’”

[Conquest of Violence, Joan Valérie Bondurant, page 28, http://books.google.com.vn/books?id=QjWtb1cz1oC&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=Bondurant+Ghandi&source=bl&ots=xnTYfu-irC&sig=4EHKBgbaF178mPKRXR6RHk2HwI&hl=en&ei=crZoSoHOL8aJkQWNkZCZCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1

Funny thing about guns: It’s infinitely better to have one and not need it, than to need one and not have one.

When I grew up in America, I was taught from an early age to use guns safely in the Scouts and with Uncles and the local police officers on the shooting range. When I grew up, I almost always owned one while in the US, as a matter of course, in the same way I would own a cordless drill.

I lived in Europe for many years, and watched with amusement how everyone abhorred guns, and little by little CCTV cameras sprung up everywhere, taxes were insufferable, and the political classed laughed at the populace and spit in the face of all the people with New World Order things like the creation of the EU, national ID cards and arrests for taking pictures of the wrong things.

I later moved to Australia and learned how the government used the “Port Arthur killings”–a once in a century event, to remove firearms from the hands of the populations. The taxes got higher, the freedom to smoke a cigarette was removed first from restaurants, then from pubs, then even from private homes in rental properties. I was not keen on filling out their intrusive census form and was threatened with arrest by a census taker for not divulging the number of bathrooms in my home, my profession, and the route and means I used to travel to and from work everyday.

Recently, I moved to Hanoi. I live in a full blown communist totalitarian state (by choice–living in other cultures amuses me). Obviously, no guns are permitted here–the first thing a totalitarian state does is remove any means of violent opposition from the hands of the people.

I’ve lived without a gun in Germany, France, Australia, and now in Hanoi. I was a single guy with nothing to lose before. But now, as I write this, my beautiful young wife is sleeping a few feet away from me. My thoughts return to three months ago. We were sleeping. Somebody put a bamboo ladder noislessly up over our 12 foot steel wall and concertina wire up to our second story window.

It was a warm night. The window was open. They slipped in, stole a Macbook, an Iphone, another old cellphone and a gold watch and slipped noislessly back out.

We didn’t know what happened till morning.

What if they wanted my wife? What if I woke up and confronted them? I live in a place where I really do need a gun and I don’t have one. I was advised by my neighbors not to call the police, because, since they are the only ones who DO have guns, they require an upfront payment of around $300 to begin any sort of “inquiry” and no results are guaranteed…so forget about it.

Increasingly here, there is much grumbling in the beerhalls here about the need for a “change” in the government. The grumbles get louder as each week passes, as each “dissident” is jailed for comments on a blog, as each new Christian church is “seized” by the authorities for a new beach-side resort. The grumbles get louder as the parishioners defending their churches are beaten with billy clubs and rocks by the police themselves and local “thugs” recruited by the police for the purpose.

I live in a place where maybe I do need a gun to protect my wife soon, and I wont have one. I needed one three months ago and didn’t have one. There are a lot of things I don’t like about America, and I chose many years ago to leave it rather than love it (as the redneck bumper-stickers like to say). But one of the things I always appreciated about America was my right to protect myself and my loved ones, and keep my government in check because they do know millions of us have guns-and they do think twice before telling you that you can’t smoke a cigarette in a bar on a national level.

Wasn’t it funny how the first thing they tried to do in New Orleans was take away everyone’s guns?

There are a lot of places in the world where if you wake up in the morning without your gun by your side, you may not make it alive to bed that night. Maybe this blog is read in Iraq, Somalia, many countries in South America? Useful information in those places, n’est pas Euro-friends?

God bless the Second Amendment. I wont move back to Amerika just for that, but it was one of the nicer things still being respected in the Constitution there.

Teddy Roosevelt Certainly Owned a Gun. There was nothing wrong with this article. Untwist your panties ladies.

I just realized that I mis-typed “retro-sexual” instead of “metro-sexual” and while only a tiny mistake of a single letter, that’s probably pretty severe on a manliness-specific site.

My apologies to any retro-sexual men out there (though I know you’d never show any emotion about it other than anger anyways and I totally respect that).

To any of the metro-sexual guys out there who are offended…

ah what the hell do I care.

I’m going to ignore all the pro-gun/anti-gun banter, because if I start into that I’ll be here for HOURS…

So getting back to the article, I largely agree with the comments. But you were pretty generous in giving shotguns a 4/5 for ease of use. Have you ever tried to turn around in a hallway while holding a shotgun in any kind of ready position? Or even turning a corner? You have to really practice those moves to avoid being clumsy.

Joseph Finn wrote:

“Of course, all this is a moot point, due to gun ownership being illegal in the USA unless you belong to a well-regulated militia, under the terms of the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution (some states have unconstitutional laws supposedly allowing gun ownership, but not state is perfect).”

Fails.

What the 2nd actually states – “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed…”

Note that it says “the People”, not “members of aforementioned Militia”.

And if you actually bother to read what the Founders have written about the Second, well, you’ll find that that particular Right was included as inalienable, designed so that ordinary People would have the ability to overturn their elected officials should those same officials become tyrannical. That’s what sets us apart from the paternalistic European societies most of our ancestors came here to escape.

If that’s too scary for you, go tell Harry Reid you want to see the US Constitution amended to repeal the 2nd. Good luck with that, though.

Firstly to the author of the blog, good job on a BASIC introduction to home defense firearms.

I personally own a Ruger P90 9mm and I purchased a S&W Sig 9mm for my girlfriend. We both practice fire at the local range and have been schooled in the functionality of the weapons. These purchases were strictly for home defense and recreational shooting. My girlfriend has told me countless times that she feels safer at home by herself now because she knows she has a very good resource to help defend and protect herself. obviously just owning a gun is not a guarantee of safety but it certainly is better than the alternative.

here’s the deal, PEOPLE FEAR WHAT THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND. The first time I purchased a weapon I was pretty nervous to even try to load or clean it in fear that it “might go off”. Complete ignorance and lack of experience drove my fear. Once i educated myself and was shown the correct procedures to take, the nervousness subsided. I still hold a healthy fear for them in terms of what they are capable of but i no longer fear their presence. The same with my girlfriend, it was almost impossible to get her around the weapon, even unloaded, and with the slide safetied, but once she was open to learning about the gun she too became familiar and pleased to have them in the house.

It’s been said a bunch in these comments already but America is very gun saturated. Our country was founded by men that believed in responsible citizens owning firearms. This is our heritage and a very active piece of our culture. Responsible men with experience and knowledge are essential to this structure.

I personally believe in citizen’s right to keep weapons. I want criminals terrified to even think about a home invasion due to the possible outcomes that our 2nd ammendment warrants.

And to the man that bought the three bats, I sincerely hope you consider educating yourself with a home defense firearm because I guarantee you the day you face an intruder in your home late at night that is carrying something more substantial than a stick of wood, you will sincerely wish you had.

P.S. If you have no violent criminals in your country, then please ignore my advice.

Please ease up on trying to use “cowboy” as an epithet. It’s an honorable manly profession. Ignorance in assuming all cowboys carried guns is juvenile bigotry where your knowledge is gleaned from television. Only real cowboys carried guns

I worked on my uncles ranch every summer of my pre-adult life. It was a real cattle ranch not like what you see on t.v. like “City Slickers”. I started carrying Ruger Vaquero with snake shot loads in it when I was ten years old. Used it to kill snakes in the Arizona desert because a shotgun was too large to pack and too slow to draw from the saddle scabbard. My father took my brothers and I out shooting every time the men went shooting. We were taught the safety rules like our lives depended on them and they did. Consequently, I was never curious or careless with a gun. I was given my own .22 LR rifle when I was six years old. It was on my gun rack in my room above my bed. When I wanted to go shooting I took it down and grabbed a 32 cents box of shells and went shooting. I never shot anything that didn’t merit shooting. So, the emotional reactions are odd to me. Men ought not to be afraid of a THING. I’ve been shot twice in my life by idiots. Once when I was a teenager and once in the performance of my duties. I never once blamed the gun. I am still not afraid of firearms. Fear should not rule a man. Rationale and logical discourse should.

Thank you AoM. Good post on basic home defense (every Man’s responsibility) weapons.
Please don’t shy away from such topics because it “creeps” someone out.
There was an armed robbery and hostage situation a half mile from my house last week, an assault and robbery right down my street last month, and I live in the good part of town. I’m thankful that here in the US I’m able to posses the ability to effectively protect my wife and baby girl–if it had been my house that the guy decided to take hostages at, instead of the house a half mile down, and the situation allowed–my family would have come out alive because that Glock 27 would be off my ankle, into a well trained hand and spitting some lead the direction of anyone who tried to enter my home as an intruder.

I really do not see anything wrong with this article. I’m not the biggest gun guy in the world, but this really educated me on various guns if I ever decide to go and get one. Everyone’s entitled to protect themselves and their families as long as it is legal and done after safety training.

Great article and keep it up!

And I have some highly-recommended reading for the gentleperson from Mexico, and those from other countries where firearms rights are highly restrictive:

Confessions of an Anti, Part I: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=358269
Confessions of an Anti, Part II: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=358304
Confessions of an Anti, Part III: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=358526
Confessions of an Anti, Part IV: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=359807

Extremely illuminating as to fundamental freedom, and cultural differences, warped perspectives, and irrational fears resulting from government indoctrination.

Kudos on the article Brett. Had wondered when I might see an article on gun ownership (and hopefully look forward to more in the future). Real men don’t avoid or run from issues some might find controversial.

WOAH! I did NOT expect to see so many anti-gun comments. Weird.

Jon, author of the article, thank you for posting a very informative post. I’m bookmarking those sites too for reference.

This article didn’t make uncomfortable at all. I don’t understand why guns frighten people. Seems like ignorance to me. And let me say that I DID NOT grow up in a gun household, I’m not into hunting AT ALL (unless I’m eating it in some sort of Man survival/spiritual weekend), and don’t currently own a firearm.

More and more we’re becoming a GUN FEARING society. I think thats a big problem when criminals who obtain their guns illegally flaunt them around the streets. Fear breeds ignorance people. Of course statistics show that family members hurt themselves with guns. Its because the USA fears them so much. They’re “not for children” they say. Learn how to operate a gun, show your family, and there is no problem. In my girl’s Psychology class I learned that some African tribes show their children how to wield MACHETES around the time they learn to walk. The point of that particular class day was that we don’t give children enough credit when teaching them things. These children using knives as tools are RARELY harmed if at all.

I’d also like to point out the gun ban in England has only given birth a BIG knife problem.

@Michael Monte: LSD isn’t addictive so you’re never going to get robbed by someone looking for a fix of it. That being said, I get your point and agree with you.

Nice reference to health care and RFIDs in guns. Maybe if we make guns as expensive as medical insurance so that normal people can’t afford them anymore, we can get the government to give us our guns and our medicine. I’m sure that would be a great way to prevent a tyrannical leader from taking advantage of the masses….

@Nick (comment 128): First of all, thanks for the reply.

Concerning the Gandhi quote:
While I know this is not the best of his quotes in order to illustrate what I mean, it should do the trick:
“Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.”
Hence, non-violence (not picking up a weapon at all out of conviction) is the best (“mightiest”) option.
Not picking up a gun just because one is afraid of it is wrong. I agree on that one. However, this is still different from not picking up a gun because one is convinced of non-violence being an even better option than resorting to violence:
“Nonviolence and cowardice are contradictory terms. Nonviolence is the greatest virtue, cowardice the greatest vice.”
-> Someone who rejects to pick up a gun for the right reason is *not* a coward.

Apart from this, I’ve also lived in different countries and cultures (albeit not because I find it amusing as such but because of a keen interest in foreign cultures and languages) where private gun ownership is about as difficult as in my home country, however, I never felt the urge to own a gun in a single one of those countries.
While I admit that the countries I’ve been to so far are probably to be considered safer than your current residence, I sincerely wonder why you are still there in the first place.
While most of the people in this country won’t be able to just move to another country, apparently you are, so why don’t you? I respect your interest in foreign cultures, but it is obvious that you are concerned about your and your wife’s security in that country, so why expose both her and yourself to the risk? You could still move to a country where you *are* allowed to wake up with a gun next to you after all… *

No offence meant! I do *not* try to tell you how to live your life (in case that’s how it sounds); I’m just curious.

Best regards,
Chris

P.S.: * and please imagine you *had* had a weapon lying on your bedside table the very night you were stolen from. If their intention had been to harm you, you didn’t even hear the thieves, so if anything, *they* might have picked up *your* gun. If it was just one or two (unarmed), you might have stood a chance, but having themselves armed with your gun, that would have been a different story.
P.P.S.: But okay, I realise there’s an awful lot of “ifs” in that assumption… forget about it, just thinking out loud, sorry. I *am* of course glad noone was harmed, so I’ll leave it at that.

Wow, well I knew there would be a lot of responses, but it always surprises me when I see the sheer number. First, in defense of the blog owners, the post is called “The Best Guns for Home Defense”, not “The Best Way to Defend One’s Home”. If the post WERE titled in the latter, I’d understand some of the uproar, however, being that the post is titled in the former, then one should take it as it is: if one wants to defend one’s home with a firearm, here are some appropriate choices.

As a woman, oldest of four children, who grew up in a home that had at least one of all of the choices (plus some hunting rifles and BB style as well!), I think that there can never be too much stress placed on proper keeping and storage of firearms, as well as proper training of ALL household members. I do think that this post could have touched MORE on safety and storage (maybe some links or pictures?), as well as some additional information about the weapons that were listed. (For example, how accurate said weapon is is all fine and good, but the additional fact that a shotgun is LESS likely to go through your neighbor’s home than either of the other choices is also a contributing factor toward the “better” of the shotgun over the handgun.)

All in all, I think that this was a pretty well-thought-out post, and as for it being on the “Manliness” site, I have to say that FOR THE PERSON WHO CHOOSES TO OWN A FIREARM FOR HOME DEFENSE, it is CERTAINLY manly to know your best options. As with everything else in this world, certain choices will not be for everyone, HOWEVER, it has always been my opinion that the manliest men know all they can know about that which interests them. Nice work!

Great post Brett! Wow, thats a lot of comments! I fought my way through the first half and somebody covered all of the points I’m about to make. For those coming in on the end, here’s a recap in no particular order. (FYI I’m not a police officer or a lawyer)

1. A gun is a tool. (A man can also get killed with a shovel.)
2. The only useful gun is a loaded one.
3. The only useful gun is the one you have with you.
4. Be in control of the gun. (Don’t let anybody else have it!)
5. Teach your kids about guns-I do. I could name a dozen times in my life when I saw someone unfamiliar with guns put themselves or others in danger through their ignorance.
6. The smaller the gun, the more practice you need with it.
7. The cheaper the ammo, the more you practice. Want real cheap practice? Buy a BB gun like your real one and practice in the basement. Anything is better than nothing.
8. In a crisis situation, don’t put your hand on the gun unless you are prepared to use it. Use it when you or a family members life is in danger. Use it to escape.
9. This is one of my pet peeves. Everyone buying their first gun for defense should get a rabbit with it. Take the rabbit out in the back yard and shoot it. (If you want to be sincere-eat the rabbit.) That is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to shooting a man.

Hope this helps somebody.

Good article. Controversial? Sure. But it’s on point. Defending one’s family is manly. In places where firearms are legal, they should be considered rationally. Where they are not legal, this article means nothing to those readers.

That said, I wish there had been a section on gun storage, and I was disappointed that the sections on pistols didn’t mention hollow-point rounds, which dramatically increase one-shot-drop rates and reduce over-penetration.

I can assure you that having a gun available for use has nothing to do with manliness. Or art. It has everything to do with survival. The brute criminal animal threatening my life or a loved ones life has no appreciation for the ‘civility’ or ‘refinement’ from barbarity our continental friends (or is it Canada?) take pains to convey.

You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight. You don’t neglect protecting things you value. The raw, ugly reality of evil is that either you are a victim or an attempted victim.

The discussion of ‘appropriate’ or ’sensible’ firearms is stupid, as well. Any firearm, even the lowly .22LR can be (and is) in the commission of homicides every day. I refuse to permit anyone the authority to judge a firearm that I own as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. If I were bad, all guns in my possession would be lethal. Since I am law abiding, the guns in my possession are more benign than an garden shovel.

Civilization is a thin veneer. Anyone placing faith in civilization to self-regulate for an extended length of time is stupidly naive or dangerously miscalculating.

I see some flaws in arguments that misinterpret what a militia is. A militia is a group of folks who have guns who get together to defend their country when the military isn’t cutting it. They’re not paid, they supply their own weapons and ammo, and they’re a last-ditch effort. They’re not the National Guard, just regular Joes with their deer rifles and shotguns and handguns in a desperate last bid to drive off commies, redcoats, the Terrible Scourge of Rickets, corn smut, whatever the thing is that overwhelmed the military. They’re there to get bits of high speed metal whizzing about in the general direction of the Bad Guys.

So when the Swiss Guard finally overwhelm American forces and invade our land, I hope my neighbors and I will be out there with our harquebuses, howdah pistols, and M1911A1s plugging away at anything in an elaborately plumed silly helmet and halberd.

Some good information there, Brett.

Everyone’s situation is different, and if people are even in a position to consider a firearm in their home, they should be as knowledgeable and well-trained as is possible. So providing information is critical and I thank you for helping to educate the public about these tools.

I thought you intentionally made the .45 caliber listed as #8 on the list with the smiley face, but then realized it probably did so automatically.

I believe that there are no higher duties of a man than those of protecting his family’s lives and liberty. Protecting their lives means making good safety decisions, as well as being prepared to meet the threats of those who would harm them. Protecting their liberty is all about doing whatever you can to make sure your offspring enjoy more liberty than you did yourself. In the modern age of the Administrative State, sometimes governments force us into making hard decisions about our family’s protection, both of their lives and of their liberty. For instance, here in the US, many states have laws against carrying loaded firearms in a vehicle. However, when I am on a trip with my family, especially in an unfamiliar area, I always like to be armed. I generally always have a loaded pistol in the car if I go on a trip with my family, whether it is illegal or not… I simply love my family and my life more than I fear the coercive power of the state. The low probability of getting caught multiplied by the burden of the penalty is outweighed by the magnitude of how terrible it would be for someone to attack my family with me not being able to do anything about it.

While I fully support people in countries with strict gun laws engaging in a little civil disobedience and owning a gun anyway, I cannot blame those who choose not to. You have to engage in a balancing of the risks to your family… the risk from the government punishing you for breaking the law versus the risk of needing to defend your family and yourself. That risk calculus is definitely different in different countries, where you would be more likely to get caught and the penalties are harsher. You can’t do much to protect and provide for your family when you’re in the clinker, after all.

Another thing to think about is protecting the liberty of future generations. I believe that here in the US, owning a rifle AND BEING PROFICIENT IN ITS USE is an effective way to do this. The biggest threat to liberty is always posed by an over-powerful government at home. An armed populace is a good check against this. Once again, the situation may be different in other countries, where perhaps there is no armed populace, and any attempt to form one would be futile. I believe the best and most effective thing you can do to protect the liberty of future generations, no matter what country you are in, is to be active and involved in the political process. But in the event that this fails and tyranny reigns (as it has several times in the past century in countries not so dissimilar from those we all live in today), it is always a good idea to have a backup plan. It is no secret that our nation was able to win its independence largely because we were a nation of riflemen. As we lose this heritage, and the values of independence and self-reliance that it fosters, we will also lose more of our precious liberty.

You english folk, well lets just say your cheese fell off your cracker long ago….
I feel bad for those of you who want to stand up for your rights. You dingbat anti-gun folk have the same reasoning as Obama… Make laws that wont stop anyone but the law abiding.
Did I lose you? Here let me dumb it down a bit…. I make a Law banning mosquitos. Why? they are mean scary and noone likes them… Will it stop the mosquitos? naaa….
Well I am glad to say if someone wants to break into my home or tries to harm me or an innocent individual, that person will know what a .40 slug feels like. You wont see me be a victim of crime… Crime will be my victim… For you anti’s Go hide and lock your doors… We don’t want you getting our streets full of your bull shit… Good luck you sheeple… the wolves prey on the weak and un-armed…

I am blown away by the immature and misinformed responses to this article.

- Obviously, if owning a gun is illegal in your area, then this article doesn’t apply to your situation.

- If you are unsafe and leave your gun accessible to children, then it’s your own !@#$ fault if their brains end up on the wall.

- You’re not more likely to get shot if you have a gun in your house, if you do then they already had a gun and meant to use it – or you’ve done a piss-poor job of being a good husband, and you had it coming anyway.

This article isn’t advocating gun-ownership to compensate for insecurity. It’s informational and presents an entry-level discussion regarding the broad topic of firearms for home-defense. It’s unbelievable to see how reactionary some people are. Some of you guys really need to chill out!

If you’re happy with the laws where you live, great! But don’t try to force others to buy the line that guns are evil. Man… I’ve never been happier to live in Texas!!

I find the “gun-toting gangsters” scenario hard to swallow as a defense of gun ownership. If these “gun toting gansters” break into your house, they’re after your belongings, cash, etc. When’s the last time you heard of a criminal breaking into someone’s house solely for the purpose of assaulting/raping the inhabitants? Drawing a gun on an armed criminal makes it that much more likely that someone is going to get killed. Just give them what they want. Belongings can be replaced. Lives, yours or theirs, cannot.

Just something to think about when shopping for a defensive gun. In the current litigious, fearful, firearms averse climate in the US, it may be useful to consider what calibers of ammunition are likely to be available or will be allowed to remain available, or will be likely to be available in a national or regional emergency. In all likelihood whatever the police and military are using currently. That means: 12ga buck, and 9mm, maybe .45, maybe .38. Most worldwide military and police forces have dropped all but the 9mm handgun for all but special operations. Not talking about rifle calibers here. Older and specialty calibers such as .38, .357mag, .45ACP, .40, .44mag, .380, .32, .25, even such sporting loads like .22, 20ga, 16ga, 28ga. are going to be the first to be sold out, the last to stock and the most likely to be abandoned by suppliers. Just the recent Obama ammo scare illustrates the point. 12ga and 9mm were scarce due to hoarders, the others were non-existent for two months. All practice ammunition disappeared. The gun is no good if there’s no ammunition.

I learned to shoot when I was about 8 or 9. In the early 60s the NRA actually ran a Saturday afternoon 30 minute per episode, about 8 episodes, gun safety series on local TV. It was specifically aimed at the younger audience. No way it could be shown today. They thought teaching youth respect for a firearm was a civic duty. My dad made me sit down and watch every episode before we ever went out to the range. I had to know that you always knew where the muzzle was pointed, that you never pointed it at anyone, the load state of the gun, how to safely inspect a gun to make sure it was unloaded and safe. how to safely carry a rifle. Only point it at a legitimate target and know what is beyond. Fire at safe targets. Only then did Dad and my uncle take me out to the Izaak Walton range to shoot the .22 single shot rifle I still have today. To this day those rules stick. Even seeing a child carelessly swinging around a toy makes me antsy. Gun safety training should start as early as possible.

@ AresV- comments like yours are what make it really difficult for me to take your argument seriously. Fahad’s opinion on the matter is much more complex than simply being less manly than you- it’s a very emotional issue for everyone involved, and a large part of it is simply from the cultural viewpoints we all grew up with.

It’s an easy argument. If an intruder comes into my home who has a gun, if I also have a gun I stand a good chance of protecting my family and killing the bastard.

If an intruder comes into my home who does NOT have a gun, I stand a GREAT chance of protecting my family and killing the bastard.

Either way, I like my odds much better if I have a gun at my disposal.

Q. Why carry a gun?
A. Cops are too heavy

Firearms ownership is not just for men. It’s also for women who don’t want to be victimized.

There is no better means for women to defend themselves in public than the concealed carry pistol with hollow-point bullets. Guns provide them with an instant means for redistributing the balance of force used against them, in their favor.

For proof, look no further than to the city of Orlando, Florida, which had suffered a wave of high-profile sexual assaults during the 80’s. Despite every effort on the part of police to thwart the predator-scumbags, the rapes were still occurring. In desperation, or perhaps in recognition of the fact that they couldn’t be everywhere at once, the police decided to do something contrary – they offered women training in the use of handguns. After the training sessions, there were a number of assailants that ended up with holes in them, and subsequently the rate of rapes plummeted in Orlando.

This is something you pansy-ass bedwetting types never seem to think about at all. I find it ironic that you claim to be in favor of women’s rights and women’s empowerment, and yet you oppose something so empowering for them.

I think this article is entirely appropriate for the blog. I do not think that we should strip down the Internet to match the ‘lowest common denominator’ of what is legal in every country. If I subscribe to a blog that is based in another country, then I expect to read things that are at least unusual, and probably either illegal or ‘immoral’ by my standards. That is one reason to subscribe..to get a wider view, not to impose my views on others.

For myself, I live in the American Midwest and was raised around guns. I’ve used guns since I was about 6. Took lessons at the local YMCA and with the Boy Scouts. The majority of families that are in my circle of acquaintance either have guns, or have access to them via relatives. To say that you don’t need something because you’ve never used it is a red herring. No one on this list has used their life insurance policy yet . Should add that I am a ‘computer geek’ and do not move in the ‘good old boy/red neck’ circle.

Let’s clear this up once and for all for the naive fools who think the police are there to protect them. Wrong. If an individual or a group of people break in your home, especially at night, by the time the police arrive you (and/or your family) will either be dead or robbed and the intruders will be gone. The police will simply be there to document what ALREADY HAPPENED. If you’re willing to accept the consequences of your inaction or lack of preparation (ie., defending yourself and/or your family) – FINE. However, there are some people – like me – who are not going to allow myself or my family to be robbed or worse in our own home by the naive and quaint (albeit ignorant) notion that the police will protect us. Ain’t gonna happen folks. Wake up.

‘But you were pretty generous in giving shotguns a 4/5 for ease of use. Have you ever tried to turn around in a hallway while holding a shotgun in any kind of ready position? Or even turning a corner? You have to really practice those moves to avoid being clumsy.’

Do you really wander around your house practicing how to leap out at those darned gun totin’ outlaws without knocking the ornaments of the mantlepiece? Laughland, you are laughable. Grow up and get a real hobby, and leave guns for their rightful purpose.

Todd said:
“Criminals are smart”. That proves beyond all doubt that he doesn’t know what he is talking about, and reason to discount every other word he said.
Todd also said:
“Educating kids on guns is far manlier then owning a gun”.
False dichotomy logical error. They are not mutually exclusive. They are both very manly, and both very important. Abdication of your duty to provide the *best possible* defense for your family is an un-manly act.

man, the “bedwetting pansy” comments really help drive your points home, don’t they. whatever, I’m secure enough to know that I’m still a man despite not having a gun. If that’s what makes you feel like a man, good for you.

I am appauled at all the anti-gun comments on here. (even though some of them seem to be written by the same person…)

Calling gun ownership “non-manly” or a “surrogate of manliness” is a dumb straw man argument. One could easily say that wearing a hat or shaving with a straight razor is a surrogate of manliness.

A gun is a powerful tool, and like all other powerful tools people are going to hurt themselves with them sometimes. When an unsupervised kid has an accident with an electric saw, you don’t see a national campaign to restrict the use of electric saws. You will probably just assume that a mistake was made on the part of the kid and the parents who left an electirc saw out for them to play with.

And the “gun violence” statistics are shifty, at best. You call it “violence” as if all those numbers were homicides, but do you know for sure that that is the case? How many were carless accidents? Suicides?

Nobody is making anyone own a gun, but calling gun owners paranoid or nutty for wanting to be prepared for a bad situation that, no, most likely will not happen thank goodness, is like saying the same thing to someone who chooses to wear a seat belt because they don’t think a car wreck will happen to them.

The spirit of this post is that a man needs to be prepared to defend his home and family. Owning a gun is only one of many options for home defense, especially for people in countries more strict on gun ownership then the United States.

The article would have probably been better suited by giving many examples for home defense such as having phones handy at all times, basic self-defense techniques, alarms, specialized locks, cameras, and more extreme methods such as guns, tazers, batons, etc.

Being a man does not mean owning a gun. Being a man means being ready to defend one’s family and one’s home.

If you want to buy something for home defense, I would suggest a shotgun with the shortest barrel allowed by your particular locality’s laws and ammunition with a wide dispersal pattern, but with the least penetration. If you are an inexperienced gun user in a highly stressful situation, something that is simple to operate and requires only rudimentary aiming is best. Also, you don’t want rounds to go through walls and put unintended targets at risk (ie, kids, neighbors, etc). I advise a short barrel for manueverability and weapon retention.

All that being said, I think you should not own a weapon if you are not completely willing to use it when the time comes. If there is an intruder in your house and you force that person into fight/flight by pointing a gun at him, you need to be willing to kill that person. Otherwise, you just may be arming an unarmed intruder in your own house which is obviously a much worse scenario.

“Why retreat? Ever hear of the castle doctrine? That’s your little part of the universe, civilized states do not require home owners to flee their property when confronted by criminals.”

I have indeed heard of the castle doctrine and I do in fact own several guns. I am a gun advocate and I am not above wasting someone who breaks in to my home if they are a danger. Having said that I feel that violence especially lethal force is a last line of defense and should not be taken lightly. I also would want my family to get as far away as possible if in fact I should fail in my attempt to neutralize all of the assailants in such an attempt.

Pieter wrote:

“I like all the “you’se a bedwetting pansy” remarks from all the cool people who own guns.”

That’s good to hear.

“But there are a few problems I’m having with this. My main problem is, what are you going to do when there’s a burglar in the house and you’ve fired your Pump Shotgun at his face?”

Just as an aside, the face isn’t the first thing you aim for. It’s actually the center of mass – the upper center of the torso, where all the other vital organs reside.

“How are you going to explain all those bits of brain and shards of skull in your livingroom to the police”

Covered by Castle Doctrine. We have no duty to retreat in a home invasion situation if doing so makes it unsafe for us or for those we protect.

“(or your kids, for that matter). That’s something you can’t train, even if you train hard enough to know how to safely handle weapons, a shotgun will still do an insane amount of damage.”

Yes, that’s exactly the point. A single-shot stop means the criminal scumbag is incapacitated, such that they will not try to harm the homeowner or his family.

We tend to not coddle criminals here in America.

“How is your wife going to react when a rapist comes up, she tried to shoot him, but the jerk just grabbed the gun out of her hand?”

Unlikely. Even if the rapist grabs for the gun he’s likely to be grabbing his own giblets shortly thereafter.

“How are you going to react when your kid just found your guns and tried to show off at school and wastes his best friend?”
“How are you going to react when the burglar you just shot turns out to be your 16 year old daughter who sneaked out to go on date?”

My kids aren’t that stupid, and they’ve been educated in firearms safety. But assuming they make either of those unfortunate choices, they’d have to live or die with the consequences.

“I know I may sound cruel and gruesome,”

No, but you do sound as though you have some irrational fears about firearms. Have you talked to a professional therapist yet?

“but let’s face it: once you own a gun, these are serious things you need to worry about. These are some of the most common mistakes people make with guns.”

Yes, and texting is one of the most common “mistakes” people make while driving. It kills far more people than accidental discharge of firearms in this country. By your logic we ought to ban either cell phones or cars.

“And I don’t believe you need guns for protection,”

Sorry to tell you this, but what you think really doesn’t matter. We’re going to keep the 2nd Amendment whether you like it or not.

“I’ve lived in pretty crappy places with loads of crime and violence. I even work in the most criminal city of my country and I have never needed to use violence to “protect” anything or anyone, nor have I ever comprimized the safety of my wife.”

I imagine your tune would change if you or she were to become victims. You’d (unfortunately) get a chance to see first hand how powerless your police are to protect you.

“In some states it is legal to own semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, handguns, [b]up to 3 hand grenades, and even 1 RPG round and 1 launcher[/b]. Isn’t that a bit excessive? Where’s the line?”

First of all, where the hell did you get that from? Live hand grenades and RPGs are illegal pretty much any way you look at it in the US.

Second of all, no. Explosives are a bit much but semi auto rifles, shotguns and pistols should be available for anyone who is not underage or criminally insane.

Just to clarify for those readers stateside who argue about the legitimacy of gun ownership – it doesn’t really matter what you think the 2nd amendment says about militias and gun ownership. The Supreme Court has the ultimate say in that matter, until the 2nd Amendment is changed, and their decision in the 2008 DC v. Heller case upholds the right to bear arms explicitly outside the militia context. It also has some interesting dicta about gun control in general. All Americans with any opinion on gun control, pro or con, need to read that case before making statements as to what the Constitution “says”.

Great informational post. I concur that some further information on shotguns would have been beneficial, as there is a serious problem of over penetration that can tear up the drywall. The best solution seems to be lowering the size of the shot from heavy buckshot to turkey grade, but using a shotgun with a full or at least modified choke. In most homes, this tightened spread would compact the shot sufficient for home protection without allowing for heavy shot to destroy your home.

I also most definitely concur with the pithy comment that seconds count when the police are minutes away. Recently, a convenience store clerk in our town saved his life by bringing a semi-auto 9mm to work. The store had been robbed at gun point the night before when a different clerk was on duty, so this man brought his home weapon. That night, the same robber showed up full of bravado. This time, he fired several rounds into the cigarette case near the clerk, thinking it was amusing, when the clerk drew his own weapon and shot the robber. The shot did not kill the robber, who continued to fire blindly in the direction of the register. The police did eventually show up, having been alerted by silent alarm, but long after the robber was gone. This is nothing against police officers, but it is not their fault they cannot teleport to all corners of the earth instantaneously. It is a personal choice to not own a gun, but it is not proper to pass judgment on those who choose to protect their homes beyond the hope that any invader will simply leave their family alone or take their time stealing until the police can arrive.

“What if they’re trying to kill you, rape your daughter, or rape you? What if they just want to kick the shit out of you for grins? Just saw a news program about four teens who stomped a man to death because it looked like fun.”

I would try to use non lethal force and get my family somewhere safe. Because the person committing the crime needs more help than I do, I’m not going to kill them.

Highflight, you do have reasonable arguments and are knowledable. I was just trying to enlighten the readers with no pun intended or to make fun of you or the siutation. Just adding some humor thats all.

Read my first post. Its very interesting. I still stand by my arguement “that responsble, mature people should be allowed to own guns. I support gun control. (Keep the guns way from the psychos and felons.)

But I believe in this society its way too easy for felons and psychos to buy guns which makes the rest of us normal people want to buy guns to protect us from the psychos and felons. Its a never ending cycle.

Please don’t confuse the above 3 posts under this name with the same name used above.

Rather than get into the pillow fight over whether one should own a gun, I offer the Ruger 10/22 as yet another firearm one can truly enjoy owning. Admittedly, your list covers the first few guns for home defense, but nothing beats the economy, enjoyment and success of learning to shoot with a .22 rifle.

Nice work!

I have to admit that, being British, this article left me pretty bemused. It’s not just that guns are illegal in the UK and that, even if I were somehow to get hold of a gun, I wouldn’t know the first thing about it; more fundamentally, we just don’t have a culture of home defence. It’s not something I’ve ever thought about and can’t think of an occoasion when I’d need to protect my property. I suppose I’d phone the Police.

For people in the U.S. (and everywhere) who are not sure if we have a moral obligation/duty to protect ourselves (self-defense killing vs murder), here are two articles worth reading, and may help clarify this issue.

1) Police Have No Duty To Protect Individuals (1992) by Peter Kasler
http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/kasler-protection.html

2) A Nation Of Cowards (1993) by Jeffrey Snyder
http://jim.com/cowards.htm

Morgan I disagree. I knowledge of guns and home defense is gender equal.

My girlfrend owns a gun and will use it faster than you can blink an eye. She loves guns nad she owns a truck. She goes to the shooting range sometimes. She loves cleaning it too. But she also loves fashion design and makeup. She works in retail for at Macys. She is feminine girl. But just loves guns.

I, on the other hand, play football, baseball, basketball. I drink beer and whiskey and lift weights. I love betting on college football games and gambling. Which she hates! But I have no interest in guns. She can protect me if she wants to and when she wants to…i could care less. Is she extremely masculine? NO.
Is she feminine? very much so…..but she likes her smith and wesson and .22 rifle.

So you need to quit labeling that “guns are extremely masculine.”

I did not say I am not interested in “owning a gun” like a mossberg 500 or smith and wesson.
I said “im not interested in guns”…meaning I dont make it a hobby of mine to go to the shooting range every week, cleaning it, talking about different models of guns with my friends, and buying gun magazines.
I do support gun control and gun ownership — only to mature, responsible people.

I live in Australia and I’ve never really heard anyone talk about this topic here. I do see your point, though. This article has made me think about it anyway. Gun laws are much stricter here I think.

Oh come on now! If you really want to safe guard your family, make sure you have a gun and know how to use it expertly. Teach your children to respect it and lock it up in a safe. Take them to the range and let them see for themselves how different it is then television. The sound alone should scare the $%^# outta them.
It will teach you to handle stress better, increase your sense of responsibility, and will shift the balance of power if two convicts break into your house while you are sleeping and start to make demands.
If an intrusion ever happened to you,…then tell me… what are you going to tell your assailant if he wont let you get to your phone?…”.Please dont hurt my family?..Lets talk this out?,,please stay downstairs and you can have anything you want?”
OR….” if you come upstairs before the police get here I am going to put a 357 in your chest!” Which method protects you children better?

I think this is an excellent, long-overdue article. Protecting one’s family and loved ones is most certainly the highest responsibility of a man, and one which ought not to be taken lightly. For those personally capable of handling a firearm, this is invaluable advice. For those averse to gun ownership, due to either disinterest or incapable of its responsible use, stick with your telephone and torch (flashlight).

I sincerely hope every person who has said you don’t need a gun to protect themselves, and so by extension no one should be allowed to have guns is murdered by a burglar/psycho breaking into their home. Let natural selection take it’s course and wipe these idiots off the planet.

Real men use flamethrowers

wow, 3 days and look at the shitstorm this started. I’m amazed at the amount of fail some of these replies have.

They are right though,having a gun does not make you a man. But owning a razor doesn’t make you a man either,we should get rid of the shaving article. and being well dressed doesn’t make you a man,better get rid of that too…

@Todd

Every year in the united states citizens with firearms save over 2 million lives. The chances that you personally are going to be robbed may be low, but look at it this way: the chances of your house catching fire is even lower than your chances (depending on where you live) of having an armed robber break into your home, but I’m sure you still keep a fire extinguisher in the house, don’t you?

Some of you want to talk about guns killing kids and yet we find it acceptable to allow them at 16 years old to opperate by far the most dangerous piece of equipment in our society. The automobile kills more people than guns in all demographics. No one throws a fit about that. The art of manlyness is about self reliance that includes protecting our homes and families

Joseph Finn, you might want to read this…

http://www.adl.org/MWD/faq4.asp#4.3

(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied
males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section
313 of title 32, under 45 years of age [which deals with
membership in the National Guard] who are, or who have made a
declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States
and of female citizens of the United States who are members of
the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are–
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National
Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members
of the militia who are not members of the National Guard
or the Naval Militia.”

The majority of these comments are made of fail. The writer was actually trying to write something of substance about something practical, and a bunch of you people jump all up his ass for it. It’s not the writer’s problem that some of you people live in a country that leaves you dependant upon others for your own well being and safety. Furthermore, with some of the comments saying that owning a gun is somehow compensating is utterly infantile. Compensating for what? I own firearms because they are tools which I also find enjoyment in using in a recreational setting. If some of you cannot understand that firearms are tools which can be used for good or ill, than you people have greater, farther reaching issues than thinking “Firearms = Bad” and “Ban guns = Good”.

tl;dr – Immature people getting butthurt for no good reason.

In seriousness, I have lived among Europeans for years. The men are thoroughly emasculated – use fear as a justification for actions, prefer dependence, passivity and weakness to self-reliance, responsibility and preparedness. This is well illustrated by their responses above. I would have thought they’d avoid the blog simply because it refers to manliness. I can only assume they are attracted by the more metrosexual topics.

If you have a gun and a child, that gun is statistically far more likely to kill your child than an intruder.

I know no one who has defeated an intruder personally using a firearm. I know two families where a child was killed by a firearm owned by the family. This is not unusual.

Any introductory article on firearms which does not include information on securing them is an invitation to horrific disaster.

“The most foolish mistake we could possible make would be to allow the subjugated people to carry arms …”

Adolf Hitler

“All military type firearms are to be handed in immediately…The SS, SA and Stahlhelm give every repectable citizen the opportunity of campaigning with them. Therefore any one who does not belong to one of the above named organizations and who unjustifiably nevertheless keeps his weapon…must be regarded as an enemy of the national government.”

SA Oberfuhrer Bad Tolz, March 1933

Getting back to the question about gun use.
A shot gun or .38 revolver is a good choice for home protection. I have the Ruger SP101.
MASTER IT! Go to the range often and become an expert!
Read articles and books about it.
DO NOT stick it in a safe and forget about it. You must practice. You have to get acclimated to the stress of firing a gun and get comfortable and confident with your particular firearm. Practice loading and unloading. Practice everything and you will feel much better about yourself. Learn how to move through your house with it safely. Learn how to aim with both eyes open. Learn how to carry a mag light with it.
Its only a power tool. Like every other tool, you should know how to use it safely, clean it, store it, and protect others from it when its around. You know how to use matches safely without burning your house down,.. right?

Finally, there are many safes and options to storing your weapon securely. I use a steel box-safe that has a four finger combination code. I can get to my loaded weapon in about 2 seconds when Im at the safe. Dont make the mistake of securing your weapon so drastically that you will need 30 minutes to be armed. If its all in pieces when you need it the most, what good is it?

Memorize the laws pertaining to gun use in your state. Know your rights and limitations.

As I look around the website Im beginning to think that it is not so much about manliness. It seems to be leaning toward becoming the men’s department at Macy’s.

ADAM #172,

Priceless.

As far as kids accidentally shooting themselves goes, how about instilling a little discipline and respect in your kid by taking him behind the woodshed if he/she starts nosing around your dresser or closet. I can’t imagine daring to look in my old man’s dresser drawers! I’d be laid out pretty quick if he caught me.

Secondly, calling the cops is a waste of time. Someone willing to break into an occupied residence is desperate and willing to use violence. They know there are people present and are more than willing to put themselves in an unfamiliar environment with no lights on. If they are willing to take that chance, a safe assumption will be if they come up on you they will either be packing or willing to take you on. While I like my chances in a scrum with an unarmed intruder, especially since I am single and live with two other single mid-twenties guys, if I was married and/or had kids in the home, approaching a felon unarmed is a bad idea. The point of owning a weapon for home defense is to not get in a situation where you are at the mercy of a crazed felon.

As far as not being willing to shoot someone, if you are married/have kids this is a shameful sentiment. In this life every man must have a few things worth fighting for. Letting criminals have free reign out of respect for their miserable life is a joke. I would shoot an intruder if he was jiggling the door knob, and I suspect if more people shared this view there would be less crime. An unarmed population is one easily exploited.

I don’t even have my shotgun at my current residence but I at least have a machete by my bed! And someone said there’s only been two families killed in cold blood in 50 years is total BS. Look at Sean Taylor from the redskins a few years back. And that’s an NFL strong safety with a machete. If you think you can take on armed intruders without a weapon good luck.

By the way, more kids die each year BY FAR in home swimming pools than by guns at home. A wandering youngster, and an unlocked gate to a backyard pool is much, much more of a threat.

Shall we now scream about pools?

Think, for crying out loud.

I suggest a review of the NRA website for a good review on why it is necessary, in the USA, for individuals to assert their 2nd amendment rights. It is very manly to protect your family… at all costs. Criminals do not obey laws, therefore they do not obey gun control laws. By the way, if you want one blog to answer every gun control question ever raised, you’ve never finish reading it. Relax on the details and be friendly here gents… we’re all learning and this information engages us in topics.

I am so glad to see you offer up a healthy understanding of the possession and use of firearms in the home. Thank you.

I am also quite saddened by the large number of people, the world over, who have been so brainwashed into fearing a gun. What a shame that their freedom (if they still have any left) is so thinly veiled.

At a moments notice, those with the guns can step in and take over their lives. This happens every day even in America, in states that violate our God-given rights, where law-abiding citizens are not afforded the right to protect their homes and loved-ones from invading criminals.

Thank you, AoM, for sparking the debate. I’m proud to be a sheepdog, along with so many of you. Those of you living in fear (=sheep), I’ll protect you from the wolves. Don’t worry.

Sounds like you got a bunch of spinless whimps who have been hanging arround their momma’s too long. Its the responsibility of “ALL” AMERICAN Dad’s to “train” their boys in the use of “leathal” means of protection, otherwise we become a society of push-arounds by those who would rather steal than work for a living. If every thief knew there were a loaded gun behind every door there would be no business for thieves. Man Up!

Remember what Dirty Harry Callahan said:
“Nothing wrong with shooting, as long as the right people get shot.”
Oh yeah.

A lot of people say “Oh, I’ll just call 911!” The chances of the police reaching your house before you’re dead is incredibly low, unless you live incredibly close to a police station. Their may be enough time for them to save you, but the criminal may have escaped.

I read this entire article and I must say I enjoyed it.

To be fair all the europeans posting here have probably never handled guns and probably WOULD be unsafe around them. Also it’s natural to fear stuff you don’t understand. As mentioned in the article it is necessary to first learn how to handle firearms properly, and that would be difficult in countries where the only way to get guns or ammunition is on the black market. Proper training and a place to shoot are essential for any gun owner, and the safety owning a gun provides is not worth becoming a criminal for. If you have children definitely keep your guns all locked up until they are old enough to teach firearms safety.

They are not evil instruments of death as much media would like you to believe, but they *can* kill people and should be treated with respect for that. I treat my guns the same as I would any dangerous power tool. Personally I prefer an AR-15 for home defense, and keep it loaded with lightweight FMJ ammunition. It tumbles after going through just a few sections of drywall and that drastically reduces it’s wounding capability. This means it is much less danger to neighbors. It may not be as simple and reliable as a pump-action shotgun but it is definitely one of the most reliable firearms around. All that stuff you here about jamming M16s is bullshit that comes from the vietnam era when troops were sent out with nasty shitty dirty ammunition and no cleaning kits. When I’m out of the house I carry an EAA Witness (CZ-75 clone) in an IWB holster. I’m a skinny guy and it’s a fullsize handgun so it took me awhile to find a good holster that was comfortable and concealed it well, but I prefer it to smaller compact or polymer stuff. The 9mm vs. .45ACP vs. .40SW is a stupid meaningless debate and modern bullet technology in hollowpoints makes the differences negligible. Pick the one you shoot most accurately and comfortably.

Additionally, I highly recommend anyone into guns trying practical shooting competitions. I do practical rifle, 3-gun, and IPSC. It’s a lot of fun and it gives you a situation where you have to think and move quickly under stress which can help prepare you in the event you ever DO need to use a firearm to defend yourself. Have fun, be safe, and don’t be that idiot redneck muzzle sweeping everyone on the range and talking about how .45 is so much better than 9mm or how the AK-47 never jams or other bullshit like that.

Guns do not equal freedom. The UK is more free now than it has ever been and they outlaw guns. Canada has strict gun control laws, and we have more freedoms that Americans.

The fact is, that people justify gun ownership as a duty or responsibility via the 2nd amendment, for the sole purpose of meeting their own ends. The 2nd amendment was written to allow people to rebel against the government should they abuse their power. And the George W. Bush era has proven that the 2nd amendment has totally failed its country in that respect.

The 2nd amendment has since evolved into a defense for people to carry all sorts of assault weapons, which, while conducive to fighting a war, are not conducive to defending your family.

@David #260 – You are the exact gun nut I was talking about. If your teenage son comes sneaking into the house at 2AM (after having snuck out earlier that night), and you hear the door handle jiggle… If you blindly fire your shotgun for that jiggle, you’ve just injured or killed your own son. You are the type of person who doesn’t understand firearm safety, and you are the type of person who needs to be restricted from having a gun. Shooting first out of fear or anger is the dumbest thing you can do with a firearm, and it goes against everything you say you want to protect. Futhermore, your ascertation an unarmed public is easier to explot… In the wake of George W Bush’s reign, I say an armed public is just as easily exploited by the government as an armed one. The DHS, The Patriot act, unjustified wiretaps…. Who’s free now?

If you want an argument about gun control from me, here it is. Gun control is designed to prevent the ignorant members of the public from owning a gun. The reason why there are so many gun related deaths in the US compared to other countries, is because Constitutionally defended gun ownership puts guns in the hands of the ignorant. Gun control does not penalize the responsible. Just because you WANT a gun, doesn’t mean you should have one. If I walk into a gun shop, and I ask for a gun, and tell the clerk it’s because I want to rob liquor stores, is that shop owner going to sell one to me? I hope not… If I say it’s because I want to have some fun shooting up an old car I have sitting in my back yard – the shopkeeper better kick my ass out of the store. It’s just dangerous. Gun control prevents idiocy, ignorance and accidents thereof – not gun related assaults or robberies.

I don’t think we need to deny people the privilege to own a gun (And it is a privilege, not a right) – so long as they’re up to the task of being responsible with it.

To further counter the argument an armed public is a safe public, why don’t we issue guns to people on planes to prevent terrorism? It’s because guns give people a false image of safety and security. One stray bullet could kill the entire plane. Quite frankly, the same is true about your family – one stray bullet and you could tear your entire family apart. You should treat that with some respect, regardless of where you stand on gun control. You should understand that a firearm is capable of killing quite quickly and effectively, regardless of who ends up getting shot. I say, It’s your duty to ensure you don’t let your family get shot – either by intruders, or by your own ignorance… And if you ignore the argument that one needs to be responsible for their firearms, you DEFINITELY should NOT be allowed within 50 feet of one.

After reading a few of the comments, I can only assume a large percentage of the viewers here have yet to “man up”. I am a man. I handle myself as a man in any situation. If my house is invaded by armed criminals, I will attempt in a very manly fashion to put bullets in them before they have a chance at my family. Owning or using a firearm is not manly only when the user or owner is not manly.

I like the smileyface by the 8th cartridge.

The gun isn’t for validating manliness. When there is a big nasty with bad intent standing across your living room that phone ain’t doing squat. If you don’t have a gun you better hope he doesn’t have a blade. And if he’s got a gun then just kiss your *** goodbye. Those that are so horrified by guns aren’t in touch with reality. Yes, a gun is for killing. But if you use it right its killing the right people.

@OpenMindedAmerican
good post. I agree that it makes sense for people living in the boonies to own a gun. If it takes the police one hour to reach you and worse comes to worse, you’re on your own.
Europeans often fail to relate to that problem, because our continent (or at least western Europe) is a crowded place with civilization always near. In Europe it’s not easy to live away from civilization even if you’d want to.

But I still don’t agree with the general right to bear arms. I think that is a relic from the wild west that has no place in modern society. People that need weapons because they are hunters or because they live very far out and truly have to protect themselves should get special permission, but not everyone. Guns should have no place in cities and suburbs. It’s a fact that having guns in the house increases the risk of death and ingury of the owners family with intruders or without. It’s also a fact that the U.S. has the greatest percentage of population in jail in the world, and a much higher crime rate than in Europe. So claiming that guns provide security is simply wrong.

I personally found this article quite enjoyable and – being an experienced, safe, and law-abiding gun owner – quite informative for a person unfamiliar with firearms.

I found many of the sharp criticisms about this article to be distasteful at best and downright bizarre at worst. While gun-rights, or lack thereof, can be a controversial issue for some people, the fact remains that many people do believe in the right to self-defense, and defense of one’s home and family, and, for those people, a proper education on firearms is the only responsible starting point.

I fail to see why an educational article about the use of firearms for lawful purposes has created such an uproar….

@ Andrew Webster #291
Law abiding hunters who use their firearms as a method of self defense isn’t the issue, and in this statement you don’t strike me as a “gun nut”… The problem I mention is not one of shooting an intruder, but of shooting blindly at a suspected intruder. Then again, I don’t distrust firearms, I have a healthy respect for them, know their capabilities, and have enough experience with the development of youth, that I know how important it is to train youth on firearms if there is the possibility of them coming in contact with firearms. Many firearms related deaths are accidental, and regardless of how it compares with other statistics, it is a simple solution which should be implemented. Proper training, and assessment of maturity is required to gain a healthy respect towards firearms.

@ Todd #292
I think it is unfair to discriminate on age for this argument. As a 12 year old, when I was learning to fire a rifle, I had been taught a healthy respect for firearms. I understood at that young age, the folly of the Hollywood image of firearms, and I knew that safe storage, safe usage, and a high degree of maturity and awareness is required to handle a firearm. Handling a firearm should be a different state of mind. Always have a focus on the firearm. Always check a firearm when first picked up to see if it’s loaded. Always enable the safety when the firearm isn’t being fired. I know at least 30 other teenagers with me who learned the same marks of respect with firearms. Even today, 18 years later, I help deliver firearms safety training to youth aged 12-18. Every single one of them shares this respect. Maturity with firearms can be taught…

This is, in my mind, all that needs to be said:

http://www.billstclair.com/DoingFreedom/000623/df.0600.nca.gunstore.html

Oh, by the way, for all of the people debating the best caliber balance for stopping power and recoil, try the 10mm.

Most of the studies done have shown its remarkable stopping power for the recoil (hardly an increase from the 9mm).

It’s a little exotic, you might have to look harder or pay a little more, but it may be worth it for your wife/girlfriend/etc.

Honestly, as a gun owner (yes, I have a handgun license) and woman, I cannot believe the nonsense I’m reading here. What a bunch of babies! What, may I ask, are those men who can’t embrace gun ownership, or even talk about the possibility intelligently, doing on this site? Go back home to mama, boys, you don’t belong here.

Hmm, this is an interesting discussion. The gun blog is a bit unsettling but I’m not really against gun ownership. The problem is that you can know when *you* are ready but theres no way to tell when other people are responsible enough. That’s the issue. As many have said, there are plenty of cases when people have had horrible things happen because their kids got hold of their firearms. (example: http://www.destructoid.com/boy-accidentally-shoots-brother-dead-over-videogame-fight-135647.phtml )

I don’t think firearms are good for home defense at all. The Majority of break-ins are thefts not murders (I don’t have any statistical backing but I think its fair to assume). So any use of a firearm is likely to make things worse because use of a firearm is not considered self defense in most cases as it is not “reasonable action” (Coming from my legal studies).

As a hobby, or a sport I think guns are great. Even gun maintenance can be very theraputic, its like working on my car. I don’t think the tone of the article was overly “gun happy” and the emphasis on gun safety and responsibility is definately there, although some more info would actually be very interesting i.e gun storage as suggested above.

The whole anti-gun movement seems to be part of a larger trend to encourage people not to do things themselves in an effective manner but to rely upon a government entity which does a low quality job, slowly and inefficiently.

I just found this website today and this was the first blog post that I have read on this site, and I’ve been thinking all day about how to respond to these comments. I would have to write a book to explain my viewpoint on guns, their uses, and safety. I collect guns and own several, but I try not to think of them as weapons for defense but instead I appreciate them more for their ascetic value, quality and craftsmanship. I don’t think that a gun is necessary for home defense.

Some people above say that a gun is built to kill and for nothing else and they imply that anyone who owns a gun intends to shoot someone in time. What if someone has a collection of exotic swords they may be weapons but you wouldn’t suspect them of wanting to use them to hurt someone. In my life guns are collectibles, heirlooms, sporting goods, and investments. I understand how dangerous they are but try not to think of them as weapons. I am painfully aware of how they can be misused in the wrong hands.

I don’t really like the way the author of this blog post suggest that you should grab your gun when you “hear something go bump in the night” I feel that people who do this are people who are liable to shoot someone by mistake. But I also think it’s a bit of an excessive how offended and unsettled some people were just because this was an article about guns. However I am not going to put those people down for their opinions because like the freedom to bare arms I also believe in the freedom of speech.

Personally I am less afraid of a person who owns a dozen or more guns and keeps them in an oak gun cabinet, and more cautious of people who own just one gun and keep it loaded on their bedside table saying it’s for “defense”.

Wow. I expected there to be some dissenting comments, but I didn’t expect so many to be so bitchy. Very dissappointing, men. If you don’t like guns and don’t want to own on, fine. Thats your right. I just wish you would respect my right to own one or two or ten or however many I want since my Constitution allows me that.

I don’t drink and I don’t support drinking. But when an article gets posted about alcohol, I don’t start whining and telling everyone how awful alcohol is and how many lives it destroys (even though drunk driving alone kills far more than guns do every year) and threaten that I don’t like this site anymore. I open up a can of man and move on. I wish some people would do the same.

And if you think the telephone is the best defense for you and your family, good luck with that. I hope you never get attacked in your home. If you ever do, the cops will most likely get there just in time for the clean up. Assuming the call got through, I would have to wait 15 minutes for the sheriff’s deputy to drive out to my place from town to get help. A lot can happen in 15 minutes. I think I’ll just be ready to protect myself, my family, and my property instead because thats my right.

Regarding the article:

Semi-automatic shotguns make the exact same sound, when you pull the charging handle, as a pump shotgun makes when you rack the slide. The pump shotguns are going to be more reliable, and perform well with a broader variety of ammunition.

You still have to aim a shotgun. At ranges inside your home (i.e., under 5 meters/15 feet), shot spread is pretty much neglible. The vast majority of shot will hit in a single mass. And you may wish to consider the FBI standard shotgun: a 20ga loaded with #4 buckshot, vs. the usual police shotgun, the 12ga loaded with 00 buckshot. Recoil is significantly reduced. A children’s model 20ga is probably easier to handle than a full sized weapon. US laws require all shoulder weapons be at least 26″ in overall length, in addition to the barrel length laws — minimum 18″ for shotguns, 16″ for rifles.

Revolvers are not going to have reloading issues in combat, as even a good auto can when paired with bad ammunition. In that regard, they are more reliable. However, they typically are less durable, and will break down more often. Accuracy with handguns requires regular practice.

If you are going to get a semi-automatic handgun with a safety, practice moving the safety into “fire” when you pick up the gun. You avoid firing by not putting your finger on the trigger until you have your sights lined up on a target — a vitally important safety rule for ANY firearm.

Regarding the commentary:

Using a gun for self defense rests upon a presupposition: that if it is either you or the other guy who is going to die, it is right, proper, and just for you to slay your attacker. If you do not think this is so, you ought not to own a gun for defense.

However, this also suggests that you do not believe that protecting the lives of others, or yourself, is important enough to do yourself, but something you ought to leave to others. Never mind that response times for those you are relying upon to protect you and yours varies from 15 minutes and 48 hours, which is often plenty for an unopposed assailant to murder a number of people.

Part of proper gun storage is teaching other members of the household how to safely handle a gun. You need to teach them the following four rules:

1. Every gun is always loaded. You never assume that it is not. Teach them to presume that any gun they find is loaded and should be treated as such.

2. Never point a gun at something, if you do not want to see any holes in it. Point it at a floor or ceiling or a sturdy wall (and most interior walls, especially in modern construction, do NOT count).

3. Never put your finger inside the trigger guard or on the trigger unless your sights are lined up on a target you intend to shoot.

4. Never fire at ANY unidentified target, or towards an uncertain backstop.

Gun defenses: see http://www.pulpless.com/gunclock/index.html Granted, this is for the US.

Overpenetration is a worthwhile consideration. This is one reason to favor a revolver — they will reliably fire frangible ammunition. It is also a good reason to pick a set spot to gather your family when you’re facing an intruder. Ideally, they will be behind the gun(s), and a narrow entryway in front of it.

“I bet Teddy Roosevelt had guns, and I bet he could outshoot Chuck Norris with them!”

I’ve watched enoug of “Walker, Texas Ranger” to be certain that Chuck Norris has almost no knowledge of gun use whatsoever.

If you are unwilling to use an illegal weapon, improvise with something that is legal — a hammer, a hatchet, a chair, a stick, a pen, a kitchen knife, a cricket bat, a shovel, whatever. That’s what most “martial arts” weapons are — a kama is a harvesting sickle, a sai is a pitchfork, nunchuku are a tool for knocking rice off of the stalks, and a tonfa is a handle for turning a millstone, and a bo is a walking stick.

Nonlethal weaponry has one very serious limitation: it does not frighten an attacker who is ready to make it either your life or his.

@ Punditus Maximus: I’m pretty sure the studies you are citing (if you can name them) are gravely flawed. Consider reading John Lott: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/guns.html

As to the .45 ACP Glock: the grip is REALLY large. I have large hands and could barely hold it straight and still reach the trigger. The .45 GAP has a grip the same size as the Glock 17 (9mm Para), which I could easily handle.

@Logan in San Francisco (#105): You are fortunate, that your attacker was sufficiently rational to flee a threat. That is the preferred outcome, of course. But make up your mind that if the next B&E is not deterred, that you will shoot him. Otherwise, you take the risk of arming him with your gun.

@Charles from Alberta (#107): In very restrictive US jurisdictions (e.g. Washington DC, New York City) approximately 1/3 of confiscated, illegal handguns are made by unlicensened machine shops. If you have CNC lathes, you have the capacity for local manufacture.

@Jack, #152: Substitute PCP or crystal meth for LSD, and it’s entirely valid.

@Charles, #153: “Before leaving the factory do a ballistic test, store the information. Note the serial number of each weapon.” The problem is that what allows the police to tell bullets fired from one weapon from those fired from another of the same model is a series of random scratches in the barrel. Those scratches are acquired through use and cleaning, and won’t be there when the weapon is new.

@N, #176: It’s worth noting that the main reason women getting injured when raped and women resisting rape correlate so much is because women tend to start violent resistance right after the rapist starts beating them.

@Pieter, #187: “How are you going to explain all those bits of brain and shards of skull in your livingroom to the police (or your kids, for that matter).” I’ll discuss it with my lawyer, not the police. I would much rather be tried by twelve than carried — in a pine box — by six. And I’ll tell the kids, “I wish he’d run away, but he didn’t. Would you rather it was him who was dead, or me?”

“How is your wife going to react when a rapist comes up, she tried to shoot him, but the jerk just grabbed the gun out of her hand?” I’m a lucky man, my wife is a hellcat. And, thanks to her law enforcement training, she knows gun retention techniques.

“How are you going to react when your kid just found your guns and tried to show off at school and wastes his best friend?” My kids know better than to show off with a gun, point it at anyone they haven’t decided to shoot, presume that it’s unloaded, put their finger on the trigger when they’re not aiming it at somebody they’re ready to shoot, or shoot at an unidentified target.

“How are you going to react when the burglar you just shot turns out to be your 16 year old daughter who sneaked out to go on date?” I never ever shoot or even AIM at an unidentified target.

Now, if you can’t handle those things, by all means don’t get a gun. But please don’t suggest that because *you* cannot handle them, I and/or my wife cannot either.

@Todd, #253: As of 1:00 AM EDT, 4 August 2009, there have been 1,428,926 defensive gun uses in the US -=>THIS YEAR<=-. Lethal gun accidents: 278. Gun homicides (which would include all people slain by guns, regardless of police, civilian, or criminal shooter): 7,535. Gun suicides (which are generally replaced by base-jumping suicides when guns are made unavailable): 9,944.

Source: http://www.pulpless.com/gunclock/index.html

@Punditus Maximus #251: Fascism (a society where everything comes from and depends upon the national government) IS coming to America. Barack Obama is bringing it. I am not cheering.

@Fingersoup: Re #1, over 95% of negligent discharges result from placing finger on trigger/inside triggerguard before deciding to fire. Until you have decided to fire, trigger finger belongs on the frame. A gun you cannot use is, well, useless.

Re #2, teach your kids to handle guns safely. Trigger locks will not stop them. The rest of what you have to say looks quite rational.

@David #260: You are absolutely right, in that an unarmed society is ripe for exploitation. Gun restrictions largely tell criminal elements, "Go here for helpless unarmed victims in an unlimited supply!"

@Eurofag, #284: why do you think that police are so much better able to learn how to safely handle a weapon than everybody else? Is it because of the inherent nobility of the profession?

While having a gun makes gunfire in the home more likely (you can't shoot a gun that isn't there), it also reduces the likelihood of violent crime, overall.

@Bill, #300. The rule for not shooting at unidentified targets or in the direction of uncertain backstops applies even when you are awakened by by a potential intruder. But having the gun handy means you can use it if the sound turns out to be a threat, and you can not use it if it turns out to not be.

I disagree. The people that are more likely to get shot at are the people not able to defend themselves. Think about it… If you were a robber and you were picking your next target would you choose the man with a 12 gauge next to his bed? Or the man with no gun. Another point is that if you shoot a man in purely self defense and can prove it there is no reason for you to have to go to jail. About the semis. My first gun was a semi and i loved it. The only switches i needed to know about was the magazine release and the switch that releases the slide. On mine when you griped the gun all the safeties were released. As for the shot gun I’d put that last. If the assailant is in your room it is much easier to reach to the night stand release the slide and pull the trigger. If you have a shot gun you’d have to reach over get into a comfortable shooting position cock it and then pull the trigger, plus you need two hands to operate a shotgun. NOTE the shotgun is an excellent home defense weapon IF it is stored in your office or some where where you’d have a warning and a minute or two to get ready. If i wrote the blog i would put the semi first (ease of use) revolver second (not enough rounds/load) and the shotgun last (not versatile enough).

And I’ll wager that all you in favor of no guns are left wingers right?? If we take guns away from the people no one will get hurt. Am I wrong??? Well think about this how do the murderers, and all around creeps who kill people get guns anyway? Its probably no legally so take the guns away from the honest Americans the ones who just get them to defend themselves don’t have guns. And the guy out to get them gets his from the black market. The honest American is going to die. Where as if he got a CHLhe proably wouldn’t cause the insane kill isn’t gonna be after him hes carrying a 9mm

Jimmy, Insecure men are those that feel scared/threatened by a gun.
A man must know how to handle firearms safely and a man must be capable of defending his family. PERIOD. You lack that ability, you’re not much of a man.
Your inability to calm down portraits you more like an hysterical women, rather than a man. Seems you have a metrosexual idea of a man, this is certainly not the place, according to what I’ve read so far.

Drew, nearly impossible means it’s not impossible. You don’t like guns, that’s your problem. Be a “man” about it and understand many other men, (such as the nice people in this blog) think differently, thank God.

Tom, you don’t like the blog, again be a man and just leave instead of crying about it.

Ben… leave, no one will miss you.

People from the AOM: Congratualtions!
Clearly you stand for what you claim, the rare ideal of a true man that certainly isn’t afraid of tools or weapons, or even taking a life in the gravest of situations. Soldiers and Police officers do that, so do fathers and husbands: Men. Real men.
Don’t let the cry babies that were just looking for a trendy manish style affect you the least.
A man stands for what he believes in, if these so called men feel hysterical about guns, it’s their own insecurities and nothing more.
I hope AOM never tries to change to adapt to that type of… men.

Keep up the good work!

Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre

I’m sure this guy felt REAL manly!

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/08/04/pennsylvania.gym.shooting/index.html

Thanks for the great post! Every real man knows how to defend himself and his family, and knowing how to use a gun is essential in the world we live in. I’d love to see mre posts like this!

I don’t truly expect anyone to read this, but…
I live in what has been recently called the second safest city in these fine United States. My average Police response time: ~10 minutes.
In ten minutes, I and my family could easily become victims of an intruder. I couldn’t care less if I lived in a perfect city, with no crime whatsoever; it is, quite frankly, the epitome of irresponsibility, not to mention the antithesis of manliness, to fail to take seriously the safety of myself and, more importantly my family. To me, that means taking the most effective measures, legal or otherwise, to ensure no one I am responsible for is injured in any way, under any circumstances, in my home. Call me a psycho, a loose cannon, or whatever else you will, but my family is my priority. I love peace as well as any man, but I am proud keep guns, among them a 12 gauge, and if an intruder enters my house, I will not compromise my family’s safety for anything. I wholeheartedly support training in firearms; I also support law enforcement (as well as the right to refuse to keep arms), but I wouldn’t trust my family’s safety to anyone else, even if they have a badge. A police officer has no emotional stake in my family’s safety. I do.

@Bauer: How free are you really if you need a gun to protect yourself in your own house? The Americans might have used their guns to protect Europe, but the Europeans are the ones who’ve truly learned to appreciate the freedom that was given to them thru this.

I want to make another point. Being in Europe where the govt does everything for you, the idea of personal responsibility is being bred out of people. In the the UK, homeless people are put up in B&B. The great majority of these people are drug addicts and alcoholics. Talk about removing personal responsibility.

This is what Obama brings to the USA-removal of personal responsibility.

Tim

I am appalled to see this kind of article on Art of Manliness. Guns are horrible things. I own 5 guns, and they all randomly kills dozens of people at a time. Guns clearly kill people. “The best weapon for home defense is a phone. If bad people try to get in: call the cops.” I totally agree with this, (in all actuality, I am laughing hysterically at your logic) because when someone is breaking into my house, I think that they’d be kind enough to wait until the cops get there about thirty minutes later before they attempt anything. If someone ever breaks in at night, I think I’ll leave my Kimber .45 on my nightstand and plead with them to allow me to call the cops and not do hurt me since the cops are coming.

And to say that if you have a gun you are more likely to be shot is the largest pile off bull that I have ever heard in my life. If you have a gun and know how to use it, how do you figure you have more of a chance of getting shot? If you don’t have a gun, you can’t fight back. Where the heck is the logic? I am 19 years old and cannot begin to understand how full-grown “men” think like this. If someone breaks into my house, I am going to protect my family and paint my walls with the intruders brains. >GASPS<

How dare you write an article such as this? (sarcasm intended).

Askilladden wrote the following: If bringing a 12 gauge into your house is your idea of putting your family first, you are psychotic. If you really did put your family first, you’d probably move to a safer country, where gun toting intruders are not so common, people living there are not so freaking paranoid, and your children would live in a firearms free (thus safer) environment.

Please, tell me where this firearms free (thus safer) environment exists. I’d love to move there so that it would no longer be firearms free. Wait, there is no such thing as “firearms free.” CRIMINALS WILL GET A HOLD OF GUNS

I was told once by a man whos opinion i hold in high regard something about decisions, namely those involving life and death. Usually these decisions have options, to be summed up in a very general way they tend to be either, stay and fight or run away. When considering these options, any man with a family I would hope would decide to stay and fight. All that being said, the advice given to me by this man was very simple and plain.

“It is always better to be judged by twelve, than carried by six.”

Well said, Doc.

First, the story to which he refers is “On Wolves, Sheep and Sheepdogs,” by LTC (Ret.) David Grossman. He’s a psychologist. Here’s a link:
http://mwkworks.com/onsheepwolvesandsheepdogs.html

There is a saying that “When seconds count the police are only minutes away.” If getting rid of guns were a path to a safe society, then Europe should be really, really safe. But that isn’t the case. Indeed, completely apart from this conversation, I am of the opinion that Europe is entering a period of substantially increased violence. While the people who are bringing the violence to Europe will have no problem obtaining firearms, their victims will not be able to defend themselves. This is not new. It has been growing in Europe over the past couple decades. And in the U.S. the more restrictions that have been placed on firearms and firearms ownership, the more violent our society has become. Counterintuitive? Only if you don’t understand human nature.

The United States is not such a violent place. No doubt you in Europe are regaled by the stories, but remember that the U.S. is one of the largest single countries in the world, and had the most free press. What’s more, that press, by and large anti-gun, has a self-interest in inflating the stories. On top of having an agenda, that being making people afraid of guns, they practice “yellow journalism” to sell more papers. There certainly are more firearms in the U.S. than just about any other place in the world. But if they were made illegal, then the only people who would be unarmed would be the law-abiding citizen.

There are some basic differences between Western (meaning U.S.) and Eastern (meaning in this case European) theories of social order. The U.S. theory of governance, which springs from the Western social order is based on the idea that each individual has a God-given right to “Life, Liberty and Property.” It sounds almost like the line in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, doesn’t it? In fact, the term “pursuit of happiness” was intended as an expansion, or further explanation, of the right to property, and not a new concept.

The concept of the individual having a right to being secure in his property is possibly the most critical element that has led to the progress and prosperity achieved in the United States. A person has an inherent right to keep and protect that which he owns. An inherent principle in that right is the right to defend that which is yours. And that is the source of the Second Amendment.

My first responsibility to my family is to protect them. I’ll do so with whatever means available. My family is safer, and my property is more secure, because I can defend them. Am I paranoid? No. Am I safer than if I didn’t have the ability to defend myself? Yes.

Guns dangerous? Not really. It’s the people. Accidental shootings do occur, but far more people are hurt and killed in vehicle accidents, pool drownings, accidental poisonings, and many other things. Just as I have learned to drive safely, and swim, and read, I have learned to handle firearms safely.

Is a telephone an adequate substitute? No. See paragraph two above. Police dispatch recordings are rife with callers waiting for the police to arrive while somebody breaks in and assaults/rapes/kills the caller.

Is a firearm a cure-all? Hardly. But it is an important tool, and in trained hands, an effective one.

Well, well… Anyone who refuses to own a gun, to be responsible to use it safely, or rely on other men for their protection deserves what they get. The police have no obligation to protect you. Go ahead call the cops. They will come to discover either the evil men dead, wounded or fled, OR the homeowner robbed, injured or dead. Their job is to investigate the crime. How many people all over the world do not have such great a responsibility or right to defend themselves? The sheer amount of guns in U.S. homes correlated with the number of accidental shootings, illustrate that it is much safe to own a gun than to go to the doctor!!! There is nothing more manly than to hunt for your own supper or protect the ones you love.

Proper gun usage always takes into account what is behind the target. There are no lethal rounds that do not over penetrate AND stop the threat to your life. One must always think about what is on the other side. for exhaustive real world research on this, I submit the “box of truth” website. http://www.theboxotruth.com Here is not only real affects of various rounds on real world objects, but also proper and safe gun handling.

I would submit the addition of a rifle to the choice for home defense. With proper training and usage, nothing will stop the threat of your life like a good .308. Remember, you do not shoot to kill, that is for the movies and jail cells. You shoot to STOP THE THREAT TO YOUR LIFE!!! Thank you for your time.

I found the artical to be well writen and honest. The thought that anyone would call the police and run to personal safety baffels me. Police are historians, don’t beleive me, have you watched the current TV shows or read the papers or watched the news. The police arive at the scene after the worst has happened and then try to find guilty party. Unless you have a means of defending yourself you are a potentially easy target. Personally I would give my life defending my family, and I will do so with any means at my disposal.

Benjamin, what you are advocating is very, very dangerous. There’s a saying that I hear occasionally, and I have dealt personally with cases where it was absolutely true : “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.”

Cutting edge weapons are, indeed, very dangerous. Never make light of them. But if you attack with a knife a person armed with a gun, the odds are that the gun will be drawn and probably pointing at you before you start. You’ll lose the race.

And being proficient with cutting edge weapons requires a LOT of training and practice. As important as it is to be trained and then practice with firearms, it takes far more effort to become and stay proficient with cutting edge weapons.

The concern about your children finding and firing a firearm is vastly overblown. With proper care on your part, it won’t happen. If you also properly train your children, the risk shrinks even further. It is true that a lot of teenagers and young adults are killed by firearms, but accidental shootings are relatively rare. Most such shootings are gang-related. That’s tragic enough. But they aren’t accidents.

In short – if you bring a knife to a gunfight, unless you are incredibly lucky, you die.

Well the sheer number of readers who were shocked and awed about an article about guns illustrates the massive wussification of the male species. I thought the article was accurate and responsibly written, what with the chapter on Safety (and the picture is hilarious).

For those who ask, “why have a gun in the home at all?” Here is an answer:

When you wake up at 3AM to the sound of glass breaking downstairs in your home that happens to be 10, 15, or 20 minutes away from the nearest police officer, and, even after you shout, the footsteps continue to get louder closer (in other words, you know they’re not just there for your jewelry or the plasma TV), your question will, to your horror, be answered.

To the men with the Mossberg 500, there is nothing like a conspicuous “chik-chik” of a pump action to ensure that those footsteps quickly fade in the direction from whence they came.

A gun is an inanimate object it is not capable of thought or action. So to say that they are bad is like saying your toaster is bad because it could burn or electrocute someone. It is the person not the tool or piece of equipment. There are many uses for guns. Self defense is only one and it is one of the best. You look at crime world wide and guns are the least of our problems. Look at the genocide in Africa. Over 100,000 people were murdered or maimed, guess what was used Machetes and Farm Tools. Not Guns. So lets form a coalition to ban all farming and the tools used to do it. People have a right to defend them self in every situation without exception. They should be allowed to use whatever they see fit to do so. Don’t forget the person being attacked is the victim. Not the person attacking. The criminal is the one committing the heinous act the the person who is defending themselves or another.

No one ever needs a gun, until they do. In a very large country like the US, with porous borders and more people and sheer size than a police force can effectively patrol, where violent crime is not an everyday or common occurrence-but it still happens- I thank God that I have the right to own a firearm to protect my family. It happens in the greater metro area where I live- violent home invasions where innocent people are often harmed and assaulted either sexually or physicallly. For no reason other than that some gang members or career criminals decide to go out and get some thrills and feel powerful. What kind of Man are you that you do not love your family or value your own life enough to defend them or your own life? How could you live with yourself if you won the lottery that day and your house was picked, and YOU were too cowardly to be prepared for an event that happens, a LOT in the US. Appalling? Yes. But shame on you when you could have been prepared and were not. Police will respond of course, and assuming the nice murdering scum allow you to make your call they will do their best to get there in a timely fashion. Sure, but that’s more than enough time to lose everything you care about in this world. Can’t believe this? Can’t put yourself in my shoes? Count yourself lucky but do NOT deign to condescend or look down your nose , we do what we have to do, because we are free Men in America, and we are by need self reliant. Other points above are completely relevant as well, and deserve respectful consideration.

Jimmy . . . you’ve said your piece about guns. I understand what you’re saying and totally disagree. First of all no “Manly Man” would go by the name Jimmy, he would go by Jim or James. Secondly, he would say his piece and then let everyone make his own decision. Thirdly, you’re not going to convince anyone who doesn’t already share your viewpoint . . . so let it go. We understand you’re afraid of weapons and the use of them. I for one am tired of your ramblings.

seriously Askilladden gun safety is not as complicated as it sounds…

To everyone saying that people only push the 2nd Amendment for their own ends, consider this:

If you told me right now that I could have all gun legislation in the US permanently repealed right now, in exchange for me never being able to own, shoot, or even touch a gun again, I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to say yes.

Penis jokes, redneck jokes, and “you just don’t want to lose your toys” arguments are insulting and childish, and no real man would ever be so base as to use them. I’m not a redneck and I don’t have a small penis…I’m a Patriot that believes so strongly and fundementally in freedom, that gun-rights is an issue I would gladly lay down my life for.

There is nothing wrong with protecting your family. Every man has the ultimate responsibility to protect his family from anyone and anything. Also, a real man will be responsible for it and for who touches it.

Every single person who posted complaints on this article should be thrown in jail. Not only does AoM have the right to post about anything they choose, this is a great choice for all mankind. Shame on any man weak and spineless enough to be too afraid to defend their loved ones. Go find a blog titled the Art of Feminine Behavior, because this blog is too good for you.

To our English friends-please explain why you all passed the Magna Carta?

Mossberg 12 ga. each morning goes back into gun safe. I have my CHL and carry a gun on my all day. Switch between Colt 1911 .45 acp or S&W modle 60. as back up I have a Kel Tec in my pocket.

Ruger mini 14 was over look. It shot the same round as the AR 15. But it does not look like an evil black rifle.

Mossberg is loaded first two rd. #5 shot, last three 00 Buck.

If you can drive a car you can lean to shot and gun. Once you start shooting you might be surprise how much fun it can be.

The internationals (those from the UK) who have decided to leave this site are, IMHO, only doing what is natural for them – leaving a place men frequent. The purpose of the American 2nd Amendment is to preserve the right of a free people to destroy, by force of arms, their own Government should that Government become despotic. Since the UK is a soft-police state now and that condition has been accepted by the citizens of that sorry nation- those “internationals” are by definition not “men.’ They are serfs.

I will understand that these internationals will be offended by this opinion. Hard cheese. I have no obligation whatsoever to respect either your feelings or your country. I know that crime is London outstrips crime in many large cities in America and is vastly more common than large cities in the US where there are concealed carry laws and the almost unrestricted ownership of arms.

To make one final thing clear – I do not assert this position in some juvenile “my penis is larger than yours” contest. On the contrary, I view this with a very cold, calculating political eye. All through history those that rule have weapons, those that serve do not. The coolie looks up from his rice paddy as the Warlord goes by with his armed retainers. This has not changed regardless of the internet, space suits or instant coffee. Free men have the choice to own arms, slaves do not.

I have carried a gun for over 20 years! And have only pulled it once! A guy tried to run me and another car off the road one Saturday morning. He blocked both lanes at the next red light and got out of his truck with a baseball bat and started toward me! Just the sight of me chambering a round in my Ruger P-85 sent him running back to his truck and the last I every saw of the the guy was him burning rubber to get away! So me having that gun saved somebody’s life that day!
I tend to think the founding fathers knew what they were doing all those years ago!

In my first visit to this site, I have stumbled upon this topic.

WOW, there are an awful lot of people here who need to re-evaluate their concept of manlyness. for those of you who feel that a phone is your best weapon for home defense I think theres a good article in REDBOOK you may enjoy!

I for one, enjoyed the article and the information in it.

I suppose I should cut some of you sissy’s some slack. As good of a website as this may be. Some of you guy’s didn’t exactly choose to have fathers who lacked the necessary skill set to pass manlyness on to their young. You really can’t help it if your a second or third generation pansy. If you would like to someday become men, there are several men in the post who may be willing to mentor you. If, their not too busy cleaning their guns, smoking cigars, drinking scotch, or training their own boys what it means to be a man.

I gotta stick up a little for some of the people in the UK. I recently stayed in Oxfordshire and on the border of Wales and England near Pant. Many of the people there (esp. in the country side) absolutely can’t stand their government’s control and many that I talked to love guns. I actually received trap/skeet lessons from a family friend and I asked him if he had given up his handguns when they were banned. He looked at me said it was terrible and gave me a little look. There are thousands of handguns still in the UK illegally and many of those want exactly what we have here in the US.

Don’t hate on the Brits/Europeans/Asians…. Every country is infected with this weak gun-control type of people. Some more than others. Just look at the man we call President here in the U.S.. Look at some of the gun control bills in IL and Congress he has voted for. factcheck.org.

Wow. A lot of FAIL in the comments, on what was a decent piece of writing.

I understand that there are a lot of readers “Over the pond” so to speak… so those of you in the UK, I ask you this. Why are glass beer mugs, and knives now being considered for ban? If you are simply incompetent enough to need the government to be the vanguards of your own personal safety… then you have a bigger problem than a blog about firearms.

To all the firearm haters, I propose a simple question; Police response times being what they are – which is slower than “right now” – what measures are in place to safeguard yourself or your family from the danger and harm that can be done in the first few minutes of an armed home invasion?

When an evil bastard is intent on killing and raping your wife, or even one of your children… a gun in the hand available for use NOW, is much better than a phone. All the phone will do is summon the clean up crew so they can file some reports, and possibly prosecute a suspect. Doesn’t stop the act dead in it’s tracks.

So, you stick with your phone. I’ll also use the phone… but I tend to rely on a firearm most of the time since a cop is too heavy to carry around with me.

“I have three baseball bats that I turned myself……………………
Common sense rule #1-Never bring a bat to a gunfight.

I have just read the comment I posted I posted and would like to apologize the the spelling and grammatical errors. @ David – In my time I have stopped two women from being raped. The first was with my fists. The second was with a spear gun that I use to hunt sharks. They both lived to see what the inside of a jail cell looks like. I have not killed a man, and never will. I use my guns at the club and nowhere else.

Spot on article, we have a 12 guage shotgun in our home. My dad (i’m 17) keeps it under lock and key and only him and i know the combination and where the storage box even is. I’ve been taught only to take it out in emergencies (aka someone smashing our window in to get inside the house and climbing right in) and never to touch it otherwise.

I regularly venture to the firing range to practice and just to shoot. With the recent break ins (our neighborhood isn’t the best) I admit whole heartedly that knowing a useful tool of protection is in the house, when words and police are useless, is a comforting fact.

Really, if you come into the living room and flick the lights on to see a burly masked man raiding its contents you would be scared. But if you had a cocked shotgun in your hand, I doubt he would try to pick a fight with you or a family member.

A simple “Get the hell out of house” with the tool in hand would scare most individuals off. I will do anything to protect my little sisters and parents, morally rght or wrong.

Dont come to America. We are all armed and ready to fight. I personally own a SigSauer 229 .40, a Smith & Wesson .45 rovolver, several shotguns, several rifles, and am looking for more.

By the way, this 35 lb axe business is more than a little suspect. Few axe heads weigh over five pounds. Fire axes may reach 10 lbs. There are special wood-splitting axes that weigh a little more than that, but swinging around something like that would present more danger to the swinger than to the swingee.

This is entirely fitting in a site about manliness.

It is true that the culture of personal responsibility has been largely eradicated in other countries, but that fact needn’t impede its practice in the U.S. and the other few remaining countries which remain sane in this area of public life.

Gentlemen, one owns (and is trained in the use of) a firearm for the same reason that one knows CPR; the same reason that one has a stash of emergency cash; the same reason that one obtains a Red Cross “water rescue” certification. It’s the same reason you know how to swim, the same reason you know how to operate a fire extinguisher, the same reason why there’s a First Aid kit in your house.

To wit: S*** happens, and, who you gonna call? And if it’s an emergency which needs to be handled immediately and your local 911 response-time is 5-to-8 minutes, what are you going to do in the meantime?

A responsible adult knows he should be standing there with more than his, ahem, gun, in his hand.

In short: If you are a protector — and as a man, probably gifted with upper-body strength superior to the ladies in your life, you should accept that such a gift does come with certain responsibilities — then you are responsible for being able to execute the duties of a protector.

You probably cannot develop the full range of skills of a police officer, any more than learning to use a fire extinguisher means you’re qualified to be a professional firefighter. But that is not the point. The point is: Be as prepared as you practically can manage to be, without being paranoid. Practice safety. Adopt a sober-minded attitude about your responsibility as protector. And if, God forbid, there comes a day you have to make all that practice count for real, you may just be able to prevent harm to yourself and your loved ones.

In the meantime, you’ll have adopted a far healthier attitude about your role in society — about the responsibilities that adulthood brings — than you otherwise would have had, and that’s no bad thing.

Incidentally, I plan on training my daughters in firearms use when they’re old enough. They’re going to be responsible citizens, and they may not have a male protector, professional cop or otherwise, around when they need them most. In my experience women approach this topic with healthier expectations than men: They understand they’re learning to use a fire-extinguisher for a very particular kind of fire; they get past ego concerns quickly and get down to business. This, too, is a sign of responsible adulthood.

If you can’t figure out how to use an automatic pistol, you don’t know enough about firearms to safely or effectively use one.

In fact, if you’re going to this website to figure out what gun to buy: don’t buy one. Go get shooting classes, and really learn the in’s and out’s of shooting. This includes the operation, legalities, and fact that the chances of you getting hurt or dying during an incident go up when you bring your own gun into the situation. Or that you typically get one shot off within a 16 ft. radius of your target before the average person can close the distance and potentially disarm you.

Get the training, and then you should be able to pick out a gun all by yourself like a big boy. By then, hopefully, you won’t be some dumb yahoo with a gun presenting a threat to everyone; you’ll be someone who can make informed firearm decisions and carry them out effectively.

What you Americans need to understand about us ‘other cultures’ not wanting guns in our homes, and being willing to wait for the cops: people breaking in to homes (in our countries anyway), are not there to harm us, they’re there to STEAL. You rattle on about protecting your loved ones from harm, but can you say you’d NOT shoot the intruder if they were merely removing your television? The chance someone is in your home with the intention to injure, kill, rape, or kidnap someone is next to nil, therefore rendering the gun not necessary by that logic alone. So it sounds like you’re protecting your property – putting it before the life of the intruder, in which case I’d argue life (even that of a criminal) is more precious than property.

Further, intruders are likely not armed. If someone broke into my home, the ABSOLUTE LAST thing I would want to do is potentially kill them by firing a gun at them. I couldn’t live with myself knowing I’d taken a life defending my TV.

Yes – it’s a huge cultural difference. Guns evoke disgust in many of us, and the American way of needing guns since the intruders carry them, pity.

I just stumbled across this site and I think it’s awesome! I’m not surprised at the tremendous backlash that this harmless article has unleashed. The era of personal responsibility is gone. Most of the arguments have already been made but I wanted to address a few loose ends.

@Bamn: I would bet that the vast majority of those who own guns for self defense would NOT fire on an intruder to save property and I doubt that anyone is advocating it. The issue is protecting the LIFE and SAFETY of yourself and your LOVED ONES, not your TV. Case in point: My household plan in case of a break in involves hunkering down in my bedroom behind a locked door, my wife on her cell-phone (not land line) dialing 911 and myself with a rifle in .223 trained at the door. Everything on the other side of that door is fair game. If the thief can make it out of the house before the police arrive, it’s his and I won’t stand in his way. Now, if he makes it through the bedroom door, despite my warning that I’m armed, the barking of a pair of hundred pound dogs and the blaring alarm of my security system, and I’ve identified him as an imminent threat, I will open fire. That is MY threshold.

@ those who say there is no way to safely store a firearm and still have it available for protection, thus rendering it useless: There is only one sure way I know of to keep a firearm both secure from those who should not have access and accessible when needed at once – carry it on your person. In my state I’m not allowed to carry a firearm outside of my home or property, so when I get home the holster comes on just like putting my seatbelt on when I get into my car. All my other guns are locked up (I have no children yet, but it’s a good habit to get into). At night, two guns are loaded and kept in my bedroom – a 1911 handgun in .45ACP (if I have to venture outside of my bedroom for any reason) and a Saiga AK rifle in .223. In the morning both guns are returned to the safe when I leave the house. Simple, really.

I can’t believe some of the responses to this article.

“A phone is your best self-defense option; just call the cops.”

Are you kidding me? Do you really believe that a criminal will wait until the cops show up before they break in? What are you going to do for the 5-10 minutes it takes for the police to arrive?

If you don’t want a firearm, don’t buy one. Criticizing those who choose to protect their families serves no purpose, and just makes you look bad.

I’d like to interject my own opinions on this post. As a police officer and something of a shooting enthusiast, I feel I can share a bit of insight on this subject. From the National Firearms Act to the Assault Weapons Ban, from Australia to Great Brittain, many gun control laws have been enacted to “protect the innocent people from the big bad gun toating criminals” and none of them have been successful. These laws are obeyed by law abiding citizens and ignored by criminals. What people tend to forget is that criminals are criminals because they tend to disobey laws. I’ve been a police officer in what would be considered a farely large metropoliton police department. I’ve worked numerous home invasions, some of which have ended in fatalities, others that have resulted in parents and children being beaten and assaulted in front of their families. I have some pretty strong feelings regarding the 2nd amendment and I do believe that it was enacted at least on some part to allow citizens from defending themselves against the possibilities of a tyranical government. All those “gun nut” cliche’s aside, there are bad people in this world that would love more than anything to kick in your door and find you unarmed and defenseless so that they can rape your wife and/or daughter and drain all your bodily fluids. If you think it doesn’t happen, you’re dead wrong and you could end up dead one of these days because of it. I, and many other police officers, believe that the old saying “An armed society is a polite society” is true. You’re never going to create a law that stops all bad people from doing bad things but if you disarm the law abiding citizens, you’re making it a lot easier for the bad guys.
On the subject of the actuall article that sparked all this debate, I have to say that for the most part, I agree totally. Although I believe that any gun is better than no gun, there are definately some choices that could prove more effective than others.
Beginning with the pump action shotgun, I 100% agree and the two choices given would be my first two choices (especially the Remington 870).
As for the question of which is better a revolver or a semi auto, I both agree and disagree. If you are the type of person who is going to buy it, load it, hide it and never practice or train, a revolver is absolutely the best choice. As for those of you who would be willing to take the time to learn to use your new tool, I believe a semi-auto would be your best choice. There are reasons for why I feel this way.First of all, most of the violent crimes I’ve been witness too or that I have worked on the police department have been commited by groups of two or three and sometimes more bad guys. Revolvers generally have a limited capacity of either 5 or 6 shots depending on the caliber, make and model of the gun. Modern high capacity semi-auto handguns such as my own Glock 22C (fires a .40 S&W) can have capacities as high as 15 to 17 rounds and many others can carry between 7 and 10 rounds. These numbers include the magazine in the gun and a round in the chamber. This doesn’t include extra magazines that can carry additional rounds and can be reloaded much more quickly than a revolver. You may be thinking well my dad’s old S&W .38 held 6 rounds and that’s three a piece for 2 bad guys but……. what if you miss? Many, many gunfights have been documented by the FBI between law enforcement officers and bad guys over the years and among them, there have been a tremendous number of gunfights where nobody was ever even hit. I’m in no way saying that the best shooters in the world are law enforcement officers, however that being said, cops train and practice with their weapons regularly. Most officers will fire more rounds thru their issued duty weapon that the average citizen will fire in their entire life. People don’t necessarily shoot so well in real life or death situations. Most of the time they point the gun and jerk the trigger until they hear the hammer fall on an empty cylinder or their slide locks to the rear. If you are going to miss, even 1/3 of the time, you had better be ready to reload or have enough capacity to make up for your misses.
My next reason for being an advocate of semi-auto handguns is more from a personal perspective than anything. My fiance’, who I am proud to say has a significant amount of trigger time under her belt, recently told me she’d like to have a revolver. I believe her reasoning was “because they’re sexy.” We did some looking and found a hammerless Smith .38 Spec in a nice looking glossy nickle finish with pink grips. She was very excited to take it out and shoot it. She couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with it. She was let down and we may very well have wasted money on it. This phenomenon is something I’ve seen before, it seems that quite a few people, even people who shoot regularly seem to have difficulty shooting a revolver as accurately as they do a semi- auto. Most semi autos have lighter, shorter trigger pulls and I believe this is probably the cause of the difficulty she experienced. Now, this being said, many people have a completely opposite experience.
My third and final reason is also taken from personal experience. I understand the perspective the article above was written in but I have one major problems with revolvers. Glock doesn’t make a revolver. The reliability of Glock handguns has been mentioned but I’m going to give my own personal example. My issed duty weapon is a Glock 22C. It is a full size, compensated .40 S&W semi auto handgun. It has a capacity of 15 + 1 rounds. It has glow in the dark night sights. I have personally put several thousand rounds thru it of varying quality under conditions varying from hot and sunny to snowy, rainy and cold and have yet to have a failure. It is the most simple to operate, durable and functional weapon I’ve ever owned or had issued to me (I was also a soldier in the US Army). I trust it with my life and the lives of my family members.
I’ll end with this. Please, for the sake of your friends, family members and anyone else within range, if you are going to obtain a firearm for home defense purposes, sport, or other reasons, get training. Any reputable gun store or sporting goods store can direct you to a range or training facility where you can obtain training on how to use your weapon, it’s capabilities and it’s limitations. Learn to use your weapon and be comfortable with it.

Simple facts: 1. You will either be attacked one day, or you won’t be. 2. If that day comes, you will either be armed and ready, or you won’t be. 3. If you are attacked and are armed, you will more likely survive the attack; if you are attacked and are unarmed, you will suffer property loss, injury or death. 4. If you are never attacked, your preparation is irrelevant. Now, you carry home owner/fire/flood/auto/health insurance, something you pay for year after year, in case disaster strikes. Buying and carrying a gun costs you ONCE and you are covered forever. Preparation for potential misfortune is the reason for insurance. That’s also what a gun is. How do they differ?

There is a lot of national chauvinism going on in these comments, and I’m only happy to add to it! I’m a supporter of decreasing those restrictions here on firearms that were increased due to some unfortunate shootings, so I’m not anti-gun per se.

However one big difference I can see is fear. I’ve seen commentators call Englishmen cowards, ponies to their police state, irresponsible etcetera. All of this delightful nonsense for not maintaining a small armoury with which to repel boarders. However, I know of none of my compatriots in England who actively worry about psychopathic homicidal “bad guys” staging a “home invasion” (in 22 years I’ve had a bike stolen, last year).

So is it actually differences in environment, in the UK are criminals less likely to stage an assault on property ’strapped’, or perhaps it is because we are all cowardly and would rather fly the white flag than take the ‘ultimate responsibility’? (I confess to hearing those words as if the speaker was impolitely committing autofellatio)

Now reply that my lack of fear is ultimately hubris in whatever shape, and the only wise choice, as made by the good feller above, is to strap a firearm to your waist the second you get home (and keep vigilant patrol)!

Now I’ll go smoke my pipe and worry about football.

@Jack Oct 1st: Thanks, Short Sweet and To the Point.

If anyone is still following or reads this far this late in the game:
https://www.frontsight.com/free-gun.asp
Awesome training, realistic attitudes, good semi-auto gun that you’ll be able to shoot (and shoot well).
When you go home after you’ll have a whole new respect for the weapon and your skills with it.

To the article: Great post and thank you!

“The .40 S&W was created by the FBI to allow for additional stopping power over the 9mm.” i would like to point out that this is a false statment the 40 smith&wesson was created by smith&wesson throught a gov. contract to replace the 10mm because it was found to have to much penetration where the 40 s&w is in the same brass as the 10mm but has been cut down in legth

Stepping up to the plate and being a man is merely a matter of doing all that is necessary to protect your wife and children in and outside your home, besides providing for their daily care.

A firearm is simply a necessary tool to help even the odds at the very least, and hopefully, tip them in your favor in this wicked world when the need arises.

Years ago when I tried to convince a friend to buy a gun, he told me he just didn’t want to bring a gun into his home. Irrational fear of guns on the part of honest citizens will keep them out of their hands, but not criminal hands. If you are afraid of bringing own gun into your home, imagine how fearful you’ll be when a criminal brings his into your home. At that point, wishful thinking will do you no good. Wake up, and wise up!

Those alarm commercials that show a break-in, and the breathless victim running and reaching for a phone to hear the consoling voice of the alarm rep make me sick. Alarms do not always scare the criminal away. They know they have at least 2 or 3 minutes with you before help arrives, and maybe even 15 or 20. A lot of disagreeable things can be done to you and your loved ones in that time.

Fear of guns is based on either a lack of knowledge of them, or a distrust of oneself. The first can be easily rectified. The solution is called education. The second reason may require a pastor or psychiatrist.

Crime does not just occur in high-crime areas, it can happen anywhere at any time. Prudence and wisdom call for all to be prepared.

Phil Evans

The best gun is the one that you are comfortable with in regards to ALL aspects of usage thereof. That includes physical handling abilities and safe storage (got kids?!), ability to actually hit what you want to hit under stress, the psychological ability to actually pull the trigger on a human being and enough knowledge of legal issues surrounding your self-defense laws and legal ramifications of using a weapon.
If you are not completely confident in every single aspect listed above, you should decide against ownership/carrying until you have acquired more training.

I could only read so many posts and I had to quit. I have a 10 year old boy who can hit golf balls at 25 yards 10 for 10. I have a 6 year old girl who just graduated from bb guns to rifles. Next year the boy will graduate to shooting trap with semi automatic scoped rifles. There is only one place to learn to shoot a gun and that is on the range. Preferably being instructed by someone who really knows what they are doing. It is like any other sport. The more you practice and compete the better you will be. The better you are the more likely you will be able to survive a violent confrontation. There are some additional skills that will be needed if that is your goal, there are many shooting instructors who can help you out. Check out Gunsite, Chuck Taylor’s ASAA, Gabriel Suarez, Fistfire, Massad Ayoob, to name a few. There are many others be sure to check them out and spend your money wisely. The firearms community is a friendly group who will welcome you and help you with training, and guess what, you’ll actually find yourself in the company of some real men.

Hi,

I loved your site! Just wanted to mention a book I read, called “The Collapse of 2013″ by Hartland. Very, very patriotic and pro second amendment. I think you would enjoy it.

Michelle Chanlon

ps, I have a Ruger Mk11 and shoot CCI Stingers. Is that good for home protection? I am a range qualified shooter.

I don’t understand why there are so few moderate opinions about gun control.
First of all, all Europeans aren’t pussies and all Americans aren’t trigger-happy lunatics who are “programmed to kill.” Aren’t we adults? Are you all crazy or something?
Second of all, both sides argue “Well where do we draw the line?” I am always just shocked at how stupid this question is. The line is drawn already. Can you read? Do you live here and are aware of the laws? It’s drawn, and if either side had any sense they’d realize it’s a pretty reasonable compromise. We can have semi-auto guns as long as they fit certain, pretty loose criteria. No full-autos unless they are made before 1986 and the government is pretty sure you’re not crazy. We can have pistols and it’s up to the state to decide if we can walk around with them in our backpacks all day. The gun control debate more often sounds like a bunch of middle schoolers calling each other names.
Your statistics and hypothetical situations need to be taken with a grain of salt. What happens if you kid gets curious and finds a gun? I dunno, how old are they? Have you explained gun safety to them? Is your family generally pretty high intelligence and capable of learning things like “Hey, this is a gun, here’s what it does. Don’t touch it, okay?” I don’t mean that sarcastically. Some kids are just dumb, and won’t understand that kind of thing. If they are, you need to look at owning a firearm as a function of the likelihood of your kid finding it versus the likelihood of being attacked, and go from there. There isn’t a right answer for everyone. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I just wish having an opinion in America didn’t mean sticking to your opinion and blindly dumping every other well-thought-out and intellectual piece of information out the window, or negating it with situational evidence (“having a gun is a bad idea because this many of this bad thing happens every this often” or “having a gun is a good idea because this many people defend this many people this many times every year”). Guns, politics, everything nowadays seems to stem from a complete failure on someone’s part to think for themselves. For me, myself, it makes sense to own a gun. That doesn’t mean it makes sense for everyone else, just like if my neighbor had legitimate reasons for not owning a gun, it doesn’t immediately mean that I should go out and sell mine. FFS, detach your balls from your opinions for once, there is very seldom one right and one wrong answer in a situation.

Take away the guns, and only the criminals will have them. Did you ever think about that??? Ya know I guess I could use my phone for self defense but personally my throwing arm is a little weak and i think my 12 ga with the 3 1/2 inch BB shell sitting in the chamber is much more accurate, and could probably do more damage.

Either a handgun or a shotgun will do the job if you know how to use it, but just make sure you have some lighting system with it. There’s been a lot of accidents from a family member arriving home unexpectedly.

Anonymous – if you need 30 rounds to stop an intruder, work on your aim or move out of downtown Baghdad. Also, an AK round has amazing penetrating power. We don’t want to shoot through walls and kill someone else do we? The right gun is dependent on each person’s situation. Do you live alone or with kids? Are you in a house in the country, suburbs or in an apartment? Do you have time/money to commit to learning to shoot well and remaining proficient? Do you have the knowledge to teach your household about gun safety? Trained professionals have a hard time hitting a target less than 10 feet away in stressful situations – are you willing to practice a lot? Do you know the laws of where you live? Are you willing to kill a human being? You may only wound, but there is no difference in the justification for killing and wounding. “If you’re not justified to kill, then you’re not justified to wound.”

The right choice for you will take a great deal of research and soul searching. You can’t trust the opinions of posters to these forums – you never know the level of experience and knowledge of the poster.

I agree that your choice of self defense is all depending on your situation and needs. For my needs, an AK47 serves me fine, where as others may want something different. It all depends on the person and his/her needs. That is the best response to someone looking for the best home defense item.

The best gun for HD is the AR15.

Glad I live in a free country, and have a set.

If you equate owning a gun to manliness your a wuss from the get go. Otherwise my daughter and wife would be swinging some big testicles. Now if your equating the ability to defend yourself and loved ones by any means necessary, manliness abounds. Pardon my brashness here but I’m not in the mood to pussyfoot around…to the ones who think a cell phone is a defensive tactic….your idiots. An old saying goes well here. “When seconds count, the cops will be there in minutes.” If your wife or child are being assualted who do you want there…..someone with a cellphone or someone with a gun? If you say cellphone I say your hung like a hampster. Human history and nature has a strong element of violence. Nothing is going to change that….ever. The only viable option is equal or greater violence. When done for purely self-defensive reasons it is a morally acceptable. For me it is unacceptable to allow myself to be a target without the means to counter a threat. It’s a violent and dangerous world we live in gentleman. I’m sure there are those among you who feel my viewpoint is severe. Too bad. This is how I see it. If your willing to die on your knees, have at it. I’m responding to a threat.

ErSwnn, right on. I agree with you. Guns that keep the world free (if they are in the right hands, such as hands of civilians). So that citizens may be able to defend themselves from tyranical governments.

I agree that calling the police is the best solution before shooting the guy breaking into your place but in large cities, like Los Angeles, there is often a delay in the response from the LAPD, Culver City PD, Santa Monica PD, LA Sheriffs, whoever answers the call.

It is not out of their own apathy but they are overburdened as police force. Policing cities that are dense and spread out is difficult. Within the 10-15 minutes it may take police to respond you may be called upon to protect yourself. I will concede that owning a gun is treating a symptom of an overtaxed police system but until then I’d like to have ways to protect myself until the police do arrive.

A few criticisms of the article: Starting with a discussion of the OK Corral was in bad taste. It only furthers the stereotype of gun owners as cowboys who have itchy trigger fingers. I think that most people would hope they would never have to use their firearms for their intended purpose: shooting an intruder.

Where was the discussion of gun safety and security? There are ways to own a gun safely in a household with children. There are gun safety courses that impart the ability to use a gun correctly and safely while instilling a sense of respect for what you hold in your hands.

Where was the discussion of the legal liability involved with shooting someone? In California, for example, you don’t have free reign to shoot any and every intruder who enters your home. In fact, you open yourself up to legal liability if you do manage to shoot someone. Does there need to be a 50-state discussion of home security jurisprudence? No.

The article is great at introducing which firearms may be the most useful for home security but it neglects to include a discussion of the responsibilities of owning a gun and that is the most important part of owning a gun.

Oddly enough our (United States) Founders actually wanted the citizenry to own firearms primarily so we could defend ourselves from our own government if it became too overbearing.

Criminal defense and defense against invaders is well and good, but the sentinel effect it has on our political leaders is what the Founders really wanted. You can read the writings of Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, George Mason, Patrick Henry, and others and see that this is so.

It’s not about actively killing people. You foreigners need to understand that in America our primary military is not our Army, Navy, or Air Force. It is the armed People, the vaunted militia of the Second Amendment. According to the Founders, the citizen-soldiers of our nation are to outnumber and out gun our standing military so that it may never be used as a club to subject us to the whims of tyrants.

We’re unique. A new breed of nation. The Japanese left us alone at the beginning of World War II because of our militia. They feared to invade the American mainland because they our citizen soldiery was the most formidable military we have. That enabled us to spend our resources saving Europe from Nazi domination.

One might not be too wildly speculating if he said that we would not have been able to expend those resources without our citizen soldiery, and that consequently we would not have been able to enter the European theater.

I shan’t give up my firearms. I enjoy them and use them to ensure the safety of myself, my family, my State, my country, and their respective rights. I also appreciate this article and hope that this blog will continue to recognize firearms as manly (They are! As has been stated, many firearms are so powerful the majority of the fairer sex finds them difficult to handle.) and publish more articles on them.

Maybe if you lived on a ranch or a remote area… Using an AK as a home defense weapon even when your next door neighbor is 100 feet away is a very bad idea.

“Anonymous December 30, 2009 at 1:09 am
I agree that your choice of self defense is all depending on your situation and needs. For my needs, an AK47 serves me fine, where as others may want something different. It all depends on the person and his/her needs. That is the best response to someone looking for the best home defense item.”

For home defense, a lady should learn to use a short barreled shotgun of the highest gauge she can comfortably handle. 20 gauge is about the smallest you want to use, however. Smaller than that and you’re not going to pack enough punch. Pump action or semi-automatic loaded with .00 or .000 buckshot will give you enough firepower to take down a few men if you place your shots well.

For defense of the person in public, I would recommend a revolver chambered in .38 caliber +P or .357 magnum if you can become comfortable with the power and recoil. Alternatively, an automatic handgun chambered in 9mm +P is also powerful enough to kill someone and the recoil is very manageable. In any handgun you should load jacketed hollow-point +P rounds (JHP +P) for defense. They travel faster and expand more than full metal jacket (FMJ) rounds.

Your analysis is correct! A firearm is much more deterring than a rape alarm. The report of a gunshot does two things. One, it raises the stakes for your would-be aggressor. Rape with the chance of escape or mere incarceration is one thing. Rape with a high chance of being gunned down and bleeding to death in the street is an entirely different prospect. Two, gunfire is more effective at getting attention than a rape alarm.

I stumbled upon this article completely by accident and I am amazed at the various responses. I want to start by pointing out that in the us nearly 59million people live in a rural area. If someone breaks into your home it isn’t a few minutes until the deputy shows up it could be as much as 10, 15, 20 minutes or even longer.

Anyone familiar with the true crime novel “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote knows that 10 minutes is more than enough time for home intruders to murder your entire family.

In a much earlier response someone quoted Ghandi as saying that nothing was worth killing for… Apparently Ghandi never had to sit and watch as his wife/ daughter was raped and then murdered by a home invader.

The saddest thing is that most of the gun deaths that occur in the U.S. occur in urban areas and are gang related. As an advocate of responsible legal gun ownership I wish to point out that cities in states which permit concealed carry of a gun have overall lower gun crime numbers than those states which do not permit concealed carry and even more specifically cities which have outright bans on handgun ownership. When a criminal is faced with the fact that any potential victim might be armed they are more likely to think twice about committing a crime than a criminal in a city which has banned handguns.

Guns are not glorious, they are not manly, they are not toys.

What they are is a deterrent, a very convincing and very powerful deterrent.

If you live somewhere where the police can respond within a minute or two then by all means call them and wait. I, however, will never stand by and watch as a home invader rapes my child and murders my family.

I empathize deeply with those who are anti-gun, however, firearm deaths are overwhelmingly the result of criminals battling other criminals. I live in a major city where people are caught in the crossfire of gang battles nearly every day. My city has a long-standing ban on handguns. Handguns are overwhelmingly the type of firearm used in homicides in the city. Our mayor is staunchly anti handgun but has also said that there should be a shotgun in every umbrella stand. A shotgun in the hands of a responsible and properly trained homeowner is an amazing deterrent. Very few criminals will stay to fight upon hearing the sound of a 12-gauge cartridge being chambered. it’s as simple as that.

Until all guns are taken out of the hands of all criminals in the US I will always be a gun owner. Thomas Jefferson himself once said that the beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be necessary until someone attempts to take it away. Lastly and in my eyes most importantly, the Constitution of the United States of America REQUIRES the population to overthrow our government in the instance that it has become tyrannical, by force if necessary. The second amendment was added to the constitution to ensure that Americans would never again succumb to tyrannical rule. Imagine a government, which knows full well that the majority or it’s citizens are gun owners, attempting martial law or despotic rule. When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

I’m surprised to see so many “men” here are against guns. Every man must have a gun. You’re supposed to be a protector, you’re supposed to stand up and in times of crisis, be it a simple home invasion or defending civil liberties, if the need arises.

Bad guys don’t care about laws, they can get guns with no problem. By not arming yourself, you become a silly victim, that puts in jeopardy yourself and those who are around you by not being able to repel serious threats.

There was a story that I remember reading about not too long ago. A few armed robbers broke into a backdoor of a house (and it was not a rural area, it was downtown). There was a man and his girlfriend at that place. The man was unarmed and didn’t have any guns at his house. The men simply walked in, pointed a gun at him, tied him up and started raping his girlfriend. Then took valuables and left.

Now, what kind of man allows this to happen? A girlie one. If he had a shotgun, a simple slide lock sound would most likely send these burglars running for dear life, no need to even fire.

If you want to see what’s really going on in the world, read some crime reports, find a website that shows crime in your local neighborhood (google crime maps or something). Watch some videos of stabbings, assaults, robberies. After tasting a bit of reality and looking past your little sheltered bubble, you may realize that you’re not as safe as you think you are. And if shit hits the fan and you’re bare handed… then outcome can be just about anything.

First let me say that I love the site, the style, the info etc….GREAT JOB and keep up the GREAT WORK! Secondly, If I do not like (or am surprised) by some content, I can turn it off or click on something else. If I am scarred for life by the content I would probably choose not to visit again. For “christsake” people, deal with it and move on, if you like it STAY, if you do not like the content GO, it is ultimately your CHOICE.

On firearms information specifically……I’m surprised there are not MORE firearms related articles on this FINE website! What is more manly than providing food for your family that YOU have hunted, prepared, and put on the table? Firearms are not just used to kill people.

Thanks again for a GREAT and INFORMATIVE site. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!

OK, i have read many of you say if a intruder sees you have a gun he will shoot you. why do you have a gun and just stand there. you have a gun for a reason. use it if someone is going to hurt you or your family. you dont buy a gun to look at it. self defence means useing the firearm to protect your family and yourself. And storing it in you house, lock it up. if it has a combo lock and you are the only on with the combo and never keep the ammo with the gun. simple. And your kids should know to not touch things that arent theres. well i guess im the only one that teachs there kid to listen to their parents. im done talking to you people.

Great post, the anti-gun commenters simply don’t know what they’re talking about. If someone breaks into your house, and you call the police, it could be 20-30 minutes before they arrive, you could very well be dead or your loved ones raped in that time.

I am by no means a gun expert, but I think the maneuverability of the shotgun should have been addressed. A handgun is easier to draw and maneuver around a house. If you’re moving around a corner with a shotgun, it’s easier for the assailant to grab the barrel. But great article, don’t let the anti’s get you down.

I totally agree with this article!

Along with my CCW License, I carry the Glock 23 which I believe to be one of the best self-defensive pistols. It is .40 cal and inbetween the 9mm and the 45 cal. The 40 actually has more velocity than the 45, meaning it will get there faster and actually apply more shock to your attacker. The 45 can make a nice hole, but if you do not get it to the correct location of the body, that person will still be able to continue to shoot back.

The second amendment gives us Americans the RIGHT to protect ourselves and if you read it yourself, you will see the number ONE reason is to protect yourself from our government. Without the American citizen armed, the governing elitists will have full control over you as they have and continue to implement.

Buy a gun, get licensed and trained and if you have kids, train them also as that will likely stop any accidents from occurring within the home. Their curiosity will be put to rest.

Be a Man… Take a stand for your rights… Get and stay armed!
It is a proven fact that when the criminals know you have a gun, they will much less likely to try anything with you.

I was raised to believe “it is better to have one (a gun) and not need it than to need one and not have it”. I have no issue with the laws/viewpoints found in other countries, but here in the US, if you don’t have one, you may well be found wanting! This country is saturated with illegal weapons. It is by far easier in my state to buy one on the street that to buy one in a gun shop. It’s unfortunate, but true… if we make guns a crime, only criminals will have guns.

By the way if you get a handgun get a glock best one out there.

I skimmed over the article, and from the parts I read, I thought it was a fine article. All these responses about it being disapointing and terrorable and blah blah blah, what? Really? Where I live, very few people DONT own a firearm. It’s part of my culture, and most of my friends as well, we all grew up hunting and handling firearms together. I dont know about laws on firearm ownership in other countries, but just having a firearm in my bed room gives me a sense of security.

Ok. Everyone complaining about guns and how dangerous they are…. CALM DOWN!!!! If you did indeed read the article you would have read that GUN SAFETY is a vital part of the article. It explains basic use and reliability of guns. Yes guns are weapons and should have a safe to be put in. People get too sensitive. If you ban guns you know who will still have them? Criminals… Drugs are banned. who has them sells them hmmmmm criminals. So before you get on your high horse about how dangerous guns use a little c.s. and calm down. Guns are great and great for defense heaven forbid you ever have to use one, but the peace of mind is important.

WOW. isn’t this America, we have the right to bare arms. Just because some of you mambsy pamsbys have never seen a gun doesn’t mean people shouldn’t have the right to own one. I served in the Marines for four years, I did what I did so you ass holes could have the rights that you deserve. Get a life and a set of balls.

I am a career criminal who started out breaking into cars during my teenage years to support my drug addiction. Then I moved on to burgurlizing homes since there were higher value items in the homes than there were in the vehicles. I was a little hesitant to break into homes at first. Not because the resident will call the police, but in fear of the occupant being there and doing something to me. The police will take a while, but a really big guy or a gun owner would stop me instantly. With the police I have a chance to do my dirty work and get away. Then I realized that I was in California and the gun laws were very strict. The probability of the resident being huge or owning a gun was slim. Committing crimes in California was easy. I guess that is why there is so much crime there. Unfortunately, long after committing the actual crimes the police found me and I served time on different occasions. I eventually received two strikes, so I moved from California to Alaska to prevent a third strike and a life sentence. Cautiously I only break into cars now. Alaska has a right to carry law and most citizens use their rights there. Committing crimes in Alaska is tough; I guess that is why their crime rate is a lot lower than that of states with strict gun laws. Weird isn’t it?

Many posts ago Nick talked about the comments referencing Nazis as being stupid. Well Nick, before the blitz England was begging for guns to be used to fight off the planned Nazi invasion, as they had not nearly enough guns available to accomplish this task. Americans being good hearted towards our English cousins sent thousands of guns (many of them privately owned) over the pond to help the effort.
The fact that they ended up not being used against Nazi infantry is only due (to paint with a broad brush) to the incompetence of Herman Goering and the very manly use of Hurricanes and Spitfires armed with,,,,,, you guessed it, machine guns!

Being a firearms instructor, a career police officer, former SWAT guy, former military, a hunter and outdoors man, I have an interest an quite a bit of training with firearms. I find some of the technical information in the article subjective or inaccurate, but the article is mostly well written, and I welcomed seeing it in a non-gun venue.

As to the various Hoplophobic comments directed towards this article, you gentlemen need some therapy to deal with the irrational fears you harbor towards an inanimate object.

Particularly amusing are the comments from folks with no gun knowledge, from a non-gun culture, towards what may or may not happen in a self defense situation involving guns.

As a career street cop I can strongly echo the comments about realistic response times and what one can expect from the police, and their inability to defend folks from criminal assault.

Comments such as “Plus, the vast majority of home invasions are by people who don’t want to hurt you, they just want your stuff. While this is wrong and illegal, it is not a crime punishable by death, and you have no right to execute them for their crime. Talk your way out of the situation, don’t open fire” are so completely off base as to make me wonder what planet the poster lives on.

I’ll give you a clue Greg, most home invasions involve extreme violence and physical assault of the victims, often involve sexual assault, and you are in the hands of very high end criminals as to whether you live or die.
No thanks. Kick my door in=get shot. Col. Jeff Cooper was very correct is stating “The proper response to an armed robbery is a shot armed robber”.

It is in fact a manly trait to provide both for the common defense and for the defense of one’s self and family, using the best tolls for this job just makes sense.

One of the advantages of being a street cop is the amount of personal experience that validates or invalidates the information and/or BS being put out via various studies, etc.
The whole “you are more likely to be shot if you own a gun” and similar BS is so far from the truth it falls in to “The Big Lie” category.

I enjoyed the article and the concise technical references and found the information useful in directing my additional purchases for home defense…in addition to my 9mm.

What amazed me was the degree of whinning about the article and the references to manhood. Japan postponed invasion plans of the US west coast during WWII due to the known numbers of citizens with guns. My father once stopped a naked man trying to break in to a neighbors home (lone wife and two young daughters) with a single shot of my 22 cal. over his head. This was in a really nice upscale neighborhood. Arrested and charged he was later released with just probation. Let your imagination complete this scene had it not been for an armed neighbor willing to get involved. Note too, more children die in pools than by guns. Don’t think for a moment that a phone call to 911 is going to save you if a criminal so desires to invade your home. Stop thinking that the government has the ability to always protect you; that is your obligation. Like the Boy Scouts’ motto: Be prepared. For when you need a gun is no time to be wishing you had one. And last, it is really stupid to show up to a gunfight with just a knife. Gun control is safely securing one’s gun when not in use and being able to hit your target when desired.

what a bunch of pansies talking about ” if someone breaks into your house, just try to call the cops”. Hate to tell you, but if someone steps foot inside my house at night, your getting two in the chest and two in the head. Also, I would really hate to live somewhere where “you go straight to jail” if you shoot someone regardless of the circumstances. Where I’m from, you get a pat on the back and the sheriff buys you a beer on Friday night. Just so you know, I’m a lawyer by trade.

I Can’t believe the comments by these emasculated European and Canadian men above me. One of the most important aspects of manliness is self-reliance. Any man who cares about his family should own a firearm. Especially if you live in an area where the police might not be able to respond quickly.

Well written and useful description.

Great article Brett. I suppose it’s not for everyone. The way things are today, in practically any country, the “bad” guys are much more prepared to take what you cherish than you are to prevent it from happening. My wife and I are looking at purchasing a handgun and shotgun for home defense. We are going to take classes provided at the local range, and familiarize ourselves greatly with both weapons before safely securing them in our home. We have worked hard to create the family and environment we have, and I’ll be damned if someone with no regard for property or life is going to come into our home to try and take that away. Yes, a phone is a very useful tool when defending your home. I want to be able to call the police to come get the dead idiot off my floor.

I think it’s funny how when it comes to firearms we always reference statistics about accidental deaths as a reason to keep them out of peoples hands. Our approach as a culture in the U.S. tends to focus on regulation it seems from my perspective. How privileged we are to live in a society where we don’t have to worry as much about crime like you might find of the streets of Afghanistan right now. At the same time though we as a culture shouldn’t alienate our own population by limiting our rights simply because the need is diminished. While completely different issues compare our approach to an issue like teen pregnancy compared to gun control. To address the issue of teen pregnancy we push education in our schools and other public forums. To address the issue of accidental weapons fatalities we push regulation. Could deaths be prevented by taking all the guns out of peoples hands? sure. Is that something that we should do to our population? probably not. Education is a powerful tool that we don’t push with firearms because it give the appearance that education is promotion to own a weapon. I think we need to re-examine the way upon which we address issues in America. We need to stop preventing people from making choices with new laws, rather we should punish the unjust actions with harsher penalties. Am I concerned that If I own a gun it will accidently go off and kill someone? heck no, thats why I keep it locked and unloaded. Am I worried about the guys in the city next to me who have illegal weapons? yes! and no regulations are going to keep guns out of their hands, yet when they are arrested for it they are out in a few weeks.

For those looking for a useful tip when it comes to home defense. If your going to use a shotgun DON’T use 00 buckshot. Buckshot can go through multiple walls and that might injure a family member elsewhere in the house. Birdshot is just as lethal and can only really penetrate through 1 wall. I doubt your intruders will be wearing any body armor!

Well… I guess I will give my “Latino gentleman” view concerning fire arms. I grew up in a Latin American country where the sole idea of having a gun was considered BRUTAL and almost CRIMINAL. Not to mention that obtaining the permit to have a gun was nearly impossible. Well, what was (and is) quite interesting is that the BAD GUYS (usually FAR LEFT extremist such as MRTA, Shinning Path, Las FARC, etc) always seem to have guns and of course being the cowards they are… well, they tried not to face the regular military… see, the military HAS GUNS … they always attacked the civilians who they KNEW HAD NO GUNS, like my grandmother and uncles. One night, a column of 20 “heroic guerrilleros,” product of the wonderful ideas spread by Che Guevara, Castro, Marx, Mao, and so on, went into my grandmother’s finca (farm), raped one of my aunts, executed two of the workers, robbed them of all of their provisions for the winter, and slaughtered ALL of their animals for meat… this, after being harassed for hours by these “heroes de la revolucion popular.”

So, what is your point Antonio??? Well, I always wondered if the story would have been different IF my uncles and their workers would have been armed? They knew that this guerrilla party was coming eventually… but they just sat there… scared, powerless, unable to do anything to defend themselves… They knew that if they escaped, that they would be hunted down, like others were… so they just waited for their turn to be abused.

Because of this environment of violence I had the BLESSING to be sent by my parents to the US, and was able to become an American, learn about the 2nd amendment of the American Constitution, an became to the realization that it WAS OK for me to use a tool (in this case a gun), train with it (just as you would with a soccer ball, or a drill), and defend my life, my beautiful wife’s, and my neighbors’ if need be. Since that moment of AWAKENING and CLARITY, I have promised myself that I will not be my uncles, and that I will use the RIGHTS that my “paternal” country allows in order NOT to be a defenseless victim.

In my experience in the “1st world” (15 years) I have encountered that people born in “rich countries” believe that violence like the one I described above WILL NEVER happen “here.” People believe that EVIL is a monopoly of the poor countries in the Tropics, Africa, or the Middle East. Think again friend, think again! CIVILIZATION IS UNNATURAL. It is a man made environment that is as fragile as the citizens willing to defend it.

By the way, I own a Mossberg 500. It is a very, very nice gun. I train with it often. If you are planning on buying a home defense gun, BUY THIS ONE! Pistols, revolvers, and rifles are for people that train often AND who ALSO have a cool head under stress. A shot gun allows you to not be an outstanding marksman and still hit your target even if you got out of bed, it is dark, and you are afraid (which is normal). This is in NO WAY excuse to avoid constant training with your weapon, proper upkeep, and preparing before hand for a home invasion. I advice that you get the 181/2 inch barrel. It is simply fantastic for close quarters, allowing you to clear corners with relative comfort. Also, install a weapon light on your gun, preferably one with a remote switch. In a home invasion you could have only a few minutes to be weapons ready. It is very nice, I say this from experience, to have your flashlight and gun ready to go without wasting precious time. This is of course the opinion of a civilian who knows some about guns, but who takes his RGHT to bear arms seriously.

I hope not to have “stirred the pot” with this comment. However, I feel gentleman understand that this matters require bluntness and sincerity. I just wanted to bring a little bit of the CRUDE REALITY of my experience to the conversation, considering that we are talking about our lives and property.

Many blessings to all…

To all who disagree with owning a firearm hear me out, this man has obviously said YOU HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO USE IT, USE CAUTION. imagine a man comes in your house or meets you on the street with a gun, he is going to kill you and rob you if you don’t do something, but he is at distance so you can’t physically get the gun away before he shoots you, this happened to my father in law who has a carry permit, he pulled the gun and the dude ran, no one was hurt, it’s not about killing someone it’s about scaring them into submission, defending yourself, if they are caught off gaurd and have a gun in THEIR face they will probably leave. You can say it will never happen to me, but how many people has it happened to that say the same.
What if that man comes into your house with a gun, you freeze because you have no way to defend yourself, he backs you into a corner with the gun pointed at your face while he rapes your wife, you’ll wish you had a gun, yeah its a bit harsh, but how many people do you think it happens to?
I am not saying buy a gun to kill someone, buy it and handle it with caution, take it to a range, get familiar with it, and if you have to pull it hope you don’t have to use it, if you do use it, do it because your life or your family is in danger. I have guns that I take to the range because fireing a gun while smoking a cigar and drinking an IBC root beer is my favorite way to relax, it is a great streass relief, if you haven’t tried it do it, you’ll love it, but i do have one by the bed just incase someone wants to come into my house with the intention to kill and or steal. the moral is keep it safe, don’t buy just to kill, they can be relaxing and fun.

I read that many people beleive that having a gun makes you more vulnerable to being shot. Or that criminals should just be allowed to take you belongings while you cower in the closet. It’s disturbing to me. I also can not beleive that you would be charged with anything for shooting a armed intruder that came into your house, especially if you have a family. In fact technically you dont even have to be in danger, you just have to have a reasonable belief at the time that you or your family is in immediate danger.
One thing is for sure you should not pull a gun on an intruder unless you are an experienced and accurate shooter. Second if your not willing to pull the trigger using a gun will get you shot! Third, you should always call the police, but police are a reactive force. Which means that most of the time the crime has already been commited by the time they get there. In the right hands a gun can be your savior, in the wrong hands it will get you killed. The judgement is up to the individual.

I just wanted to throw in my two cents. This article is talking about self defense. In saying self defense it does not mean that you are shooting to kill. No one ever said that when you shoot a firearm you have to shoot the intruder in the face or directly to the chest. Self defense could be plainly shooting the intruder in the arm or leg. It is up to the person using the weapon whether to shoot to kill, or to scare.

Just my two cents:

I searched “Home Defense” and this site came up. I’m a woman that lives alone half the time (my husband is a firefighter and is gone for 24 hr shifts). We bought our first-ever gun last night: a 12 gauge shotgun. After reading this article, my next purchase will be a revolver.

Up until a couple of days ago, I “hated” guns. I was afraid of them and thought having one in the house would increase the chances of one of us accidentally getting killed. But the other night, my husband was gone and the dogs started going crazy at the front door–barking, growling, scratching–very uncharacteristic of them, and it scared the daylights out of me. All I had was a bat to defend myself, and my only exits would put me running through the hub of the house in clear view of all hallways, windows, and doorways. What if someone broke in? I would have to get VERY close to get a swing in and I’d have to pray I landed it well enough to incapacitate the person.

BUT: What if I missed? What if they grabbed it out of my hands? What if there was another person behind that one with a gun? Quite frankly, my “hatred” toward guns was eclipsed by my fear of home invasion/rape/death.

We came up with a plan if the situation ever arises. Grab my cell phone, run to where the gun is, rack it, and dial 911 while I sit and wait. Like you said, if the sound of chambering a round isn’t enough to scare the person off, I know I at least have a chance at whatever they’re bringing to the table.

I still don’t “like” guns, nor do I feel more American for having one. But I can finally sleep a little better at night knowing I’m giving myself a fighting chance.

As a 17 year old male in the midwest, I’m fairly familiar with firearms. Hunting is a very common rite of passage in this part of the world, and the overwhelming seriousness and weight that goes along with the term ‘firearms’ is suitable enough for me to feel safe when around someone with a firearm. Proper responsibility is practiced, and more often than not. We can’t make everyone in this country abide by the laws, but taking weapons out of the hands of civilians entirely only means criminals have an upper hand. Most murders committed in this country with firearms are not with legally purchased weapons anyway, so why assume that LAW has anything to do with the reality of the situation? I find it ironic that there are readers from Europe chastising American’s for their acceptance of firearms in society, especially when Europe is home to countries that (fairly recently) refused freedom to countries simply seeking freedom through peaceful protest (read up on Ghandhi boys). The CRUSADES originated in what is now the UK, and the US is being shamed for owning firearms for protection? A part of the world most notorious for bringing death and destruction into humanity has no business labeling a free country for practicing it’s own rights. Just because we didn’t use blades to end people’s lives painfully and slowly doesn’t mean we’re barbaric. Oh…wait…

To the UK readers who spoke out against guns: if you and your family are confronted by a single armed man, or two unarmed men, good luck. Real men are ready to protect their family. Maybe your lady will step up to the plate since you obviously have zero balls and zero sense.