Thinking of new handgun for home defense

[sport the war]

Sawed off shotgun with some bolo rounds. Nothing has knockdown power for when those extra cracked out zombies come to visit. I have a XDm 40 with a laser and flashlight with pulse mode. When in pulse mode.. you can see your laser and the target is going to be confused and blinded by the light. Personally though, nothing beats a short barrel shotgun with a nasty round in close quarters home defense. If you're worried about finishing the job, get some buckshot. BTW if you're really living in an area with tons of cracked out zombies, double barrel break action shotgun with super short barrels will put enough lead down range to finish the job in a single trigger pull.

[jshuberg]

You do realize that you're advocating something that would land him in prison right?

[bulletproof]

You do realize that you're advocating something that would land him in prison right?

You can have a sawed off shotgun if it's a pistol or register SBR. Basically the entire thread is stupid. Any gun can be used for home self defense. I'd use a 1861 Navy Revolver if it was handy.

[Holland&Holland]

You do realize that you're advocating something that would land him in prison right?

You can have a sawed off shotgun if it's a pistol or register SBR. Basically the entire thread is stupid. Any gun can be used for home self defense. I'd use a 1861 Navy Revolver if it was handy.

I do not beleive you can have a sawed off shotgun, now you may purchase an AOW that happens to chamber 12 gauge rounds with the appropriate tax stamp and approval but my understanding is that that was never a shotgun. You may also have a handgun in .45 that happens to also chamber .410 shot shells but it would need to be rifled.

[bulletproof]

I do not beleive you can have a sawed off shotgun, now you may purchase an AOW that happens to chamber 12 gauge rounds with the appropriate tax stamp and approval but my understanding is that that was never a shotgun. You may also have a handgun in .45 that happens to also chamber .410 shot shells but it would need to be rifled.

Yeah I suppose. Call it what you want.

[sport the war]

You do realize that you're advocating something that would land him in prison right?

As long as its over 18" you can buy double barrel home protection short barrel break action 12 gauge.

[SavageSmoker]

Okay...let me see if I got this right. Any stupid gun will work just fine? Great advice. I think I got what I need out of this stupid thread Mods, feel free to close it, it has gotten a bit off topic.

[Holland&Holland]

Okay...let me see if I got this right. Any stupid gun will work just fine? Great advice. I think I got what I need out of this stupid thread Mods, feel free to close it, it has gotten a bit off topic.

To be fair, it is the interweb which means it is full of opinions, mis-information, and goof offedness. Sorry, but to some extent that statement is not far from the truth. Even on gun shows in in gun magazines the debate of what make the "best" home defense gun is endless. So in some ways the answer really is based on you. What do you feel reasonable comfortable using in your house and having reasonably available at all times?

[bulletproof]

Okay...let me see if I got this right. Any stupid gun will work just fine? Great advice. I think I got what I need out of this stupid thread Mods, feel free to close it, it has gotten a bit off topic.

Yeah any gun will probably work better than your hands. Obviously you love .40s&w as your choice of caliber as a home defense weapon. If you didn't you would probably go to something else like 9mm, .45ACP or any of the other calibers. Hell who says you have to even have to have a PRIMARY home defense weapon? I switch between a number of firearms at home depending upon what I'm doing.

Do you need someone to congratulate and pat you on the back for picking the best firearm available for home defense?

[jshuberg]

Any shotgun with a barrel length less than 18" or an overall length of less than 26" is a Short Barrel Shotgun (SBS) and cannot be legally owned in the state of MN unless the following applies: It is registered with BATFE as a SBS, and is either explicitly on the federal Curio Relic list, or was registered as an SBS more than 50 years prior to the current date.

However, if the "shotgun" never had a stock then technically it is not actually a shotgun, as a shotgun is defined as a weapon that is intended to be fired from the shoulder. Because it was never a shotgun, it cannot be changed into a SBS by shortening the barrel. When shortening the barrel (or overall length) you are manufacturing an Any Other Weapon (AOW), which is legal to own in MN provided you have registered it with the BATFE and have the 200 tax stamp for it.

If you manufacture and register an AOW on a BATFE form 1, you had better be able to prove by model number, purchase order, etc. that the weapon never had a stock on it or you risk significant prison time. If you purchase it from a dealer as an AOW and register it on a BATFE form 4 then you don't have to worry.

Know the federal and state laws governing NFA weapons before getting involved with them.

[bulletproof]

Know the federal and state laws governing NFA weapons before getting involved with them.

Good advice and thanks for posting, I hate reading through the special ATF regulations on shotguns.

[sport the war]

I don't see where I provided false information, people use bird guns for home defense.. try swinging a 27+ inch barrel around in a hallway LOL. I said anything over 18 which is mn state law or pistol or relic 12 gauge which 99% of short barrel break action are. Obviously not a jimmy Joe Bob hacksaw deal.

[SavageSmoker]

SavageSmoker wrote:
Okay...let me see if I got this right. Any stupid gun will work just fine? Great advice. I think I got what I need out of this stupid thread Mods, feel free to close it, it has gotten a bit off topic.


Yeah any gun will probably work better than your hands. Obviously you love .40s&w as your choice of caliber as a home defense weapon. If you didn't you would probably go to something else like 9mm, .45ACP or any of the other calibers. Hell who says you have to even have to have a PRIMARY home defense weapon? I switch between a number of firearms at home depending upon what I'm doing.

Do you need someone to congratulate and pat you on the back for picking the best firearm available for home defense?


Nope...just looking for the best options. Hell, I might already have it and didn't know it...that would be why I asked the question to begin with. I am not sold on .40, just happen to like it at the moment.

We live in a nice neighborhood and we tend to stick together and look out for one another. A couple of months ago we found out a level 3 sex offender rented a room in a home only three blocks away. Long story short, this pig drugged and raped an eight year old girl. He was convicted and sentenced to 86 months in prison. He could have served 2/3 of his sentence if he agreed to attend therapy. He chose to serve his entire sentence, going through no mental program. He was released and has zero monitoring or supervision. We have lots of kids in our neighborhood and I can garuntee the number of guns in the neighborhood increased in the last few months. The creep is free to drive by my house and go to the parks my kids play at whenever he wants. So I guess my original question is pretty personal and important to me, my family and neighbors. this has us all a little on edge.

For now I guess I will keep the G19 and put a tact light on the rail. If I need a pat on the back I will ask my wife, if I need some advice on firearms I hope to ask here