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 The Handgun Advantage / Disadvantage

Handguns are often purchased for the purpose of family and personal protection at home.  This can be a fine choice, but additional training is required.  Those who depend on a handgun for self-defense should practice monthly to maintain proficiency.  However, since most people are not willing to train this frequently, a shotgun becomes a better choice for self-defense at home.

However, handguns do have some important advantages in self-defense situations when away from home.  First and foremost, they are very transportable, and many are concealable, so they can be carried less obtrusively than even a short-barreled tactical shotgun.  This can be a tremendous benefit in urban, outside-the-home self-defense situations.  But if you are not going to carry a gun when away from home, these benefits may not be significant to you.

One noteworthy exception is the yard around your home.  If you live in a city and have neighbors nearby, or others who can look into your yard, you probably shouldn’t be carrying a shotgun as you investigate the source of suspicious noises outside.  A police officer, or an armed neighbor who is also investigating suspicious activity, might come to the wrong conclusion if you are observed carrying a gun.  Even if local laws allow you to have the gun on your property, this can still create a dangerous situation.

Though a self-defense shotgun can be very effective at distances up to and even beyond 50-yards, being seen with a gun, even on your own property, can still develop into a perilous encounter with the police.  A concealed handgun can be a much safer option in this type of situation.  Less effective for self-defense, certainly; nevertheless, it may be safer than being observed carrying a shotgun.  So if you plan to go outside with a firearm, you need to keep this in mind.

However when away from home, a concealed handgun, which means that a bad guy does not know that you are armed, provides a distinct advantage.  It gives you the important asset of surprise.  This advantage, along with the versatility of a handgun, is significant.  Yet, these advantages still don’t make a handgun the best choice for inside-the-home self defense.

Without a doubt, a handgun is the best all-around personal protection weapon for urban America.  But if you’re concerned exclusively with protection at home, a short-barrel home defense shotgun has a number of clear advantages. 

If you are willing to purchase more than one gun, and you live in an urban or suburban neighborhood, then by all means purchase both a tactical shotgun and a concealable handgun (in 9mm/.38 special or larger caliber).  But if you live in a rural or wilderness area, and you don’t have neighbors in sight, then your choice might be a shotgun and a high-power rifle with a scope.

Keep in mind that in real-world situations, a handgun bullet, even when the gun is in the hands of a highly trained police officer, often misses a moving target.  This is not surprising when you consider that a handgun bullet is less than half an inch wide.  This means that minor hand movements at the time of firing the gun can easily result in missing the target by several feet.