Shawn replied (to the post below, about the new gun DJ and I bought today):
“I like that you went for the shotgun. It’s not the usual choice for home protection. That’s cool.”
I started to reply as a comment to that post, but decided my ranting reply was too long, so I started a new post:
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I agree…most people get hand guns, which is scary, as people tend to take them out of the house, because they’re so small.
Shotguns require the background check and the ten-day waiting period, like pistols. But unlike pistols, shotguns don’t require registration. Because they’re harder to conceal. (This is why sawed-off shotguns are illegal.) But I don’t plan to ever take it outside the house, except to go to the shooting range, and I’ll have it empty and with a trigger lock then.
Proof that few people choose shotguns (at least in California, I imagine it’s different in Texas) is that the store had about 500 handguns to choose from and about a dozen shotguns. And they had a rack of books on handgun safety and use and ONE on shotgun use (I bought it), and it was mostly for hunters, with nothing on home protection.
We got the shotgun for home protection and to take on dates to the firing range. The place we bought the gun includes a free one-year membership at their range. The salesman seemed into the fact that we were a couple buying a gun. Everyone else in the shop was a lone male, and not many of them seemed chatty or friendly.
You don’t really need to practice accuracy in the same sense you do with rifles and pistols, you don’t “aim”, at least at close range, you more or less just “point” shotguns, the spray is much wider. They also don’t shoot as far, which is why cops use them in urban settings, the bullet on a rifle can travel a mile and kill someone. With a shotgun, it’s lethal to far less of a distance, something like under 100 yards. Powerful handguns can fire much further also.
Then we’ll only take the gun out of the drawer if someone is coming INTO our house, fire a warning shot in the ceiling first, and only shoot them if they have a weapon and they don’t stop after the warning. I hope to never use it. Especially since California is not a “shoot the bugler” state. In some states, (mostly in the south), you can shoot to kill if someone breaks into your house, even if they’re unarmed. In Texas, a guy recently shot and killed two buglers coming OUT of his NEIGHBOR’S house and didn’t go to prison. In California, you can usually only shoot an intruder if they come into your house, AND they have a knife or gun AND they seem like they’re going to use it.
Good news: the police are pretty bored in this town and incredibly fast at getting here. When I called about the guy trying to break in, they were here in under two minutes. I was still on the phone with the dispatcher when they knocked on my door.
I think that shotguns are better than pistols for home protection. Not only is there less chance of a stray bullet hitting a neighbor, shotguns are way more intimidating than pistols. They’re bigger, look way more redneck/crazy, and they are LOUD AS FUCK if you fire a warning, WAY louder than a handgun. And for warning shots, a pistol would put a little hole in the ceiling. A shotgun would remove a of couple feet of the ceiling. Better for scaring crazed junkies into being sensible.
We also bought a security camera system, six cameras, hard drive, 1000 bucks. Covered all the windows and the door with ‘em.
Shotguns start at 150 bucks. Way cheaper than security cameras, which is kind of sad, and is why more people own guns, I think. (We’ve spent more than the minimum on the gun. I don’t wanna cheap out on something that could jam or blow up, ya know?)
We got it because someone tried to break into our home last year, while we were home. I confronted the guy outside, and called the cops. They actually caught him. It was strange though, we live in an upscale neighborhood with little crime. But someone was mugged and cut last weekend in our town, DJ says that hasn’t happened in nearly 20 years of living here, nor has anyone ever tried to break in the house before last year.
And I think that the economy is going to collapse soon maybe, with gas prices going up, people may freak out.
I’m sane enough to only take the gun out if me or the wife were in mortal danger, which is really the only use to take a shotgun out, unless you’re a hunter. And believe it or not, I find the idea of sport hunting fairly barbaric. (Strange talk from a soon-to-be gun owner, but it’s how I feel.)
But that’s just opinion, I don’t think hunting should be illegal, I just personally find it distasteful. I’m probably a hypocrite, because I do eat meat. But then again, I have shot and killed a couple rabbits, skinned, cooked and eaten ‘em. And I think who anyone who eats meat should do that at least once, just so they know what they’re doing. When you buy meat in a store, you don’t think about the fact that something screams and bleeds and dies before you eat it. I reflect on that every time I eat something that was once alive, because I’ve done it start to finish myself a couple times. But on a day-to-day basis, I’m just too damn much of an animal lover to enjoy shooting them. Call me a disingenuous pussy, but that’s how I feel.
Michael W. Dean
p/s. Here is a PDF about self-defense gun laws in California.
The Peter Principle states that “In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence.” This is true, people get to where they’re doing a great job, then get promoted to where they can’t do a great job, but don’t fuck up enough to get fired, and stay there for the rest of thier life.
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Chris and I have worked on several projects together. And he’s the tech editor on the YouTube book I’m working on.
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