Shotgun and may see if I can get a pistol permit.
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I've been considering a shotgun myself. Mulling over storage/child-safety concerns.
My friend has a number of guns and keeps them locked in a safe-like storage closet in his basement. Keeps the ammo in a separate safe.
To get preachy, I'm adamant that properly securing your firearms is an obligation not to be neglected. I keep all my guns in a gun safe in the basement.
For this task, I suggest starting with a basic $100 sheet metal gun safe - which will store up to 8 long guns. They store easily in a closet and are plenty secure to keep curious fingers and smash and grab thieves at bay. More serious wretches can eventually cut through one with the right tools - but if you're like most people that's not a high risk.
For a shotgun, the Benelli M2 is a good choice all around one gun for everything gun.
The issue with a gun safe in the basement is that it doesn't help you if you are a victim of a home invader. It's great for hunting gear, but not so great when you hear a crash and voices on your first floor at 2 in the morning.
To be effective, a home defense gun would have to be stored loaded, and easy to lay hands on if need be.
(So yeah, I agree with your closet suggestion.)
Trigger locks seem like a "bare minimum" solution, but keys, like guns, can be found by children.
Sigh, after all the Desert Combat we've played...
I recommend a Saiga .410
A Marine buddy of mine used one as an entry weapon during Desert Storm in Kuwait. He absolutely swore by it. Light weight, semi-auto, zero recoil, and more muzzle energy than a .44 Magnum.
http://world.guns.ru/shotgun/saiga_410k.jpg
This was going to be my question to those who own weapons. How/where do you store it for home protection? I've been thinking about purchasing our first gun (My wife has an interest in owning one as well - Another reason to cancel my life insurance policy!) and was curious how people address the issue for personal security of the home.
The wife and I looked seriously at shotguns last year but we faced a couple of issue, the primary being storage location. We live in a two story house with the stairs being near the front door. All burglaries in my town are daytime smash and grab. If the shotgun is upstairs, you'd never get past the front door to run up stairs to retrieve the gun and vice versa if the gun was stored downstairs and you were on the 2nd floor. You run into a two gun solution. So we went with a security system instead.
The shotgun we were close to buying was the The Mossberg HS410. A good compromise of weight, power, recoil, price, and reliability, and maintenance.
And NRA window decal on your car wouldn't hurt either.
Excellent question. My guns CAN be used for home protection - but really I don't use them for that - they're stored locked away in the basement. For a time I was the church youth guy and had a lot of kids running through my house. Risk/reward made it not worth keeping them out - but I live in Mayberry.
For those who do have kids and don't live in a region with a 0 murder rate, I suggest one of those quick access lockboxes by the bed for a pistol - or trigger locks for the long guns. /http://www.nationwidesafes.com/1380.html
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._2000_26244976
There may be a lockable quick access gun rack for shotguns - I know cops use such things when they mount longguns in their cars. No reason you couldn't mount such a thing under the bed - so long as it can be actuated easily.
I'm also a believer that it's a good idea to demystify the gun to any kids you do have - let them handle it under your supervision while you explain basic safety. It's a tool, like a hammer or a screwdriver, here's how it works.
Sadly - bad things happen to good people. A few days ago near the University of Wisconsin a girl had time to dial 911. She did, they didn't come, she's now dead. :( NOT trying to make political mileage out of this - just pointing out to those thinking of getting something in addition to their cell phone - that it's not all paranoia.
http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/...?article=22485.
I wouldnt blame the average Joe for his inability to save money. Its not like it use to be. If you dont have credit you dont have squat. How many average Joe's go and put down $20-30K for a new rig or $200-$500K for a new house.
Folks use to be able to survive with one person in the household working with minimal use of credit, now both parents are required to work in order to just make ends meet.
Yeah, I don't know what that means... "saving money." I dump a crap-ton of money into my 401k. I also run up debt on my credit card (and pay it off to zero in bursts when the mood strikes me.) Yes I have a mortgage, but I live in a 4 BR house that's doubled in price in 10 years. I own 2 cars outright and a ton of toys.
By all accounts I have more than the generation before me, and the one before them.
So I'm not sure I'm buying ALL of that.
Maybe your just above average ;)
I'm somewhat similar to Squid. I have a house in California, two cars, and limited debt which I pay back to zero every April when bonus checks arrive. I think that the problem is that the banks have allowed people to become overextended to easily and politicians have allowed those same people to escape their predicaments without impunity. I don't think that the economy is in bad shape although the media would tell us differently. I just think that a small portion of the country is just money stupid; always has been and always will be.