Quote from AAAintheBeltway:
There is a lot of debate about which gun or guns to use for various home defense/insurrection/zombie situations.
There is no one perfect answer because what is optimal varies with the situation and with who is going to be using it.
One principle I like for a home defense weapon is that it has to have a simple manual of arms. Thatr means no complicated safeties, etc. Hence Lucrum's advice for a revolver. Everyone, even liberals, knows how to operate one and they won't jam or malfunction. The downside is limited capacity.
I favor the Glock pistol, specifically glock 17's. The 17 was the original Glock and many pros think it is still the best. Glocks do not have a safety or an external hammer, relying instead on a trigger safety, essentially a second trigger. Your wife can grab it, point it and fire it by squeezing the trigger, provided it is kept with a round in the chamber. 17 rounds of 9 mill is a nice thing to have in a bad situation. I wouldn't be willing to make the tradeoff Brandon did in this thread and go with a 1911 as my primary gun. As cool as a 1911 is, it is a 100 year old design with less than half the capacity of the glock. My second choice would be a Smith and Wesson M&P model, which is more or less a Glock clone.
The mossberg 500 is a classic home defense weapon. As Lucrum pointed out, barrel length is key in a tactical shotgun. A lot of pros would be quite happy to have that weapon in a home invasion or if you manage to barricade yourself in a safe room. Shot choice is vast, but ecen bird shot at close range will be very lethal. Ammo manufacturers are coming out with special home defense loads now that have reduced recoil and some have unusual loads, like a large ball bearing and smaller shot combined.
If your wife or even a kid is likely to be using the shotgun, a 20 guage is not the worst idea in the world. Less kick, less noise but retains immense stopping power at home defense ranges.
Insurrection situations are probably best handled with an AR- platform. More accuracy, longer range and much higher capacity than a shotgun.
I saw a feature on a line of AR type weapons made by a company called JR that use pistol caliber ammo. Rock River and some other manufcturers also sell Ar's chambered in pistol rounds. typically they use Glock mags, so you can actually get a 9 mill rifle with a 30 round glock mag. Again, it is a tradeoff. Arguably, it is a better home defense weapon than a 5.56 chambered AR. The bullet will be twice as heavy as a 5.56 round and have more velocity coming out of a rifle than a pistol. You give up range, which is not that important in home defense.
In terms of overpenetration, ie going through walls, the 5.56 round, particularly jacketed hollow point (JHP), will be safest. It will typically fragment going through drywall. Buckshot and large pistol calibers will easily penetrate several layers of drywall. I'm not sure how birdshot does. I would guess it would go through at least one layer of drywall, but it clearly won't go through as much as buck will. A deer slug would do the most damage by far.
eople, including children, who are determined to commit suicide will find a way. There is a documented case of a man who killed himself by drilling a hole in his skull by using a power drill.