Best Guns for Home Defense I

I searched that topic on Google. I've got my opinions, but every once in a while I like to read up on subjects and see if I need to adjust those opinions.

The general consensus seems to prefer shotguns. And that was the opinion on artofmanliness.com in their article, “Best Guns for Home Defense.” http://artofmanliness.com/2009/07/23/the-best-guns-for-home-defense/#ixzz0zwolMCOk It is a basic, cautionary article with a rating system for different types of guns. But my favorite part was in the comments section:

5 Pieter July 23, 2009 at 4:46 am: The best weapon for home defense is a phone. If bad people try to get in: call the cops. The biggest bonus for the phone is that your kids can’t pick it up and blow their brains across the wall with it.

Even if you do decide not to own a gun, based on legal issues or personal choice, your job as a responsible adult in your home is to defend your family (or yourself), not cross your legs in an easy chair and call the police. If bad people try to get in, of course you should call the cops. But what if bad people do get in? Pick up a knife, ax, ax handle, bat, pepper spray, or gun. But guns are great deterrents, and especially shotguns.

Guns are tools that can be dangerous. Of course the safety of children is a concern. But reasonable caution and education can greatly reduce risks. I found the following in David S. Markowitz’s article, “Selecting a Home Defense Gun:”

I cannot stress enough that one of the worst things you can do is to hide the presence of guns in your home from your kids. Prohibition breeds fascination, especially in children. As gun guru Massad Ayoob says (approximately), “You cannot gun proof your home, but you can gun proof your kids.” As soon as your kids are able to understand, you should instruct them in gun safety rules. If they ever ask to see your gun, treat that as an opportunity to reinforce safety rules. If you let them see the gun under your supervision, they are a lot less likely to go looking for it while you aren’t around. The National Rifle Association has a good program to teach gun safety to kids called the “Eddie Eagle” program. (Also check out “Gun Play”, by David Kopel, to see the potential disaster that can happen when a “sheltered” child gets exposed to firearms for the first time in the absence of adult supervision.) Even if you choose not to have firearms in your home (unlikely if you’re reading anything on my website) you should still make sure your kids know about gun safety. They may go to a friend’s house where there are guns, and be exposed to them that way.
http://home.comcast.net/~dsmjd/tux/dsmjd/tech/home_defense.htm

Education over hysteria. Responsibility over abdication.

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