Firearms for Home Protection

by Last Standing Knight

This is to serve merely as a word to the wise...it is not legal advice nor is meant to be. If you follow this, you do so at your own risk and liability.

There have been several quieries made via totse on firearms for home protection and defense as of late. I put this out to you, the reader, as a method of making your decision involving having a firearm for home protection.

The first consideration is where you live, not just the legal aspects, which I will not go into here, but the type of area you live in. A lever action 30-30 might be good if you are in a sparcly populated, rural area, but they would be lousy in an urban or suburban setting. The same applies with many shotguns, so-called "assault weapons" such as UZI's or MP-5's, and many high powered handguns, such as magnums in any caliber. Most apartments I've seen have paper thin walls and you don't want the liability of using the firearm and then having the slug kill or wound your neighbor three units down.Home protection firearms are in most cases going to be used under the poorest of lighting and visibility conditions as well as within spitting distance of your enemy. You do not need something with an eight inch barrel to accomplish this.

The second consideration is upkeep: semi automatic firearms of any type require a level of maintenance that most people do not want to perform. While many revolvers may be left fully loaded for years, semi-automatics have magazine springs that will weaken over time, require cleaning in order to remain functioning, and are often sensitive to the type of ammunition they use. Most persons who choose to buy a firearm for home protection are not going to or be able to practice with it much, if at all. This is not a good thing, but it is often the case.If you have ANY firearm...you need to practice with it. Be realistic when doing so...leave the fast draw stuff to Hollywood and the long range shots alone. Ammunition also; stay away from solid lead or full metal jacket projectiles...use hollowpoints or "Hydrashocks"...save the others for the range. Small semi-automatics, such as .25's, 32's, and .380's seem to have a reliablility problem more than their bigger brothers and usually at a bad moment.A jammed pistol is nothing more than a cumberson club.

The third consideration is SAFETY: do you have small children running around? Do you feel the urge to play "Matt Dillon" with your firearm? If so, maybe you should consider another option. No matter how good you hide a firearm, kids always seem to have a way of finding them with often tragic results at the worst and legal charges on YOU if they get hold of it at the least. My revolver is always but a few steps away and sets on my bedside at night. To get it, any of my kids would have to go through me to do so.

Several things that are of insignificance are these:

• Stopping power: any thing that shoots a projectile over one hundred feet per second can kill you, even a BB gun if the circumstances are right (Remember the words of Kipling: "A boy with a ten rupee rifle will kill you just as dead as a trained soldier with the lastest hardware.." NO FIREARM IS A ONE SHOT STOPPER! The only one that does this is Captain Kirk's death ray...and it doesn't exist...yet..This is something you hear a lot of "gun experts" talk about. When I went through training, we were shown a guy in a major US city who took a high-powered revolver shot to his eye at point blank range...most of his head was gone...he ran for two city blocks before loss of blood caused him to drop. The firearm used was a .44 Magnum revolver with full-power ammunition and hollowpoint bullets.
• Calibers: Stay away from anything below .32 caliber. While decried by many, the .32 in the right hands is sufficient and it is the bear minimum I would consider. The .38 Special is the same.The maximum I would consider is the .44 Special. You might get lucky and find a Charter Arms five-shot two-inch Bulldog revolver and while their quality is somewhat debatable, they will get you out of a tight spot and are inexpensive. My personal favorite is a S&W Model 15 or Model 10 with four inch barrel loaded with Hydroshock ammunition.
• The KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid): Forget the bright and shiny eight inch monstrosities that the guy in the gunshop will try to sell you. You are looking at low maintenance, compact size, and inexpensive. A plain jane used police special calls a lot less attention, both legaly and in a serious situation than A Taurus Raging Bull with a ten inch barrel and laser sights.

In short, for basic home protection in an urban enviroment, it would probably be best to stick with a double action revolver with between a two and four inch barrel holding five or six shots, that is dark colored, comfortable to hold, easy to aim and fire, with at least two full reloads (ten extra rounds if a five shooter, twelve if a six shooter).A used police .38, in good or reasonably good shape, will run you under $250.00 and ammuntion is cheap and plentiful. In a rural area, you can consider shotguns and rifles (preferably pistol caliber rifles...not hunting calibers like 30-30's and such.) So-called "assault weapons" are fun, but do have a stigma attached to them.

If someone is breaking into your place...the first things you should do is seek the safety of your family and call 9-1-1...GET THEM ROLLING! Keep your lights off! After your family is secure and 9-1-1 is notified, secret yourself with your firearm. If the Police show up before the turd makes entry, LET THEM HANDLE IT! DON'T WALK UP TO THE COPS WITH PISTOL IN HAND UNLESS YOU WANT A QUICK TRIP TO THE AFTERLIFE!

If the turd gets in before the cops show up; Yell at the guy to stop, freeze, get on the floor, etc. DON'T TELL THE GUY YOU HAVE A GUN! Don't just start unloading rounds at the guy or guys. If the turd doesn't leave and runs at you..shoot to stop, never to kill...don't make the mistake of yelling out "I'll kill you!" or words like that; they will come back to haunt you. You should feel that you are in fear of your life BEFORE you have to pull that trigger. Don't follow the urban legend of shooting the guy, then drag the body into your house...you are guarenteed and indictment if you do this.

Okay, you've done this and the worst case scenario has happened. You look at the turd laying dead or seriously wounded in your living room...you are going to feel sick at the stomach, probably even vomit...The fisrt thing you should do is call 9-1-1 back (if you live in a large area, it might be best to just leave the phone off the hook...let the dispatcher know what is going on.)and advise them that you need EMS and give them a run down on what happened...Put the firearm up in a safe, but secure location and keep an eye on the guy on your floor. Once he's down, don't continue pumping rounds into him. Keep everyone back from him.Don't say anything stupid, such as "I killed that S-O-B" or "That'll teach you..."

The cops are going to arrive to the report of "shots fired" and will enter that way...keep your hands up, follow their instructions to the letter, and stay away from your firearm.

Remember this: you will have to make a statement, probably down at the station...always have an attorney ready for this purpose, even a public defender. Say nothing without a lawyer no matter who says what to you...anything you say will come back to haunt you. Also, be ready for a civil suit, if not from the turd you shot, then from his family.

I hope this provides some insight and information to all of you out there and I sincerly hope that the only thing you ever have to shoot is a paper target at your local pistol range. Good luck!

-The Last Standing Knight