I find this story to be appropriate for this thread. http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-odd/20110308/US.ODD.Dueling.911.Calls/
I've only shot military weapons, and haven't bought one for the house (yet). I'm pretty good with the Beretta and M-16, and I think it's pretty difficult to suck with a Mossberg 500. But with a wife and (soon two) small children in the house, and moving to a major city, I'm on my way back to my military thinking: "You never need a gun until you need one badly" So I'm pretty sure I'd want a pistol with more punch than a 9mm, and maybe a shotgun for home. I'll take suggestions.
My buddy when he moved to an apartment in Texas, he replaced the ammunition in the gun he had by his bed with hollow points because he didn't want an errant shot to penetrate through walls and hurt a neighbor.
Deer rifle. Elk rifle. Long barrel shotgun for ducks/geese Short barrel shotgun for varmits in my house uninvited. 22 rifle to stay in practice 9mm S&W M&P on the night stand, also for varmits in home. Germain Shepard to insure nobody surprises me in my sleep. There are at least a couple of home invasion burglaries in my area per month. Hasn't happened to me, but if/when it does, I want to be sure that someone else is sorry their being in my home to steal for hurt my family. Those people are generally 'matrixed' out of jail within 24 hours around here. Come in my house uninvited in the middle of the night and you die. I sleep well, despite the infestation of criminals willing to break into my home, whether I'm there or not. Go Blazers
You can't stint when it comes to home defense. What if the bad guys are lobbing mortars at your family? What good will your little handgun do then? barfo
Brian that's the old thought on 9mm, but there's plenty of studies that show that a 9mm with defensive rounds will do just as much damage as a .45 or a .40 caliber. Plus it's sooooooo much cheaper to practice with, which is the whole point anyway. To be proficient with something so that you can save your life or someone else if the time ever comes.
