Armed Robbery

[Shane]

A person with whom I'm familiar had a armed robbery in their home this week.

I guess a few armed thugs came in and robbed everybody, and a friend of mine got pistol whipped. I suspect the victims of the home invasion/armed robbery have firearms but could not get to them, as they were taken by surprise.

At my residence, we have two FID holders, but only one .22 rifle stored unloaded with a trigger lock. It's kind of made me realize how vulnerable we could be to such a crime if it were to take place in my house.

Anyhow, I'll be picking up my short-barreled Mossberg 500 12 ga. around Xmas! It would be nice to have an LTC and pistol, but I think a 12 ga. would handle an intruder quickly, at least if I could get to it in time.

A scoped .22 rifle vs. 3 pistol 'totin thugs =
Mossberg 500 vs. 3 pistol 'totin thugs =

 

[Admin]

What part of the state? Did they open the door to strangers in a bad part of town?

 

[Shane]

I don't have many details, I imagine they just rushed in.

Basically, what I'm trying to say, is we need to take away CLEO discetion because people need pistols for their houses.

What's everybody's opinion on a Mossberg 500 for home defense? Would most of you prefer a pistol or would Mossberg 500 be a good choice? (I can't get a pistol currently)

 

[Bruce for NH State Rep]

Any reliable 12 ga. pump shotgun will serve as excellent goblin repellent, especially if you're prohinited currently from keeping a handgun in the house.

Gunvault makes (or made) a wall-mounted safe that was essentailly a box with a four-button combination lock, that locked around the action of the gun, leaving the barrel anbd the stock protruding out the ends.

Never tried one, but they looked like a decent easy-access storage device.

 

[Lugnut]

Damn.... as bad as it sounds... the only thing I think of when considering a shot gun as a defense weapon is the mess it would make!

 

[matt]

Damn.... as bad as it sounds... the only thing I think of when considering a shot gun as a defense weapon is the mess it would make!

That just means it did its job!

 

[pj150]

Back when I had my Mossberg 590, I followed a load formula I read somewhere. First shot was a low power #9, then a slug and then a mix of slug or straight buckshot.

The idea was that the first shot (if you had to shoot from a groggy state)would not penetrate walls and such. It will also be low recoil so your followup shot will be quick. If I remember correctly from the article, pepper the perp if caught in the room with you with #9 and follow up with a slug. If the sound of racking the slide or the boom of the first shot doesn't get the intruders running, subsequent shots of slugs and buckshot takes care of the situation.

Then again, that was back when I was young and lived alone in a bad neighborhood with no family or friends around. Nowadays, I rely on the flashlight and phone first and the .40 as a last resort.

With that said, here's my disclaimer--I don't condone leaving a loaded gun around the house or an unsecured firearm for that matter. I also do not believe that the type of load is what works for home defense. Just relaying a story here, nothing else.

 

[Jose]

With that said, here's my disclaimer--I don't condone leaving a loaded gun around the house or an unsecured firearm for that matter.

When criminals are breaking into your home and all you have are seconds to react, a locked, unloaded gun is worthless. It needs to be loaded and unsecured to be of any use.

 

[pj150]

Jose, you're preaching to the choir here.

In this day and age, you need to choose your words carefully especially the written ones if you know what I mean.

 

[TY43215]

Depending on where you live, be careful of over penetration from slugs. Know what is behind your target.

BTW, There is nothing that will make someone think like the sound of a pump shotgun being wracked. In another life, I heard it as I knocked on a door. Very thought provoking.

 

[MarkM]

The mossy would be a better choice for a combination of stopping power while limiting danger to innocents (family/neighbors).

Thankfully NH doesn't have silly laws that make people lock up firearms to protect criminals, so I can carry all the time and (as I have no kids) most of the time if I am in my office or bedroom there will be a loaded 12 guage, .223 or .308 nearby.

 

[clinotus]

I am also interested in hearing just what part of the state this occured in.

A shotgun for Home Defense is great and all, but its more of a bedroom weapon, as in you were asleep upstairs and heard breaking glass or the door being kicked in. Having it as your only means of defense whether loaded or unloaded in another room or upstairs makes it just a weapon for them to find, take, and possibly use.

I'm not saying that a shotgun shouldn't be used for home defense, but one should be practical in its possible application.

 

[Shane]

One of the victims may know some bad people.

Unfortunate for the other people caught in the mix (my friends).

Hopefully my friends will see the light and move out.

As for me, it has still brought up thoughts of what I would do in such a situation. I am likely low-risk for such an incident, while this household may have been high-risk.

 

[Shane]

I am also interested in hearing just what part of the state this occured in.

Brockton-ish

I've never been to their house

 

[EddieCoyle]

... If I remember correctly from the article, pepper the perp if caught in the room with you with #9 and follow up with a slug.....

From "across the room" type distances (10 feet or so) hitting someone with #9 shot is akin to hitting them with a slug.

I keep a 12 gauge loaded with #1 buckshot on each floor of my home as a defense weapon. There used to be a web site that tested penetration (Box of truth?) and they concluded that #1 won't penetrate through a typical plaster wall with enough remaining energy to kill. This is also the load that Mas Ayoob recommends.

I have no slide to rack because one is an autoloader and the other is a SxS, but one has a laser and the other has exposed hammers and both look (and are) pretty deadly.

 

[Maui19]

I'm not sure the odds are in your favor taking on three armed guys, even with a 12 gauge. Not to mention it sounded like there were a bunch of friends around.

But as many of you guys have mention, I also wrestle with the issue of gun accessibility in the house. Configuring arms for the bedroom is easy. It's not so easy to configure the living areas. I have a new gun on the way that I plan to keep accessable for when the doorbell rings. It's a challenge to keep it both handy and safe.

 

[matt1956]

Damn.... as bad as it sounds... the only thing I think of when considering a shot gun as a defense weapon is the mess it would make!

 

[swatmedic]

I have several .45s, an ar-15, but my first goto gun for things that go bump in the night is a mossberg 500 with oo buck and low recoil slugs. This gun also has a light mounted on it. I do not harbor the illusion that the sound of a racking shot gun will cause the goblins to take flight, but I am pretty sure the sound of the son of a bitch going off sure will, at least the ones who are still able to run

 

[Len-2A Training]

Brockton-ish

I've never been to their house

Anything less than this is too little gun to even drive thru Brockton!!

 

[matt1956]

[sad2] no love for my city [sad2]

Not that I can say that wouldn't be way cool to attach to my truck... I was thinking something more along the lines of a flip out .50 cal from the bed that operates on a remote from the cab...