Getting a gun

[CLDarnell]

I own a few guns and am a member of NRA. All of my guns have trigger locks and are also locked inside a gun safe.

I understand your concerns and frustrations when reading your recent post about the break in. Maybe there are other events as well.

I never recommend purchasing a gun to anyone that doesn't have experience with firearms when situations like this come up. A gun or even a taser isn't going to do you much good during a break in. If you are a responsible owner, your gun will be unloaded, locked and put away. If you are passed out in a deep sleep and someone kicks in your door, they will be on you or out of the house before you can gather your wits, find the gun, unlock it, load it, then try to shoot the invader most likely in the dark.

In your case, you weren't even home when the break in occured...which is the case nearly everytime.

Guns in the hands of inexperienced people are a really bad thing. I know of a couple of instances where a drunk buddy stopped by a friends house to crash and avoid the risk of driving home. Of course, the friend had recently acquired a new handgun for protection purposes and ended up shooting his buddy.

I am not suggesting you aren't responsible. But I feel there are other ways to better spend your money to protect your home (security alarms, dog, better locks, reinforced doors, etc).

You have a Police Officer and a Member of our Military offering you advice. I will defer to their experience and advice. But I felt compelled to suggest that "impulse" buying a gun is never a good thing.

Good luck to you!

 

[Mattyou]

pm me and ill lead you in the right direction. Im a police officer in FL. Taser is a bad idea. i dont even use one cause theyre unreliable.

Follow his advice and always check your local laws. Easy Google search will get that for you. As for "what" gun, you will have to pick on your own. IF you need to use it hitting a tank or going through a wall will be your last concern, trust me, they will all do that. Never take it out unless you plan to use it and when you do shoot to kill.

 

[snakeguy101]

Thanks for your concerns everyone. I am in no way making this an impulse buy and I will be investing in a gun safe for when I am not home. I don't think that a taser would be ineffective for stopping someone coming at you if you are cornered, they are only good to stun momentarily so that you can get away. I have been shocked by a taser and was still able to resist it and maintain some level of function (even if it wasn't much, I imagine some one would still be able to pull a trigger while being tased). I plan on going to the range a few times to become accustom to firing a gun before I purchase one and again several more times once I purchase one.

This is not a decision I made lightly, I thought about it very hard for a very long time before I came to this conclusion and I had started thinking about it before the break in because of 3 gang related shootings in my area within a week (the gang involved in the shootings are who I suspect to be the ones that broke in).

from what I have been reading, I think I am going to go with a light shot gun since that is easy to wield and aim and the bullets will not penetrate and cause collateral damage and it has a good amount of stopping power. I have a friend willing to donate an old gun locker for xmas and I am having that bolted to the floor.

Does this sound alright? I have not really narrowed down what kind of shot gun I will be getting yet, any suggestions? I just want one that is not too powerful but enough to stop someone.

 

[nomad]

I have always been fairly anti gun but because of some recent events I have decided I need one. .

what are the events ? turned down on a date ?
edit: nevermind ....I just got to read your post above.

 

[94Gt5.0]

Didnt read alot of this thread, as the 1st few posts I saw said get a .40.. LOL. Yeah, a .40 wont pentetrate a sheetrock wall..

Anyways, I would suggest a 20Gauge shotgun, you can pick up a 20G Mossberg500 pump shotgun for about $350-400. I would run Federal #8 shot in it, it will do a number on a person, and you dont have to worry about making it rain on the neighbors!(Alos this is target load, so in the event you do need to use it against someone, you have your ass covered legally, b/c here in NY there is NO reason to have buckshot, as it is illegal to hunt anything with it, a lawyer would HANG you here if you were to shoot someone with buckshot). 20G will be good for a person newer to guns, as it wont kick as hard as a 12G. I would stray away from a handgun, as youll need a permit, and they just arent as practical sometimes as a shotgun. There is nothing more intimidating than the sound of pumping a shotgun, and often enough the sound alone will make the perp think otherwise about sticking around.

 

[Just Prince]

My biggest piece of advice to the OP is this:
Think long and hard about whether or not anything in your house is worth killing over. Dont buy a gun to scare an intruder or to make yourself feel better. You cannot un-kill someone.

Best advice ever.

I also suggest a personal defense class and a Remington 870 with a 20" barrel and 00 buck or bird shot Or a Benelli Nova.

 

[jason longboard]

Are you going to shoot one of your cobras

 

[jc420]

Get a tranquilizer gun and a set of slaughter tools, You will have more fun in the end.

A fully auto 10-22 with a gnarly clip is a fairly barbarous Newbie gun.

The invasion of a mans castle should never be delt with force not considered overkill....

 

[jc420]

Maybe you should be checking with local and state PD and not on the fish forum.

ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR FISH FORUM FIRST

 

[Cookie*]

20 gauge shotgun will do you fine. And like another poster said, often the sound of a shotgun pumping will be enough to scare someone away.