Best gun for home defence?

[frankeymarion]

What is the best gun to have to keep at home in case something ever happens? I just recently started living with my fiance and he works third shift. Needless to say at night I am scared out of my mind being home alone at night and the armed robbery that took place in our complex three days ago did not help that fear. I just want something to have in the apartment in case something ever does happen. What would be the best, small gun to have on hand?

[penpusher]

Do you or your fiance have an arms license?

[goodboy_mentor]

Since you are living in an apartment, any pistol or revolver of sufficient stopping power. If budget is a factor then 12 bore DBBL(preferably 20 inch barrel for easy handling)

[diskaon]

why not a 20 bore .. the recoil will be much more manageable. you can procure a DDBL with aroung 20" barrel

something similar to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coach_gun
or

http://www.stoegerindustries.com/video/index.php?v=5

diskaon

[timmy]

frankeymarion: I understand the point of your question, but I feel that there are some underlying issues that you should think about first. Some of these are:

1. A weapon isn't a magic wand that can be used to make criminal threats disappear. It is important to know how to use a weapon before actually putting it into the service you intend.

2. It is even more important to consider what the path you're discussing actually involves: Knowing when to use the weapon and knowing when not to. If you are just pulling a weapon as a threat, you are kidding yourself about its value for your purposes, besides increasing your exposure to something even worse happening.

3. If someone gets hold of your gun because you were reluctant to actually use it or because you did not store it properly or because you are not familiar enough with a gun's use and operation, you are putting a deadly weapon into the hands of a person that we least want to have it.

I think you should think about this a little more. I am not sure that being afraid is a sufficient reason to obtain a gun. Perhaps being scared, but being determined to apply a rational solution to your problem is a start.

An additional thing to consider is that, since you mention that your problems involve armed criminals, you should figure that it is quite possible that these people may be launching bullets in your direction at the same time (or even before) you attempt to send some lead in their direction.

A second thing to consider is the possibility of what might happen if you do threaten a criminal with a gun, or if you discharge a gun at a criminal, or even if you actually shoot a criminal. Of course, the most extreme situation is if you shoot and kill a criminal. The aftermath of these events will be a police investigation. You will be challenged to justify threatening or using a gun.

I want you to know that I am not trying to dissuade you from obtaining a gun to deal with your situation. I only suggest that you think about these sorts of things I mention and that you have your mind clear about your answers -- that you are firm about what you are about.

If such an event would ever occur, your mind will have all sorts of things flowing through it, along with the physiological effects that your mind and body will undergo at such a point of stress. You will not be able to afford to be thinking about these sorts of issues when that time comes.

To reiterate: I suggest you have all of the things thought through that I've mentioned before you take the step of learning about using a gun and then getting one.

[The Doc]

frankeymarion,

I presume that you are a 19 year old girl who has recently started a live-in relationship . You live in an apartment possibly in a metropolitan city in India and are home alone at nights . You don't have a firearm license either,do you ? Without sounding like a worried daddy , I would urge you to read carefully what Timmy has suggested because that makes a lot of sense.

My two cents?
1.Keep a guard dog if the apartment regulations permit. If not , anti burglar alarms/gadgets can be installed.
2.Please don't watch too many Lara Croft movies.

best,

RP.

[amit888_2000]

well keeping all the discussion in mind, a guard dog, and self defence mind & body will be far better than buying a firearm(prepare ur self mentally & phically)....

Can keep a good, handy sharp knife, (as it is also a weapon), this will keep u at peace while sleeping.......

buglar alarm is a good option, more over keep the switches on every location if u want, Keep good relation with neighbours....

a good pepper spray will also good to keep it handy........

so have a real good night........

[goodboy_mentor]

1)Burglar Alarm & doors and windows properly secured.
2)Cell Phone with important phone numbers in speed dial.
3)Pepper spray & Katar(very effective weapon of surprise in close combat if used swiftly with force)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katar
4)Big dog that can bark loudly(loud voice can shake birds off the tree!)
5)Don't tell servants or neighbors etc when you or your husband are away(i.e. no outsider should know how many people are inside at any given time.)

[amit888_2000]

also guard dogs r always
1) rotwallier....(depends if u have small children, then forget it)
2) doberman

NO 3rd choice, and no compromise with the security........

Iron grills on windows, and extra iron main door, very imp....

[eljefe]

Seems we are missing out on the Thermal imagery,black nomex balaclavas and stun grenades.
marion-Go out and see if you can kill a sparrow. Or a kitten..do i have enough hackles raised? its not WHO you squeze the trigger at.Its the fact that you will be hurting/killing a living being-most times a human.After the adrenaline comes the angst!
Yup, if that is a no no, forget the gun.Enough debates have raged here, and will continue-best bet is strong doors.A gun is not a panacea for all things evil in India.We have THE worst anti gun laws in the world.After Mumbai massacre, it would be a lunatic of a judge who would consider a self defense incident involving a fire arm, as bailable!
So use common sense, stay AWARE of your surroundings, use uncommon sense and pick what applies from the advise above. Some of the advise above about the pepper spray is very valid.Knife's are a no no, and if you do get a licence, a run of the mill shotgun in 12 bore(say a single barrel) will be a deterrent enough-as long as you learn to use it.and have a pricey lawyer.
Stay safe and welcome to IFG

[mundaire]

Gents, we've been had! This thread was apparently started by a.... spambot!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[striker]

started by a.... spambot!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Who ?

[mundaire]

Spambot = automated programs that trawl the Internet, automatically register on boards and post seemingly relevant messages (usually scraped from some other website).

Why do they do this? Well, the idea is to slide in a few links to other websites in an innocuous manner, thereby generating user traffic to those websites and/ or help improve their search engine rankings. In this particular case the spambot/ spammer posted the message without any such links, but later on edited the message to add spam links.

Most spambots get stopped by the spam protection checks we have in place, but obviously they are getting more and more sophisticated as I have deleted not less than 5 such spammers in the past 24 hours!

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[lazybones]

Wow ! I'm impressed. Both by the spambot and by your "Search and Destroy" skills Abhijit

Ashok

[Olly]

Abhijeet,
Full marks to you for the 'seek n destroy'.... without using the Colt...