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From: jkh@jade.BERKELEY.EDU (Jordan K. Hubbard)
Newsgroups: mod.rec.guns
Subject: Re: mod.rec.guns: Gun selection
Message-ID: <1572@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Fri, 31-Oct-86 18:34:57 EST
Article-I.D.: jade.1572
Posted: Fri Oct 31 18:34:57 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 3-Nov-86 20:42:20 EST
References: <1425@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>, <1490@jade.BERKELEY.EDU> <1535@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 82
Approved: jkh@ucbjade
Author: voder!kontron!cramer@ucbvax.Berkeley.Edu (Clayton Cramer)

To: voder!ucbopal!jkh


Article: 10:62

> Article: 10:47
> 
> > There are a few things to consider when purchasing a "home-defense" weapon.
> 
> There are also a few things to consider before purchasing one, like (a) do
> you have a way of quickly and quietly getting your family together behind
> a locked door, and (b) is there a telephone in the room behind that door.
> Home-defense weapons are appropriate only as a desperate last resort in
> response to open attack.  In most cases it is much safer to take shelter
> behind a locked door and call the police; they are *equipped* and *trained*
> to deal with such situations.  Unless you are under the delusion that
> you are bulletproof, it is clearly better to let the professionals do it.

This makes the assumption that you hear someone breaking in.  Most people
sleep so soundly that the only door or window being forced open that you
will hear is in your bedroom.  (This is why I have a lock on the bedroom
door and keep a .45 next on a nightstand next to the bed.  Of course, it
is ALWAYS put away before I unlock the door in the morning and let my
daughter in.)

As an example, the Night Stalker last year in Southern California broke into
one house, raped the nine-year-old in her bed, and beat her hard enough to
lay open a 30-something stich wound that showed her skull -- and her parents
didn't wake up in the next bedroom.

This also makes the assumption that the police will respond in any reasonable
period of time.  I have a friend in Los Angeles who called the police to
report a burglary -- but the Harbor Division of LAPD was closed because 
it was Sunday.  Another friend called LAPD in another division to report
a fight, and spent 30 minutes on hold before a real person came on the line.

> There is something to be said for being able to defend yourself against
> dangerous intruders, in the event that the police aren't available or
> can't get there quickly enough.  But note, "defend".  Unless you truly
> believe that your possessions are more important than your life, your
> best move (situation permitting) is still to hole up in a well-protected
> location and use your weaponry only if the intruder(s) mount a determined
> attack.  There are lesser reasons for this, like the courts taking a dim
> view of you shooting someone except in such a dire emergency (no, the law
> is *not* automatically on your side if you shoot a prowler), but your own
> survival seems sufficient reason all by itself.
> 

The courts don't take such a dim view of this in California, or most other
western States.  California law makes the presumption that if someone forces
their way into your home while you are home, that the intruder intends you
great bodily harm.  Use of lethal force is therefore acceptable.

> These tactical considerations may well influence your choice of defensive
> weapon.  More important, if you are buying defensive guns before having
> given any attention to these issues, you are acting without thinking.
> 

It is my impression also that a lot of people have a firearm as a talisman --
they shoot it once a year, if that.  If you are going to have it, you should
accept that it will regular practice -- at least once a month -- to be a
serious threat to an intruder.

> On the more specific issue of weapon selection, do remember that at
> close-combat ranges, the pellets from a shotgun will be in one solid mass
> not a lot larger than the bullet from a pistol or rifle.  This makes utter
> nonsense of the purported no-need-to-aim-accurately advantage of the
> shotgun, and greatly reduces its advantages in lethality and minimum
> wall penetration.  If you doubt this, check over your house to determine
> the longest range at which you would plausibly engage an intruder -- good
> odds it's something like 10-15 feet -- and the most plausible range -- which
> will probably be nearly spitting distance.  Then try some target practice
> at those ranges to see what the spread is like.  It's not much.
> 
> 				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
> 				{allegra,ihnp4,decvax,pyramid}!utzoo!henry

A valid point.  The "shotgun as lead garden hose" is simply not true until
you get to 40-50 feet, or if you have an illegally short barrel to enhance
the spread.  This, and the prospect of using a 30" long weapon at a range
of 40" is the reason I consider a handgun the most appropriate home defense
weapon -- you've got to get very close to wrestle a handgun away from 
someone -- a shotgun is another matter.

Clayton E. Cramer