What gun should I use for home defense?

The question of what type of firearm needed to defend one’s home has been asked since people started using them. There are a lot of good options these days and in this article we’re going to discuss the pros and cons of each as well as how you need to set up your home defense gun. 

Handgun

For most, the handgun will be a good choice for a home defense gun. If you’re already carrying a gun for personal protection and train with it, it’s a natural transition to go using the same firearm to defend the home. However, your small pocket pistol may not be what you want. If I’m going to use a handgun for home defense, it’s not going to be the same gun I carry. There’s a tradeoff when you choose to carry a gun on your person between comfort and capacity. A smaller gun is easy to carry and easy to conceal whereas a larger gun has more capacity but is less comfortable. That leads most people to choose a smaller more concealable firearm to carry. If you’re going to defend your home with a handgun you’re going to want the most capacity you can get.

The setup for a handgun for home defense isn’t very complicated. For starters, you want night sights. These are essentially glow-in-the-dark sights that are visible to the eye in pitch black. If you can’t see your sights you can’t hit your target so these are a must. There are a lot of options but tritium sights will stay lit without needing some sort of light source to charge them. Red dots on handguns are starting to become more popular and are also a good option for a home defense handgun. Be sure that your red dot has some sort of auto-on feature as you don’t want to be fumbling with buttons in a stressful situation. A light source is also a must on a home defense handgun. Once again, there are plenty of good options but be sure to choose a brand that is high quality and can stand the recoil of your firearm. You don’t need 10 different brightness settings and a strobe feature so make sure your flashlight can do on/off or have the ability to program for that. 

One of the drawback for a handgun is the ability to holster it in a home defense situation. Odds are you don’t wear pants and a belt with a holster while you’re sleeping so you won’t be able to set your handgun if you need to without losing control of it. You may need to pick up a child, render first aid, or a dozen other things you’ll need to do with your hands. With a handgun, you can’t keep control of it without a holster. The other drawback is a handgun round is poor choice to stop a threat. Statistics show us that it usually takes multiple rounds from a handgun to stop a threat. In a situation with more than one attacker, we may need more capacity than we have. 

Pros: Easy to train with, easy to store, good capacity, can use one handed

Cons: Most calibers are poor at stopping threats without multiple hits, unable to holster

Shotgun

The shotgun has oft been touted as the go-to weapon for home defense. What it lacks in capacity it makes up for in raw power. Loaded with the correct loads, it’s an instant fight stopper making it a good choice for the home. 

The setup for the shotgun is similar to the handgun. You need some sort of sights that are visible in the dark with red dots being a very good option here. You’ll also need a flashlight of some sort keeping in mind that whatever you choose needs to be able to handle the increased recoil. Another must for a shotgun is a sling. Like the handgun, you may need to use your hands for something other than holding the gun. A sling allows you the ability to retain control of the gun without setting it down. 

There are a couple of drawbacks to the shotgun. First is capacity. Even with an extended magazine, the most rounds you’ll be able to have is about 8-10. This is far less than a handgun or rifle. Next is usability. If you’ve ever trained with a shotgun you know that it’s punishing. If you don’t train with your home defense gun then it will be very difficult to be effective in a real fight with it. If your significant other doesn’t like to shoot your shotgun, it could result in them not knowing how to use it. The last is reloading. Without training and a side saddle shell holder, reloading the shotgun can be cumbersome and time consuming. If you choose a shotgun for home defense, be sure to train and practice how to reload, especially if you keep it unloaded. 

Pros: Instant fight stopper, can be slung

Cons: Capacity is small, takes time to load/reload, may not be usable for some people

Rifle

When we’re referring to a rifle for home defense we’re talking about some sort of modern sporting rifle like an AR style platform. As the AR has become the most popular gun in the US the last several years and it’s apparent why it’s also becoming the choice for a home defense gun. The standard capacity magazine (if you live in a free state) starts at 30 rounds and can go higher. The vast variety of calibers will allow you to choose the one that suits your needs for a home defense gun with .223/5.56 being the most popular. Rifle caliber rounds have excellent fight stopping properties and far exceed handgun calibers in that regard. The AR has little recoil and can be easily used by almost anyone as long as you train with it. Loading/reloading are extremely easy and fast with an AR and mag links can give you an extra magazine on the rifle, increasing your capacity to 60 rounds as soon as you grab it. 

Setup for the AR has a lot of options but a red dot sight and a flashlight are mandatory for a home defense gun. A sling is also a must for the same reasons listed as the shotgun. With modern rail systems, attachments on an AR are almost endless but be sure to train with whatever setup you choose. A lot of gear just tends to get in the way and odds are you won’t really need it. 

As far as drawbacks for an AR for home defense, I can’t really list any unless you’re in a state where they’ve been banned or completely neutered by the government.

Pros: Capacity, rifle calibers are good fight stoppers, low recoil, easy to load/unload, can be slung, lots of ways to customize your rifle, ease of use by everyone

Cons: May not be legal where you live

Whatever firearm you choose for home defense, make sure it’s setup for that specific application and train with it. If you don’t train with your home defense weapon, you won’t be effective in a real world high stress situation.