# Home invasion defense: hand gun, sawed-off shotgun, Uzi, etc.? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2012, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723 "2012-12-21T10:18:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/41 "2012-12-21T19:48:24Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Well there is this [Protection Or Peril? Gun Possession Of Questionable Value In An Assault, Study Finds | ScienceDaily](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090930121512.htm) I’m sure the bad guy will shoot you if he sees you with a gun, but as I said, in the only one I’m familiar with, the guy said, “I have a gun and I’m going to shoot you.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/42 "2012-12-21T22:41:29Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I live in a second-story apartment. am I supposed to just jump out of the window? Well, I did say “probably”. In fact, I don’t have such a system. We have plans for most things. For home invasion at night, it’s this (as we would quite likely hear someone trying to break in): wife jumps out of her side of bed, grabbing the cell phone as she goes, slams the bedroom door and plants herself on the floor in front of it. While she’s dialing 911, I’m retrieving my handgun from the closet. Then we wait for the cops to show up. Everything is insured, so I don’t give a shit what they steal. If he tries to come into the bedroom, he’s dead. Bedroom window, ditto. I used to have a shotgun, but I really don’t want to kill anybody. Maiming is so much more satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/43 "2012-12-21T22:47:34Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Well, I did say “probably”. In fact, I don’t have such a system. > > We have plans for most things. For home invasion at night, it’s this (as we would quite likely hear someone trying to break in): wife jumps out of her side of bed, grabbing the cell phone as she goes, slams the bedroom door and plants herself on the floor in front of it. While she’s dialing 911, I’m retrieving my handgun from the closet. Then we wait for the cops to show up. Everything is insured, so I don’t give a shit what they steal. If he tries to come into the bedroom, he’s dead. Bedroom window, ditto. I used to have a shotgun, but I really don’t want to kill anybody. Maiming is so much more satisfying. Good plan, but is it a solid or hollow core door? I put a dead blot on the hollow core stairway door and planned to blow the guy who might be after us away with the shotgun. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/44 "2012-12-21T23:21:37Z")
I said “big dog” because I have dogs. I have guns, too, but two barking pit bulls are more likely to keep someone from breaking in in the first place. Unless, of course the intruders have the foresight to bring meaty bones with them. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/45 "2012-12-21T23:42:03Z")
I also picked only “big dog.” Actually I have two big dogs: a Rottweiler and a black Lab. And, a small, very, very noisy dog when she thinks she has a reason to be: a Jack Russell terrier cross. I think it is entirely probable that any one of the three would happily welcome an unintended visitor right into the home…but as long as unintended visitors don’t know that I am OK with it. Between the three of them, no home defense needed. Nobody would even bother trying! And I live in an insanely high-crime area. “Foaming wasp spray” aka insect repellent would be another of my choices. Nothing against firearms for home defense; I’ve just never felt I needed to go that route personally. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/46 "2012-12-21T23:44:53Z")
Why isn’t “hand grenades” an option? :mad:😕😛 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/47 "2012-12-21T23:56:02Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Why isn’t “hand grenades” an option? :mad:😕😛 Rough on the furniture. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/48 "2012-12-22T00:41:25Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Good plan, but is it a solid or hollow core door? > > I put a dead blot on the hollow core stairway door and planned to blow the guy who might be after us away with the shotgun. All the doors in this house are solid, and actually the deadbolt idea is a good one; very similar to the safe room concept in embassy housing overseas. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/49 "2012-12-22T01:02:30Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Rough on the furniture. Feeble excuse. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/50 "2012-12-22T01:28:47Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > Feeble excuse. You obviously make more money than I. 🙂 This forum requires that you wait 60 seconds between posts. Please try again in 2 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/51 "2012-12-22T02:03:36Z")
My father kept a shotgun in the bedroom closet. It was plugged for three rounds. For the first and last he used buckshot. The second round was a deer slug. He said if any of us couldn’t bring down an intruder with that combination, we deserved what would happen to us. Me, I just have a big dog. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/52 "2012-12-22T02:38:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > you can’t beat a 0.44" in terms of intimidation value. How about .[45](http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/10387/11028527_1.jpg?v=8CE3CDC7FA4D840)? Or .[50](http://www.great-lakes.org/graphics-2/Smith&Wesson/170231a.jpg)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/53 "2012-12-22T03:09:45Z")
I went with the Martial Arts option. I have no weapons around the house, so that’s what I’d use. I have no illusions that I’d win, but that’s what I’d use. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/54 "2012-12-22T03:21:10Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > How about .[45](http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/10387/11028527_1.jpg?v=8CE3CDC7FA4D840)? > > Or .[50](http://www.great-lakes.org/graphics-2/Smith&Wesson/170231a.jpg)? > 😃 .44 is generally considered more powerful than .45. The latter **may** be able to carry more rounds, though. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/55 "2012-12-22T03:21:14Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Or .[50](http://www.great-lakes.org/graphics-2/Smith&Wesson/170231a.jpg)? > 😃 A pistol with a sling. Oye. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/56 "2012-12-22T03:24:01Z")
Big dogs, plural. One to make threat displays and the others to sneak up on the guy. So many of the choices make messes that you have to clean up, while the dogs will do most of the cleaning up, too. Zero effort–you don’t even need to get out of bed–and minimal evidence to get rid of, too, and you won’t even have to feed the dogs for a few days! You will have to keep a steady supply of fresh water for them, but you have to do that anyway. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/57 "2012-12-22T03:25:24Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > My father kept a shotgun in the bedroom closet. It was plugged for three rounds. For the first and last he used buckshot. The second round was a deer slug. He said if any of us couldn’t bring down an intruder with that combination, we deserved what would happen to us. > > Me, I just have a big dog. Both of you have good points. In a Matt Helm novel, a book not the silly movies, the dog takes out the bad guys, but dies. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/58 "2012-12-22T03:29:51Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Big dogs, plural. One to make threat displays and the others to sneak up on the guy. So many of the choices make messes that you have to clean up, while the dogs will do most of the cleaning up, too. Zero effort–you don’t even need to get out of bed–and minimal evidence to get rid of, too, and you won’t even have to feed the dogs for a few days! You will have to keep a steady supply of fresh water for them, but you have to do that anyway. This, too, is a Good Plan. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/59 "2012-12-22T03:39:34Z")
Pistol with a laser sight for manuverability and control. Frangible ammo to reduce consequences of missing. ---
**Author:** ![demiChimaera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@demiChimaera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/demiChimaera)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-invasion-defense-hand-gun-sawed-off-shotgun-uzi-etc/644723/60 "2012-12-22T03:52:50Z")
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