# Sawed Off Shotguns

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawed-off-shotguns/423349>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [October 19, 2007, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawed-off-shotguns/423349 "2007-10-19T23:41:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![looppr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@looppr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/looppr)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawed-off-shotguns/423349/1 "2007-10-19T23:41:30Z")

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[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msawedoff.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msawedoff.html) in reference to this article I would like to point out that while shortening the length of a shotgun does make it easier to conceal there is another more interesting reason. A shotgun with a short barrel is much more lethal at short ranges. When a shotgun is fired the shot, small pellets for bird hunting, spreads out over distance. This can be a disadvantage when shooting birds because not enough pellets entering the bird will not be lethal and the wounded bird will escape. A long barrel will keep the shot pattern tight at long distances. If the prey is human at close range a tight pattern will be only slightly better than a large caliber pistol round. Shorten the barrel and at a distance of ten feet or so the pattern becomes much larger, say about a foot. Add to that a larger shot pellet, say what is referred to as “double ought” about 8 pellets per shell and you have a weapon that can blow a very large and very lethal hole in a man with one shot not even carefully aimed. This style of gun is banned because it has no other practical use than as a short range weapon of murder.

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**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sawed-off-shotguns/423349/2 "2007-10-19T23:50:48Z")

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Howdy, **looppr** , and welcome to the SDMB.

Since this is the forum for questions about columns **Cecil** has written, and the article you’ve referenced is written by **Bricker** –one of our SDSAB contributors–I’ll close this thread and direct everyone to the same thread you opened in our [Comments on Staff Reports](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=440876) forum.