Unless you shoot a pump regularly, under extreme stress you might do ok, or you might not.

And forget about the stupid racking the slide to make sound argument, it's good for a movie effect but a terrible tactic.

Stick with a reliable semi-auto with a 20" or 22" barrel, cut to fit you.

Winchester Super-X of any vintage. Add a magazine extension and have the stock cut to fit.

Winchester made a National Wild Turkey Foundation model with a shorter barrel that is really well suited for this role.

Benelli of your choice is another option if a mag extension is available.

HIPOINT 9mm Carbine

I would recommend a 9mm Carbine before a shotgun for serval reasons:

1. It uses a round designed primarily for self defense. This is important because if you ever have to use the gun you will not have lawyer issues.
2. The recoil is consistent between round choices
3. You will have less chance of the round leaving your house
4. The gun uses a clip
5. Semi Autos require less muscle memory
6. Carbines are much easier to aim than a pistol
7. You can mount flashlights easily with out defeating the purpose of the gun


There will be a lot of push back on this. I paid for a lawyers opinion on this topic because I have had lots of people ask me this question and also because I thought it maybe a good business to be in (business of selling legal defense insurance in the case a gun needed to be used). This lawyers opinion was basically in a nut shell it is easier to defend a gun or load that is made for primarily for home defense than it is to defend a gun or load that has a different use such as hunting, competition shooting...

The problem with a shot gun for home defense is that it is so good at just about any thing a real good DA can turn your shotgun into a urban assault weapon for a jury. You start adding anything tactical on it and there you go, you are now in possession of a weapon of mass confusion for people who do not understand guns.

If you are a hunter and you use a shotgun for defense the easy answer is yes this my duck gun and I heard a noise.

But if you only have a gun for self dense buy a gun that is only for self defense.

That's a bunch of crap. Find me ONE case heard in a Texas court where a man was convicted of a crime for using any weapon in self defense over another weapon. It won't be there. Your lawyer wanted to give you something that sounded good so he would get paid.

YEP. Total BS. I know there are a lot of people around who don't care for Massad Ayoob for various reasons, but he wrote a book many years ago titled "In The Gravest Extreme". I would consider it mandatory reading for anyone who arms themselves either in their home or on the street. He goes into detail what to say, when to say it, and what to do if you ever have to use your firearm in self defense. And he definitely has the credentials to give the advice. If you can find a copy I'd strongly recommend it for any gun owner.

That's a bunch of crap. Find me ONE case heard in a Texas court where a man was convicted of a crime for using any weapon in self defense over another weapon. It won't be there. Your lawyer wanted to give you something that sounded good so he would get paid.

I'm a caterer. Find the legal precedent to support what he's saying. Or better yet, pay the lawyer to. There is zero legal precedent in Texas to support that opinion.

Castillo v. United States •; 2000; 530 U.S. 120; 629

Here's a vote for the pump shotgun, I would not trust an autoloader after having to work on so many of them for various reasons.

Nate,
what do you do for a living?

Castillo v. United States •; 2000; 530 U.S. 120; 629