Choosing A Home Defense Weapon

How to match your home defense weapon to your needs.

Before you can discuss home defense weapons, you must first define “home defense.”

This is complicated because home defense is not the same for everyone. It’s largely dependent on what type of home you live in and where it’s located. The goal is to match the home defense weapon to your needs, and to do this effectively you must define your needs.

What is Home Defense?

Needs vary so much it’s impossible to provide definitive examples, but we can create some generalizations. For example, if you live out in the country, you may want to consider defending your yard/ranch in addition to your home. That defense could involve dealing with four- and two-legged critters. In most of the United States, the worst of those would be a black bear, but in some locations, you might need to worry about the bigger bears, cougars and even wolves. A friend who lives on Kodiak Island had to shoot a marauding brown bear right in front of his home.

If you live in the city, short of a bad accident at the zoo, humans are your main concern, and it’s possible you have no yard at all. You might live in a complex with another family just on the other side of the wall. In a situation like this, the furthest you’ll likely need to shoot is 20 or 30 feet, but you’ll need to be leery of ammunition that might pass through walls. The same is true if you live in a trailer park, but trailer parks exist in the country, too, and you still might have a yard.

Then, there are the in-between domiciles that are not really in the city or the country. There you might also live in a thin-walled trailer, and you very likely will have a yard. And even if you don’t need to worry about big and bad beasts, there are the lesser critters that can torment your home. This could be anything from a raccoon to a coyote, and rabid animals are always a possibility. I’ve had to deal with more than one rabid animal in my yard.

The point is, there’s no single answer to the home defense question, and what might be optimal for a friend or neighbor, might not be right for you. Ultimately, you have three different weapon systems to consider. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, and the correct answer might be all three.

Let’s look at shotguns, carbines and handguns separately to better understand how they dovetail into a good home defense plan.

The Shotgun

From a terminal performance standpoint, the shotgun can deliver the most violent blow. However, unless you’re using slugs, a shotgun has limited reach. Shotguns are also intimidating to most shooters because of their stiff recoil. Trust me on this: I was a police firearms instructor for more than a decade, and most cops don’t like to shoot shotguns. Now, you might not have an issue with shotgun recoil, but those who share your home might, and there’s no guarantee you will be the one trying to stop a threat.

Shotguns can also defeat most interior walls, and the outside walls of a mobile home will only slightly slow down buckshot. However, for interior self-defense applications inside 20 or 30 feet, No. 5 or smaller shot can be very effective and there’s much less concern over overpenetration. But for those of us who live out in the wilds, you might not keep your shotgun loaded with slugs, but they should be on your shotgun … or at least near where you keep it.

A shotgun is also a two-hand weapon; to use it effectively, you need both hands. This is not really a problem until you need to call 911 while holding an assailant at gunpoint, or while you’re trying to operate a flashlight, render aid to a family member or just get them out of the way. Also, if the assault becomes a hand-to-hand engagement, it’s hard to shoot someone with a long-gun if they’re on top of you trying to beat you to a pulp, while you’re also trying to keep them from taking the shotgun away from you and using it on you.

The Carbine

In most instances, I feel a carbine is superior to a shotgun for home defense. It’s still a two-handed weapon, but it has much more reach and a much higher capacity. You can also select ammunition that will provide good terminal performance without worries of overpenetration. Carbines—especially those of the AR-15 variety—are very versatile, too. You can use an optical sight and/or a reflex non-magnifying sight, you can attach a weapon light, and you can also run a suppressor. The suppressor might seem overly tactical, but have you ever shot a firearm inside a home? It’s deafening.

What I think is one of the most appealing aspects of an AR-15-style carbine is the minimal recoil. This makes the weapon system much more compatible with more family members. Like I’ve said, you could be unable to man the gun because you’re injured, or you might not even be home when the bad thing happens.

One of the biggest drawbacks to two-handed weapon systems, like the shotgun and the carbine, is the difficulty in securely stowing them. Now, you might live alone and never have young or old visitors because no one likes you. If that’s the case, it does not matter; you can leave your long gun on the kitchen table. However, if you have children in your home, it’s nice to be able to lock firearms away. Of course, that’s easy to do with a gun safe, but how fast and easy can you access your gun safe during a home invasion?

The Handgun

For most, a handgun for home defense makes good sense. This is partly because if you are arming your home, you’re probably arming yourself for everyday activities. In other words, you carry concealed. There’s no reason your everyday carry gun cannot be your home defense gun. In fact, it makes good sense because you will be more familiar and probably better trained with your carry gun than any other gun you own. (If you’re not, you should be.)

Of course, you could have a duplicate of your carry gun you keep in that special spot for home defense. This is not a bad idea, either. Then, you can arm you and your significant other with the same weapon system. Also, you might want a weapon light on your home defense handgun but not your carry gun.

The handgun is also the most portable of your three alternatives, which makes it easier to maneuver through hallways and in dynamic situations. It’s also the best weapon system if you end up in a hand-to-hand engagement. While you’re fending off your attacker with one hand, you can shoot with the other. And, unlike with a two-handed long-gun, you can easily hold an assailant at gunpoint while you effectively do other things with your other hand. You also have the option of suppressing a handgun, though it does destroy some of the platform’s maneuverability.

Of course, handgun ammunition can be very penetrative, too, but fortunately there are a wide assortment of ammo options for the most popular self-defense handgun cartridges. Then, there’s the issue of capacity. Except for revolvers, most handguns will hold more ammo than any shotgun, but not quite as much as a carbine. How much ammo do you need? Well, that depends on a lot of things— primarily, how well you shoot and how many targets you need to shoot.

Pick One, or Two … or Three

I’m of the opinion that the best answer to the home defense weapon question is not a singular solution. You can conveniently store a handgun in a compact gun safe near your bed or easy chair. Hell, you can even comfortably wear a handgun around the house. But there’s no practical reason to limit yourself to just a handgun. You could also keep a long-gun as handy as possible, and it’s a sound practice if you live remote where you might need to deal with external threats or nasty critters.

If your everyday carry gun is your only gun, or the only gun you can afford for home defense, don’t feel at a disadvantage, especially if you’re competent with it. Skill at arms will always trump equipment. But you might consider working toward an additional option, even if it’s just another handgun—maybe with a weapon light—kept at a different location in your home.

Most importantly, consider the totality of your circumstances. It’s not what works for your neighbor or me that matters most; it’s what will work best for you and your family, inside—and/or outside—your home.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the April 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

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