Buying the Right Handgun For Your Home and Personal Protection
Posted: Monday, February 01, 2010
by Steven Rogers
Lately, I have been in the market for a gun for our house. The primary use for this weapon will be home defense for my family. My wife has almost no experience with guns so it has fallen to me to pick the best gun for her. Having been in the USMC I have a bit more intimate knowledge of firearms than most so I would like to share some of the things that crossed my mind before revealing what we have decide to buy.
There are many kinds of firearms for many purposes but as this is being written for someone new to firearms I will stick to the basics to give to a good understanding of how I made the decision to buy a particular firearm. The first thing you have to look at is you family needs. There are what are called long guns, which include rifles and shotguns. Most rifles are meant for hunting not close combat, so that is out. They are meant to shoot distances over say 30 yards and require much more skill than I think most people have especially under pressure. Shotguns however are too big to keep in our gun safe and being that we have small children, our gun needs to be locked up. That just leaves handguns.
There are basically two types of handguns, the automatic and the revolver. They both have their good points and bad. The automatic holds more rounds than a revolver, but is also more complicated. As it pushes the next round into the chamber to fire, it has to eject the previous casing. This provides a chance for the gun to jam. Where as a revolver does not eject the casing it simply revolves to the next bullet for firing. This is secondary for me be cause the two handguns I was considering are both known for being one shot man stoppers. The 357 revolver and the 45acp automatic are both tested showing that over 95 % of people shot one time will not survive to terrorize anyone else. This is the reason they are the most widely used weapons by the police. As I have said, safety is a big concern. The automatics have an external or thumb safety that keeps the weapon from firing by flipping a switch. While the revolver uses what is called a heavy trigger to keep it from firing. This doesn't sound like much, but when it takes 11 or 12 pounds of pressure to pull the trigger, you don't accidentally fire it. The 357 is generally a point and shoot weapon, meaning that there is no prep. You point it and pull the trigger and a bullet comes out. The 45 takes a little more work. You have to disengage the safety, then chamber a round, then point and shoot. It doesn't sound like much but when the situation arrives those simple task can be hard to remember. The 357 has a very hard Kick" but also fires the smaller 38 round negating a lot of the "Kick". It also negates some of the stopping power. A 45 is a bit heavier and can absorb more of the "Kick". You can also add a compensator to the barrel of a 45 to further help in controlling the weapon. Which is why I will buy the 45 for my home defense. I will just use the 357 as my personal carry for many of the same reasons listed above. As to which home weapon is right for your home I can't say. You have to be the judge of that for yourself.
I would like to tell you about a gun company. It is called Hipoint. They are an American Gun maker based out of Ohio. Their handguns and carbines are gaining popularity amongst shooters all over. They sell quality weapons at very reasonable prices. They also come with a lifetime warranty. I don't represent them in any way or get anything for this but I bought my wife's gun from them and was so pleased by the service that I wanted to share.
Steven is a self proclaimed right wing Christian extremist. He is a former Marine and currently work in the laboratory of a cancer research and treatment facility. He is the father of three and is referred to as genius by his wife (mostly as a sarcastic term of endearment!)
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)My own very surprise Christmas gift several years back is a Smith and Wesson 357 - 7 shooter revolver. I love it and mostly pack 38 specials but for hiking in bear country have the 357 hollow points. Have only shot a target but when Mick leaves me sitting on a rock after about 4 miles of hiking because he'd like to go over the next mountain - I feel ok staying there and reading a library book...works ar home too because we are at the end of the county and WAY away from any roving sheriff vehicle.Thanks for your comment. I can't tell you how much I love hearing from you on my articles.And I do so enjoy reading sane, sensible and current things that you write in this (currently) land of people with their heads in the sand! Scary but I think some are shaking it off and looking, actually.If only it were as simplistic as being in the sand or out of it.
Steven,Since you are getting a gun for protection specifically, please make sure you take the time to not only choose a gun for your wife, but to get her adequate training. Shooting at a target under calm, unstressful situations is completely different than when your life or your children's lives are threatened. If you haven't, you need to find her training that mimics crisis situations. There was an extremely interesting 20/20 report by Diane Sawyer called "If I Only Had A Gun" that shows that very few civilians can react adequately and/or appropriately in a threatening situation. Without proper training, the gun is actually more likely to hinder the untrained than help them.
Another note, women should also have adequate self-defense training. My husband and two of my sons were the victims of a home invasion a few years ago. Short of having the guns in their pockets when the gunman entered the house, it would not have helped. BUT training in martial arts or something like that may have been much more useful. Also a security system with cameras so that we could have had a visual identification of the assailant and a notation of where he came from and where he went for the police.You are absolutely correct. Training is essential to personal defense. I once heard it said that the more you sweat in peace the less you bleed in war. You must train even when things seem peaceful so that you are ready when "it" hits the fan.
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