For home defense a good 12 ga can't be beat. Just racking a shell into the chamber should be enough.

Paul

go to any pawn shop and buy an old 12ga remington model 870. take your hacksaw and cut the barrel off to 18". buy some 12ga buckshot. keep the gun by your bed (unloaded), and the shells where you can get to them quickly. i read somewhere that the average distance (in aprivate residence)where an occupant shot an intruder was7 yards, in "low light" conditions. no need for a front bead sight, just point and click!

For an only weapon, a shotgun, No question in my mind.

i dont think i could hack off the barrel of an 870, i love them to much,

both weapons have their pros and cons and im sure with practice anything would probably work, most intruders are probably a bunch of sissy @$$e$ and arent going to hang around too long if they know your packin, especially if they do here that shotgun or even pistol slide into the "oh no i better run" position, good luck again

GA I had the same problem I ended up with a .410 3 inch mag with a speader on the end of the barrel. The only thing I added was a pistol grip and a light. all you have to do is point and shoot you dont have to aim ever the wife can handle it and likes to shoot it. it is a mossberg 500. just my 2 cents

Heres a link to the safe I was speaking of. Its only for handguns.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0005562220659a&type=product&cm Cat=search&returnString=hasJS=true&_D%3Aha sJS=+&QueryText=gun+safe&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas %2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.22&Go.x=20&Go.y=18&N=4887& Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&N tt=gun+safe&noImage=0&returnPage=search-results1.jsp


You said you have a new daughter so Im not sure if you mean new-born or not but I dont think with kids in the house that can run around,you shouldnt have a loaded gun that only needs the safety moved to go off. Even if you teach your kids correctly they may have a friend come over one day that doesnt know the difference. So I think in the case of mobile children, Id go handgun with a safe like this.

If someone has children and has loaded guns to each their own but it happens enough in the news about someones child hurting themselves or their sibling with a gun and that hurts all gun owners in the end.

my choice would be claymore mines set 10ft from every entry door. And if they come through the window then i would go with the gun closest to me .357

wouldn't you like blow someone's limb off or something

I think the 40 is an awesome choice!!

Easy-

H&K MP-10

Since I'm probably not going to win the lottery anytime soon, I'll settle for an M4 carbine.