Home Defense

As fast as you might be with your current setup while standing, have you trained with it in a seated position?

You’ve personally seen a knife-swinging man who, at least once, lunged in an aggressive fashion toward about 10 other people.

The “if he’s in my house, he’s dead” crowd might not like to hear it, but if you can avoid having to shoot somebody, for God’s sake, don’t shoot.

Now that you know what features your wife or girlfriend wants in her concealed carry handgun (covered in Part I of this series), you’re ready to help her start looking.

Are you prepared to do what’s right mentally and physically (skill wise)? Or are you carrying a full-size pistol and four magazines but haven’t been to the range in a year?

If you’ve fired different types of shotguns, it’s obvious that recoil can be all over the map. Some load and gun combinations are relative pussycats, allowing one to fire hundreds of rounds per day with no ill effect. Others make you want to start sticking safety pins to your shirt and run for the nearest safe space. With recoil in mind, I got an itch to check out a 20-gauge pump shotgun for home defense. That brought me to the Stevens 320 Pump in 20 gauge.

More women are purchasing and carrying firearms than ever before, and chances are good your significant other has thought about buying a handgun for self-defense.

Almost all defensive training of any kind — armed or unarmed — stresses that, “There’s no room for a fair fight when your life is on the line.”

Most home invaders are usually either silent or dynamic in their entries. They usually either sneak in and have you overwhelmed before waking you or they smash in like a natural gas explosion and overcome the residents with violence of action.