I just looked up some video of the AA12 and G18. The first, the guy had a tiny stock on his g18, but another guy had a G18 in each hand and shot each rapid fire, with seemingly little recoil. And another one I thought seemed really weird, is a guy had an AA12, and shot it with 1 hand, arm extended.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siOEEOTjGqM The AA12 one. I lol'd when the 2nd guy shot and he started to get pushed back.
You have to remember how expensive those are to fire (I realize 5.56 are expensive as well, but they are much more cost effective in an assault rifle), and that they are shooting targets, they are not in a combat situation. If the fact that they ARE pretty difficult to control (with practice you could probably stabilize them more effectively), you also have to factor in ammo expenses (we don't want guns that rip through a 32-round mag in 3 seconds, especially since one bullet would do the same exact job), and how generally useless a shotgun is on the battlefield. Plus, the tiny-ass barrel on a compact handgun isn't sufficient to keep bullets accurate for a realistic range. There is literally NO need for these guns in any Military organization, as normal semi-automatics and assault rifles do the same job, only better and cheaper. This is exactly why these guns are only popular with civilians.
Plus on a personal note, why the forget would you put a stock on a hand gun, that's the stupidest stuff I've ever seen.
From another angle, you should keep weapons unloaded and the guns and ammo locked up whenever you're not using them. If your gun is in a place where you can reach and fire it in 10 seconds, it's also in a place where your nephew can accidentally blow his head off on Christmas while everyone else is unwrapping presents. Or hell, take this very unlikely case: your next door neighbor's 4 year old kid wanders into your house through a dog door, gets into your bedroom, finds your gun, and shoots himself. Guess what, you'd still be liable for the injury! Keep a wood bat around instead.
That being said, and this is coming from someone who knows very little about guns, I would say a handgun, because it's probably more convenient for storage. Things like accuracy, range, and stopping power shouldn't even factor into a residential setting unless you're being robbed by a trained SWAT team or something.
What's the best weapon for civilian home security, a shotgun or a pistol?
Wedge is right, a lock will keep 99% of all intruders out, a gun is
always a last resort, and he's also correct about gun safety. Never keep your weapon loaded (it's actually a criminal offense to keep a loaded firearm not in a safe in some states), never aim at anyone you don't intend to hurt, etc etc.
The stupid motherforgeters who think they're rambo gives legitimate firearms owners a bad name, it's not hard to just be safe. Now, as for what is recommended for home defense? From armed assailants, a
compact handgun should do the trick.
You never need anything higher than 9mm, and .45 ACP is pushing it. A .22 is small enough to not kill effectively, but will still hurt and/or scare the intruder. My mother owns a Beretta Bobcat, which is an extremely small .25 ACP handgun, perfect for this situation. I myself would use a 9mm though, just to be safe (Beretta M9 because I love that model). Even better is a shotgun, but NOT because it does more damage; The racking of a shotgun is a very distinct and fear-inducing noise. The shotgun is frightening in itself, it doesn't even need to be loaded to do its job. HOWEVER Wedge does have it wrong with the bullet entry, somewhat. Extremely small-caliber rounds can get embedded in drywall, but normal handgun rounds like the .32 and above will punch right through it (all pistol rounds will be stopped by a brick wall though), and this poses a danger to anyone in your home, condo, or apartment, so its best to NOT shoot.
You definitely never want to kill an intruder if you can simply stop them until the police arrive, and again, a gun is always a LAST RESORT, and the best defense is actually a deadbolt.
While most people will say a pistol because you can hide them and they are compact, I personally would say a shotgun and here are my reasons
1. if you have a family the shot will not go through the insulation in your walls, so you would not have to worry about anyone on the other side of the wall, where as a .45 pistol would go through your wall with little problem
2. anyone can fire a shotgun. Let's say your on vacation, and your wife finds an intruder in the house, she can pick up the shotgun, and just fire from the hip in his general direction, it's going to hit him.
Please stop giving advice, you obviously don't know what you're talking about. Birdshot MIGHT not penetrate, but buckshot will tear a wall a new one.
You darn Americans and your guns.
“The war is coming to the streets of America and if you are not keeping and bearing and practicing with your arms then you will be helpless and you will be the victim of evil.”
-Ted Nugent
We have a right to own weapons to protect our lives and the lives of our loved ones, and the government can forget right the hell off if it thinks it's legit to take them.
