Home Defense: 9mm Semi-auto or 7.62x39mm AK-47?

A pistol is your best choice for home protection, long guns not the best choice for wielding inside your home & allot easier for a perp to get ahold of.

 

As stated get what you can comfortably shoot and load it with a round that has at least 12" of penetration. Any hardball whether it is 9mm or 45 is a poor defensive round and should not be used. Handguns suck at stopping attackers as it is, no need to handicap them even more. Personally I would have no problem using my AR, or my 9 to defend my home.

If you choose a shotgun please dont use birdshot, as it is a extremely bad man stopper. As for the Judge as a defensive weapon, there are defiantly way better.

 

I voted 9mm.
I don't own a AK........

 

All these talks of going through walls and shooting neighbors...

1. The primary purpose of the gun is to kill the BG before he (or she!) kills you. It's a life-and-death struggle where the BG may be armed with anything from a knife, crowbar or another gun. Compromising on the gun or ammo for fear of penetrating a wall when your life is in immediate danger is poor judgement.
2. There are various hollowpoint and softpoint 7.62x39mm ammo available. For example...
The military is stuck with FMJ bullets due to the Hague Convention. Civilians can use all kinds of expanding bullets to maximize shock.
3. Remember burglars often don't work alone. Plan your magazine capacity accordingly. If it takes four rounds of 9mm to shoot a BG to the ground, two BGs would need at least 8 rounds.

 

9mm won't penetrate too many walls and therefore is safer to use in a residential home. Like a lawyer told me once; after shooting the guy who is trying to harm you or your family, fire two shots into the ceiling of your home. That way, you can explain in court that you fired two warning shots and he kept coming after you so you put one in the center of his chest and turned his lights off

 

yeah/\ that wouldnt be a good thing to do...because if you didnt feel threatened enough to use force you would not be justified in trying to scare someone

 

Shotguns are the answer.

 

I set up my house like the kid in the movie on Home Alone, . Seriously though, it seems the trend is towards home invasions, so you better hope you get the drop on the guy (s). Never give away your position, always shoot center of mass, get out safely with your family and call 911 from somewhere safe.

 

My vote is whatever you feel comfortable with using and is in hand. Your legal responsibility and accountability starts and ends with you and your actions and nothing any of us say will have any bearing on the end result.

The logic that I was trained to use in that type of situation was simple, you are entering into a gun battle without knowledge how many opponents you face and how well they are armed or how determined they are. With that in mind the first rule is to never offer your opponent an advantage over you which is exactly what charging a pump action shotgun, shouting out a warning, firing a warning shot, or using less than lethal munitions does. The second is to determine your own mindset. Do you plan to survive the encounter or have yourself added to the list of victims that were tortured, raped, or killed by intruders who came into their home? The third rule is to make certain that you completely understand the legal repercussions of defending yourself in your own home. I believe Tigerfan subtly added that warning shots are a bad idea but he didn't tell you why. In many states firing the warning shots prior to firing at your attacker may turn your cut and dry act of self defense into the slippery slope of an indictable homicide case to be made against you.

To those that bring patterns into the argument I'd suggest measuring the distance from the defensive side of the bed to the entry points of the room and then safely replicating them at your firing range to test your pattern theories to solidify them or offer you time to sort out a different solution. Myself, I use #2 buck and my shotgun from under the bed is a Mossberg 590 like others who have posted before me. While you are at the range I'd suggest you also tinker with your angle of attack to help wrap your head around firing positions that would lessen the possibility of harming family members who may be beyond your line of fire.

I mention the defensive side of the bed as that is the place that I will be staying as I have been trained not to try to take the fight into an unknown enemy while I am still waking up and the mix of adrenalin with the fog of just waking make for a dangerous concoction.

I usually stay far away from these types of conversations because I have a much different outlook on the situation than others. You see, I have in my possession a set of keys to a house that I sold that I killed two intruders in while I lived in Texas. So with that said people can post all sorts of smug empty headed nonsense onto the internet but I'll close with this. When in doubt about the safety of your loved ones and yourself, remove all doubt. Looking back, my only regret is that those two chose to attempt to victimize me and my family.

Regardless of your choice, I hope you find the ideal solution for home defense. Myself, I'm hoping to be able to find some rural property that I can use a GAU19 for home defense.

 

You shoot first and THEN put two rounds in the ceiling

 

^ yes.

Spend $150 and buy a shotgun.

I keep mine staggerd with Texas Heavy Dove loads (Yes birdshot, with a lot of powder behind it.) and No. 4 buckshot.

If you don't think birdshot is a poor man-killer, would you want to be shot with it? Heavy loads will be hurdling a lead wall at you. That, and Texas law doesn't say you have to stop shooting.

 

Because, if for some reason the intruder survives his wounds, his lawyer will claim in court that he was delivering a pizza or thought he was in his own home.

 

This is what I would have, if I could, and if I needed it. These things are badass.

 

The one thing most people overlook is the tactics involved with home protection. You can wait in the corner with your weapon or seek out the intruder and mitigate the threat. Be prepared to legally defend your actions in court later during the lawsuit. A long gun, unless it's a short M4 or similar and you are trained in the proper room clearing techniques is not the best choice for room clearing. A handgun is a better choice than a shotgun or rifle (long version) in close combat and room clearing.