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A burglar attempted to enter a suburban St. Louis home through the back door on Friday. The homeowner who heard the intruder met him while holding a shotgun to defend himself. He ordered the burglar to leave, but the scattergun apparently didn’t make much of an impression on him. Well, it didn’t at that point, but it was about to.

According to stltoday.com . . .

“When the suspect refused to comply with verbal commands to exit the residence, the suspect was shot by the homeowner,” [Webster Groves Police Lt. Andrew] Miller said.

The home invader later died at a local hospital. As for the defender . . .

Police did not arrest the homeowner. Detectives remained at the home hours later and Miller said the case was still being investigated. The home is owned by a couple in their late 40s.

The question of the best gun for home defense is argued almost as often as what caliber is best. While each option has its pluses and minuses, the best gun is the one you have with you, ready to use if the situation leaves you no other option.

A shotgun, as the homeowner in this incident demonstrated, can be a devastating home defense weapon, the threat of which can frequently — if not in this case — dissuade uninvited guests from staying for long.

Here’s our most recent look at good home defense shotgun options, if you’re considering one. Whatever you rely on to defend yourself and your family, though, keep it handy and know how to use it as quickly and effectively as this homeowner did.

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86 COMMENTS

    • He might have been testing his luck. One of my relatives had a scare last year during the national angst of the “mostly peaceful” protests and the violence involved. She heard something in the middle of the night and told her husband to go downstairs to investigate, while she stayed at the top of the stairs with their only gun. He discovered a raccoon and chased it outside, then came back up the stairs to relieve his wife of the gun, only to find that it wasn’t loaded. In her fright, she had completely forgotten what to do, and had inserted a loaded magazine but never racked the slide. So if an intruder had indeed been in the house and rushed at her, the gun would have been useless.

      • She needed something along the lines of a Ruger GP100.

        Heavy enough to tame the ‘bite’ of .357 Mag recoil.

        Or, a Ruger Alaskan .44 Mag revolver loaded with 44 Special…

      • Uncle Joe’s double barrel would’ve been the perfect item:

        “As for the shotgun, as the homeowner in this incident demonstrated, it can be a devastating home defense weapon that can frequently — if not in this case — dissuade uninvited guests from staying for long.“

        • But Miner, there was no outdoor porch involved, so Uncle Joe’s “two shots into the air to scare” tactic wouldn’t have worked.

          /sarc

      • The Mossburg ‘Shockwave’ 12 gauge now comes with a 10-round magazine.

        Awfully tempting, considering a Silencerco Shotgun Suppressor would look nice on it…

  5. I am a firm believer in the use of a shotgun as a house gun. J frame in the pocket and shotgun close to hand.

    • Unlike the McCloskeys, this gentleman did it right. He did not exit his dwelling, he waited until it became clear that the intruder was forcing entry and then responded with an appropriate warning, which the foolish intruder did not comply with.

      The McCloskeys voluntarily exited their drilling carrying firearms, which they pointed at protesters marching on “their” street, instigating the confrontation.

      One can’t exit their dwelling to instigate a confrontation, and then claim self-defense.

      That’s why they pleaded guilty to a crime of violence involving a firearm, even though they had their personal resources and expertise as multi millionaire attorneys to contest the charges in court.

      • If the “black” McCloskey family had left their house to confront a white mob on their property you and the Left would not be complaining. In fact you would be celebrating the white mob and their “1st amendment rights”.

      • Yeah, they should have just cowered inside and waited until the Molotov’s came through their windows.

        • “Yeah, they should have just cowered inside and waited until the Molotov’s came through their windows.“

          So you think them brandishing their firearms and yelling threats at the protesters stopped their house from being burned?

          Not one of the other houses in the entire subdivision was harmed, much less burned to the ground but none of them uttered violent threats against the protesters in the street while pointing firearms at them.

          Face it, the McCloskeys are the assholes in the neighborhood who saw the protesters in the street and ran their busybody ass out front with guns to scream and yell at them. Nobody in the neighborhood likes the McCloskeys, there’s been multiple legal actions between the McCloskeys and the HOA because the McCloskeys are the hotheaded neighbors from hell.

      • Why a warning? Entering a residence that does not in any way belong to you or that you have any advance authorization to enter renders the fatal choice award to the perp, not the inhabitants.

        • True, but giving a warning will play better to a jury if it gets that far.

          Sometimes it’s wisest to consider the political ‘lay of the land’ when your personal ‘Casa TTAG’ is in enemy territory…

        • It’s a grand palace, isn’t it, Mr. Haz?

          Ice-cold air, a pool out back, and its all ours to use, rent-free… 🙂

  8. Yet another posthumous Democrat voter who will continue to support his favored candidates even after he has gone to meet his maker, shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible!

  9. This is a 2019 article updated in June of 2020 and again now. Since we are updating this article How about an update of the recommended shotguns. The best tactical home defense one I have found is the Black Aces Tactical semi-auto magazine fed 12ga. bullpup. Its 18″ Barrel is in a 28″ platform. It compactness facilitates in home use. Further using a laser pointer mounted on one of the forearm picatinny rails delivers the warning message very succinctly right before the payload. Nearly a dozen of my friends have these. Oh yes, the fore grip is excellent in recoil attenuation and adjusting the aim point.

  10. Racking a shell home in the 870, is a most convincing sound. Time to turn and run or prepare to meet your maker…

    • This is fuddlore to the extreme.

      This exact article is proof that racking (and even presenting) the shotgun did nothing to dissuade the bad guy.

      • Yep…MY home defense gun of choice is an AR. Chambered round on “safe”. Or several pistols. And light’s mounted. Giving away your position is retarded!

    • No. The sound of the shotgun blast is really convincing. And I don’t mean a warning shot. Because if he has friends, they will run away at the sound of the gun going off.

  11. Fortunately, they’re alive and safe.

    Unfortunately now they’re going to have to sell this house and move – the psychological impact of this is terrible.

    • “the psychological impact of this is terrible.”

      Unfortunately true… 🙁

    • No they don’t have to sell their house and move. Stop repeating this armchair psychologist, and classist, crap. Homeowners may just be dandy. Have you evaluated them to prove otherwise, Freud?

      They might also not be able to afford another home, even with selling theirs, in the current market. Or they might want to keep the castle they defended. Glad this couple has you to make major life decisions for them.

  12. The burglar’s last words (quoting a Scum Sucking Whore of an attorney from Portland Oregon named Geoffrey Silverman) were, “12 gauge shotgun, that’s small caliber isn’t it?”

    • I’d say most people who aren’t shotgun enthusiasts don’t know that guage has nothing to do with size. Gauge is the weight of the shot in the shell, as a fraction of a pound. So a 12 gauge shell has 1/12th of a pound of shot (1 1/3 ounces). That can be a lot of smaller pellets in birdshot, a handful of larger ones in buckshot, or a single piece slug.

      • Gauge has everything to do with size (bore diameter – .729″ in the case of 12 gauge). A lead roundball of that diameter would indeed weigh 1/12th of a pound, but that does not dictate the shot charge – which can range from less than 1oz to over 2. You don’t even need to be a “shotgun enthusiast” to know that; it’s printed on every box of shells.

  14. He is proof criminals are stupid. He was given the chance to leave while he was looking down the barrel of the shotgun. Not an advisable position to be in. He failed at Logic 101 and Common Sense 101,201 and 301…. Now he has reached room temperature, it’s still 25 points higher than his I.Q. Hasta La Vista baby.

    • He felt lucky. There are many people who, when faced with such a situation, will not have the fortitude to actually pull the trigger. This home invader gambled. He chose…poorly.

    • If not stupid, probably fortified on the locally available recreational pharmaceuticals.

  15. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost every major study on defensive gun use has found that Americans employ defensive gun use between 500,000 and 3 million times each year. There’s good reason to believe that most defensive gun uses are never reported to law enforcement, much less picked up by local or national media outlets.

    Its good to see someone prepared to defend family/self/home. Although there is a psychological impact of employing defensive gun use – the psychological impact from not being able to do it, the physical impact of not being able to to it, and the life altering impact of not being able to do it is far greater and greatly more damaging to not only the defender but the family and friends as well.

  16. Old adage is the best, use whatever you’re most accurate and very familiar with! As for the perp, he’ll still be able to vote democrat. He’s only dead!!

  17. According to Democrats, the deceased was not a “home invader.” He was an “unexpected guest.”

  18. I have a single shot .410 loaded with 2-1/2 inch #7’s
    That’s what Mama Liberty used and it worked for her.

  19. If he would have just racked it so the intruder could hear it then they would have surely run away terrified.

  20. You have to be willing to pull the trigger. Because criminals believe a civilian would never pull the trigger. That is why time after time when told to stop and go away, they don’t.
    You as the defender maybe the first and only time when they are told “no” by somebody, that they back up the word “no” with action.

  21. Now if we can just start shooting shoplifters??? America would become a great nation again.

    • I shot a little girl stealing a candybar.

      Then I yelled clean up on isle 4 and took the candybar.

    • Well, if/when the current Dem regime’s house of cards begins to fall and the Unholy Trinity (Pelosi, Harris, Soros) attempt to stir up the masses again to distract via protests, arson, and vandalism, there should be a plethora of BLM, Antifa, and similar cretins available.

      Did you say “plethora”? Yes, I did.

      “Do you even know what a plethora is?…”

  22. “The home invader later died at a local hospital”

    Obviously someone needs more or dfferent rounds. Lose the bird shot.

    • 00 buck or slug, neither of which is likely to give an intruder the opportunity to make it to the hospital, except straight to the morgue.

  23. Staring down the business end of a 12ga and STILL decides to try his luck!? Good Lord, that HAS to be the top tier of the stupid spectrum. He got EXACTLY what his idiocy earned him.

  24. FACT…, Shotguns for home defense is most definitely the best option,
    You just have to know which kind of round to use, I will say one thing to remember, do NOT wound, you will be in court for the rest of your life, … Shoot to KILL, bird shot , ok, Buck shot better, Slugs, really good, but might travel too far.,
    If I had to choose a self defense gun it would be a shotgun.

    • As per my favorite Machiavelli quote, “Treat men generously, else destroy them. They take revenge for slight injuries. For fatal ones, they cannot.”

  25. He died at the hospital. I wonder what load the home-owner used in the shotgun. Would have preferred to save the taxpayers more money by having him pronounced DRT by the first responding unit.

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