Hallway Howitzer for Home Defense?

Include Family Members When Planning Defense Strategies

As a point of interest, all targets are harder to hit than most people believe, and some degree of aiming or sight alignment is required for the target to be hit well. Conduct what the military calls “Fam Fire” — the acronym for familiarization firing, only your “fam fire” should stand for family firing. All members of your family should learn how to operate this firearm that occupies a place in your home.

While you’re at it, teach everyone how to run the fire extinguishers that are in each room of your house. “No fire extinguishers in our house,” you say? Hmm, maybe there’s a message there.

“Don’t I need a menacing, black, semiautomatic, pistol grip, extended magazine, thermal sighted, comp and laser equipped shotgun with tactical sling and slug sights,” you ask? In a word, no. To the point, Joe and Joette homeowners are not going to be shooting slugs. And they’re not going to practice shooting slugs because it’s not fun, period. Besides, experience has shown that many of the expensive “tactical” shotguns have a habit of shedding their fancy front sights and other doo-dads at the worst possible moment.

Joe and Joette would in fact be well on the way to being armed and dangerous if they had a simple 18-inch barreled Remington 870 with dumb old bead sight that they knew how to operate. Charged with a load of well-aimed, high-based No. 6 shot down the length of the hallway, this simple, proven pump gun will be discouraging to all but the stoutest of intruders.

“Well Mr. Smarty pants,” reply the nay sayers, “what happens if four armed men with MP5s, wearing level three armor and using flash bangs storm J&J’s house from two directions at once?” Probably not much is going to happen… J&J are in big trouble.

Probably more trouble than all the fancy howitzers, shotguns or ammunition in the world will get them out of. Sometimes you get the bear — sometimes the bear gets you. Then again, I wouldn’t want to be the first home invader through Joe and Joette’s bedroom door.

Sign up for the Personal Defense newsletter here: