Yes, shotguns are still an effective home defense weapon...

But you still need to know how to use it, and what it means.

This woman is VERY lucky she didn't have to point it at someone and pull the trigger.

Kinky linky ...

Honestly, I've never understood the burning hate everyone has here for the idea that the sound of a gun (specifically shotguns) being loaded can deter burglars/etc. I mean, if you think about it, a home intruder can react in three different ways to hearing a shotgun racking (after previously thinking the home unoccupied): A) become less inclined to continue, B) ignore and go about business as usual, or C) become more inclined to continue criminal activity on the premises.

That does NOT mean you don't have to know how to use it or what you're doing. Still, I can't think of many realistic situations in which B or C are more likely than A. And yet, it is nearly a crime here to consider such.

I think the hate has more to do with the folks that claim that the racking sound will frighten away any and all intruders and that actually understanding how to effectively use the weapon is not required. "I don't even keep any shells in mine, just the sound will send 'em running". I'm glad the woman was able to keep herself safe without having to deal with the trauma of having killed another person (however deserving they might have been), but it's extremely foolish to expect this scenario to play out the way it did every time.

An empty shotgun still makes a decent pugil stick

Hollywood gunfighting. You know how it is in all the action/adventure movies. The sound of chambering a round is supposed to be this highly intimidating act that gets the attention of some adversary in the movie and dissuade them from continuing what they are doing. People think it can happen that way in real life and in this case, it actually did. But one shouldn't count on just that to end the situation.

It appears that this woman was prepared to plug the burglars. I don't know how baby would have taken to that...there's no sound buffering in there, at least not enough to substantially blunt the sound of a shot.

shooting while pregnent isnt going to affect the baby, exept that exessive amounts of shooting will give them an inharent love of the activity.

i sure hope that was a joke.

i dont know, but racking the shotgun loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear just takes away your element of surprise, and lets the burglars know that it is time for them to draw their weapon out if its a gunfight they are looking for...

I would dare to make the argument that no, you really don't necessarily need to know how to actually use a firearm to protect yourself with one. I am not a burglar or any other sort of criminal, but if I were somewhere I shouldn't be, doing something wrong, and I heard the pump-shotgun sound(or frankly, any other sound that would seem to suggest I might get shot soon), I would quickly re-evaluate whichever of my activities led to that sound. I would not immediately think "this idiot has seen too many Hollywood action/adventure movies and obviously knows nothing about guns, or they wouldn't have made that sound", nor would I wait to quiz them on their shotgun handling skill-set. I would figure that I was now in serious danger and would try to leave quickly. I think it's reasonably safe to assume that ***MOST*** people would have a similar reaction. If you believe the NRA's statistics, tons of crimes are prevented in this way all the time.

I know how to use firearms pretty well and I believe that if I were confronted with this situation I would be able to shoot an intruder, though I hope to God I never need to find out for sure. I've talked about this sort of thing with lots of people throughout my life and I know quite a few people that say they never could, no matter what the circumstances. Most of these have been women. I don't have a problem with that and I respect people who are honest enough to know that about themselves. If I had a pregnant wife at home alone, I'd much prefer her to have an empty shotgun to rack and point at intruders for protection over just her good looks and natural ability to scream "Please don't hurt me!" - even if she didn't really know how to use the shotgun.

That is not correct. Due to the fact that the baby is in water, the shock waves of the compression and sound are actually worse. Don't take a preggo to the range, OK?

BTW, I shit my pants when I clicked on this thread due to the fact a shotgun was described being racked.

Having a pregnant wife, I'd just like to point at that this woman in the story was only 9 weeks old, and from everything I've read, the baby isn't able to hear at that point.

But yes, I'm not going to take my wife to range while she's pregnant, no matter how along.

That is not correct. Due to the fact that the baby is in water, the shock waves of the compression and sound are actually worse. Don't take a preggo to the range, OK?[/quote]

You would be right if the shot were fired IN the fluid the baby is in. But the blast is significantly dampened if it is outside the fluid. as much as I hate to reference mythbusters,they have tested this explosives and diving in the water to survive.

Any change in density will degrade a shockwave.

Since no shot was fired, the baby would only be harmed by the sound of the shotgun racking.
I doubt however that the baby would shit it's pants upon hearing that sound, for two reasons.
One, the baby probably didn't recognize the sound as it was only nine weeks along. Two, It wasn't wearing any pants.

I think in this case I would trust the opinion of our hometown nurse, before I would trust a couple guys on a TV show.

Stick your head under water in your bath tub. Then tell me if the sounds above water are distorted or enhanced. its fact that transitions will dampen shockwaves, not an opinion.

I think you guys may be focusing on the wrong part of this story. Whether or not the unborn baby's hearing could potentially be damaged is irrelevant. If the baby could be harmed from the sound of a shotgun being fired(I highly doubt it, particularly at 9 weeks), would you suggest the woman not defend herself? I'm fairy sure the baby would have the potential for much more serious harm from it's mother being beaten, raped and/or murdered.

Erud

Your post is well written, but, It makes far too much sense now that this thread has gone in the shitter.

Folks are now arguing how sound travels through the womb ... this is a tell tale sign that folks are either drunk or getting drunk when they type a response.

I suppose you're probably right. Maybe I should think about taking up drinking again.

well, was either that or another thread about how scary pumping a round into a shotgun is, and we'v got plenty of those

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