I hear it often. Its not uncommon for people with little to no firearms experience to come and ask for “something” for their home.
It happened again the other day, with a couple in their 20s. They both admit to having fired guns in the past, but have never owned any. Of course the “girl” is the concern, they want something she can use.

There are two other people in the shop with me. A city Cop(Police Station is next door), and a regular customer. Cop says 12 gauge shotgun, other guy says revolver, and I say AR. We intensely discuss amongst the 3 of us why the other is wrong, and the couple leaves totally confused without buying anything.

I have a young lady who helps me out in the shop part time. She’s not a shooter, knows little about firearms, but handles customers and phone calls better than I am willing to.

The extent of her firearms knowledge is she completed one of my basic pistol/CCW classes. She understands the basics and can hammer away at the bullseye with a .22 all day long. She doesn’t own a pistol of her own, and has never fired a rifle or shotgun.


What a PERFECT guinea pig! I cant imagine someone closer to “picked off the street” while still knowing basic firearms safety. We closed up shop, grabbed a revolver, an AR and a shotgun and headed to the range.

I set up the target, and paced off 25’. I walked back to the target and told her to start counting “Mississippis” when I started to run, and to stop when I got to her. She didn’t have time to get out the 3rd Mississippi. There was her scenario, bad guy is coming at her, and she knows how much time she has to get off 3 shots. She’ll do this 3 times with each firearm.

Shes familiar with the Revolver, so its first. It’s a S&W 686 KG koted black with a Crimson Trace laser grip, and custom low pro sights. At this distance the dot is visible.


686 video

Second is the AR. I grabbed the least expensive one in the shop, RRA CAR A4. I installed an Aimpoint from a display and swapped on a Fobus forend and vertical grip; sufficient for home defense. I spent a few minutes going over how to hold the carbine, position, and such, some dry firing, but NO live fire. The only live rounds fired will be at the target.


AR video

Finally we have the shotgun. Simple, Remington 870, w/20” barrel. The ammo will be PMC low recoil 00 Buck. Again, this is new so I spent a few minutes going over how to hold the shotgun, position, and such, some dry firing, but NO live fire. The only live rounds fired will be at the target. Before anything else, I cant tell you how impressed I am with the way she handled the shotgun. It looked brutal, but she toughed it out for the 3 round string. She chose not to fire the shotgun a second and 3rd time.

12 Gauge video


Keep in mind the “I want something for home defense” buyers aren’t shooters, and don’t hang out in gun forums. These are people who make a purchase, shot it once and toss it in a drawer/closet. What they need is something that is easy to use, easy to control, and something they can use without much practice.

Here are the 3 targets, judge for yourself which would make a better home defense weapon for her. Before the first shot was fired, she know it would be the revolver, but changed her mind when she was done.
686

AR

Shotgun