Good day all. Looking for information on what would be the best gun for home protection. I am a single mother of a 17 year old. We both would like to have something in the home for our safety.
Also, does anybody know of close by ranges where we could practice?

Thank you for your help!!

Jaded

A Rem 870should do.

Welcome aboard.

A shotgun is a pretty good choice for home defense.  It's fairly easy to operate and you don't have to be super accurate to be effective.

Shortly after I got married some guy started calling the house harrassing my wife while I was at work.  I worked on Charleston AFB and we lived on College Park Rd in Ladson.  I got my wife a shotgun and trained her how to use it.

One factor in choosing a shotgun is your size.   My wife isn't very big, so a full-sized 12 gauge would have been hard for her to handle.  We settled on a 20 gauge (smaller round, lighter gun).  Last month I bought her a handgun, and she'll be signing up for a CWP class soon.

Handguns are good, but they take more training and practice to use effectively.  If you can put the time into becoming proficient with one, you can carry it in the console or glovebox of your car without a permit.

Another point to consider is the responsibility and maturity level of your child.  Will they have access to it?  If you aren't planning on a safe to keep the gun in, use a trigger lock to secure it whenever you're not home.  If you use a lock, take a few seconds to unlock it when you get home.  It's hard to concentrate on unlocking it while your door is being kicked in.

Trader World on Cross County Rd has an indoor range.  It's $7 to shoot in there.  They have rental guns, which would of course be more $$.  ATP gun shop in Goose Creek also has an indoor range ($5 to shoot a handgun, $10 to shoot a rifle or shotgun, or $100 for a one-year membership with unlimited shooting).  ATP also has rentals.

There are several members here in the Charleston area.  I'm in Summerville.  I'm sure that we can get you hooked up with some advice and training.

By the way, in General Discussion there is a Women Shooters forum.  Some of the ladies in there could have some words of wisdom for you, too.

I might sound somewhat unconventional here, but from what I've experienced, the best home defence weapon for a woman in my opinion is the M-1 carbine...It's a simple weapon to operate, is really accurate, has virtually no recoil and is incredibly reliable. It also packs quite a respectable .30 cal round which will definately incapacitate anyone coming in your house...the Shotgun is quite reliable, and will definately get the job done, but recoil can be quite scary for someone of a smaller frame, the .30 cal carbine is a short rifle, and well suited for a small frame. You can usually find one at a gunshow for around $500.00 and just think, you'll be buying a piece of history...Plus I was reading something recently about Springfield Armory making some brand new again...I would like to have one of those myself! Good-Luck.

I believe I'd go with the 870/20ga loaded with low recoil(?) buckshot with nothing tighter than a Improved choke.
Just the sound of that thing being "racked" should get anybodies attention.
Whatever you decide on go to the range and...practice,practice,practice.
GLOCK-23

Quoted: I believe I'd go with the 870/20ga loaded with low recoil(?) buckshot with nothing tighter than a Improved choke. Just the sound of that thing being "racked" should get anybodies attention. Whatever you decide on go to the range and...practice,practice,practice. GLOCK-23

i have to say dittos on what the G man says above.

you can pick up a good, inexpensive Remington 870 pump or a Mossberg pump.
the 20 gauge is no slouch.  not as much recoil as a 12 gauge and you can get decent buckshot loads for it.  see if you can purchase something like #2 or #4 buckshot - more pellets in the load.

a cylinder bore or improved cylinder choke would be best in your situation.

another option might be a double barrel "coach gun" with hammers like the cowboy action shooters like.  
only 2 shots though but you can load it and keep it out of sight.  just pull the hammers back and let 'er fly.

still hard to beat a good pump for home use.  

my wife has a 870 12guage with 3in no.4 buck and i have the glock g22



and you can go with all of us to the range when we go out to the national forest

Thanks to all so far for the great advice. I will look into the ranges that brohawk spoke about. The one on Cross county isn't that far from Summerville so won't be bad.

Talked further with daughter today, she is will to take a class as long as we do it together. She also laughed when I told her we could practice on moving targets...so that made me happy. I think she realizes it for our own good if we do this

I would suggest this  www.onlythebestfirearms.com/minimi.html

or a good Rem 870. a shotgun would be the safest, becasue they are easier to use, and there is less chance of a round from a shotgun hitting someone in the next house should the need come to use it.