2.19.2008

If you play with your Benelli button, your legs will fall off . . .

With the recent account about the visit we had from our friend Tom posted on that other blog, and the subsequent purchase, and the subsequent onslaught of anonymous comments, I figured I'd weigh in on the topic. First, let me post a few things about the gun that I purchased. If you're looking for something for home protection, a shotgun is much better than a handgun for several reasons (in my opinion). First, is safety. A shotgun is much more difficult for a child to accidentally or non-accidentally fire. It is pretty much impossible for a young child to be able to load it and lift it up to fire it. It would also be impossible for the child to fire the gun at himself due to the distance between the end of the barrel and the trigger. Also, even though some handguns have some limited "safety" features, they don't have a safety like shotguns do. The second reason to buy a shotgun is the fact that it shoots a "spray" of bullets in a wide pattern. If it comes down to actually having to fire the gun at an intruder, this makes it much more likely that you will actually hit your target. It is very difficult to hit a target with a handgun--especially when your adrenaline is pumping, you're shaking, the target is moving, etc. So those are the main reasons I opted for a shotgun. Now for the fun part--the gun itself.

There are a lot of shotguns made for the specific purpose of home protection--pistol grips, 18.5" barrel, tactical lighting, etc., that make it ideal for protection. I didn't opt for one of these because I like to shoot skeet on occasion and I also go hunting once in a blue moon so I wanted something a bit more versatile. Here's what I got:


It's a Benelli Nova 20 gauge pump. Benelli is one of the best gun manufacturers around, so I knew I couldn't go wrong. I got the 20 gauge because it's a nice versatile caliber that doesn't kick too much. That's important so Leslie can learn how to shoot it without breaking her shoulder! I got a pump for safety reasons--it's next to impossible for a child to pump a shell into the chamber. On top of that, just the sound of a pump action shotgun is often enough to scare away unwanted visitors. It's a bit futuristic looking since it's all synthetic polymer and metal, but I like the look of it. So anyway, that's the low down on the gun. In case you were interested.

This post is getting long, so I'll save my rant about the comments made concerning gun ownership for another day. I know you'll be interested.