Looking for my first home defense weapon- here's my situation

[OGFish70]

I'm a high school senior, leaving for college on an ROTC scholarship in the hopes of graduating and becoming an infantry officer. I was offered a home to live in at the school in Montgomery and will not be taking all of my guns with me due to not needing them as well as the area not being so great. I have roughly 11 long guns, most with sentimental value. They will be staying at home with my mother and stepfather for safekeeping. I'm no firearms expert, but I know my way around a shotgun or rifle. I own no handguns but have experience with them. My question was, what would be a good starter home defense weapon to buy as something to have with me? Im about to get my concealed carry permit, and plan on purchasing a Ruger LCP soon. Would this be enough for home defense, or should I look at something else as well? Remember I'm on a relatively small budget. I was looking at the century arms clone of the 1887, but I'm open to ALL ideas. Thanks for your help in advance, I'm just pretty green when it comes to this stuff.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[JWlineman]

First, welcome to the gun forum and good luck with your school/career adventure!
As far as a HD pistol in AL...age may play a factor in ownership. Is this a family member you'll be staying with? How do you plan on securing the gun while you're not there. Not trying to pry but these would be my deciding factors before even purchasing a HD gun.
With that out of the way, on a minimal budget, let's say $400, you should be able to find a decent M&P 9 or bargain Glock. Something simple, like a striker fire pistol would be good. If it makes you "feel" safer, M&P make em with a slide safety similar to a 1911 if that makes sense. Of course their are others out there as well.

 

[OGFish70]

Thanks for the welcome! And no ill be staying alone or possibly with a cousin who would also be a student. I really hadn't given it much thought as to securing it when I'm not there. Ideas? A safe wouldn't exactly be practical in a home defense scenario, so what options are there? And I'm not too big on safeties. If there aren't small children then they shouldn't really be necessary. Thoughts on the LCP? Home defense or not, I was looking at that for concealed carry. Also thoughts on HD shotguns, pros and cons.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Murfpcola]

If you are not old enough to own a pistol then I would recommend a Maverick 88 with an 18" barrel for home defense. Great reputation and cheap.

 

[OGFish70]

If you are not old enough to own a pistol then I would recommend a Maverick 88 with an 18" barrel for home defense. Great reputation and cheap.

18 can carry pistol in alabama. As far as I know. That's what my local sheriff's website says.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[JWlineman]

I'm not a fan of 380 but that's a personal preference. Any caliber gun is better than not having any at all though. Given the OK with local officials, as far as a handgun goes, the LCP would be fine but you're limited to a small caliber with a small mag capacity. Like Murf said, a cheap Mossy 500 or Maverick would be my choice as well.
As far as safes, a small pistol safe anchored or tied to something would provide a little deterrence but nothing will keep a determined thief out. Just might delay one or decide it's not be worth the trouble.

 

[Jeb21]

The Ruger LCP II might be a better option than the first gen. The new version has better sights and the slide locks open when empty. Smaller guns are easy to carry but harder to hit with and you either have to settle for a small caliber or heavy recoil if you bump the caliber up to 9mm or so. I think JWlineman's recommendation of an M&P shield in 9mm is an excellent carry suggestion. Good sights, good caliber, modest recoil, reliable, 7+1 shots. Also the are not particularly expensive for a quality handgun.

 

[wildrider666]

There are other considerations such as the home owner controls your possession of a firearm on their property. I'll stick to the handgun noting whatever you get you will work to be intimately familiar with it.

I would recommend getting one handgun that could fill both missions. A CC revolver (38/357) will normally limit you initial load to 5/6. A double stack subcompact (CC) 9/40 will hold 10 or more and the spare larger capacity mag (inserted for house configuration) will allow flexability. I like the three internal safety features in the Glock which allows point and shoot without having to disengaging a manual safety. Consider your body size and where you would CC on your person, what type of clothing do you wear most of the time.

It is often said any gun is better then none when you need one. There is a lot of info on gunfight "averages": distance, number of shots, calibers and so on. The problem is averages consist of lows and highs and we don't know in advance where our situation will fit. You only get to pick how prepared you will be.
After the fact, the question is did the person have enough gun?

 

[Mozella]

I would suggest a single, medium sized, semi auto hand gun. A 9mm isn't a bad choice, but there are plenty of other options.

You sound like a young man with good judgement, but not every college student is brimming over with wisdom and reasoned thinking, at least not all the time. College is often a time for experimenting with alcohol, sex, high speed driving, and silly behavior; occasionally all at the same time.

The advice to think about how to secure the weapon is good. A gun sitting on your night stand might be just fine when you're sleeping. But when you have half a dozen friends in your room playing beer drinking games, .......... well, you get the idea. You need to put the gun away and a lockable closet will function just fine. Don't put yourself in a situation where a new friend can do something really stupid with your weapon.

If you're going to a gun fight, a gun in a holster is a good idea. But more often than not, as a college student at least, you will find yourself in situations where guns are prohibited or you may find yourself in social situations where packing heat is considered weird or even freaky. Often there is a strong anti-gun culture in collage towns. When you're introduced to the potential love-of-your-life you don't want the reaction to be, "What's wrong with this nut-case? He brought a gun to the gym.......... gack!". Think about how to have a gun close at hand without being too obvious about it.

I quite often carry a 9mm in a small "man-bag". Not quite as handy as a holster, but a lot less likely to cause alarm. Picture how a fellow student, especially one with no previous exposure to firearms, will react under these two similar scenarios. You're getting ready to leave your house and you strap on your gun and holster. To him/her it looks like you're Doc Holliday on your way to the O.K. Corral. Or, you have your gun in a man bag and as you get ready to leave, you sling it over your shoulder and away you go, no comment, no drama. Sometimes stealth is good.

Just think about what can go wrong (HINT: Plenty of stuff) and be sure that you don't contribute to a stupid life-changing screw up caused by some goofy man/kid you meet while you're at school.

 

[Dan1612]

A Glock 19 will serve you just fine as a jack of all trades and you can expand the collection from there to serve more specialized tasks.
Should you consider a shotgun for the house, try running (and reloading) one at speed, and re-evaluate. It's not as easy as it seems, and no, the sound of the action isn't scaring anyone. If anything, it's giving away your position and advantage. JMO


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FrankT]

Use what you choose as a CC for your HD for now. When you leave it at the house you will need a place to secure it so maybe a secured handgun safe, or a cutout(carpenter made)in the house. I think a shotgun would just be a target for theft and harder to hide.

 

[07stuntin6r]

Glock 26 for CC...30rd magazine for house


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[oneshot]

M & P Shield 9mm and a good small safe to put in If you want to try some difference things gave me a call will be glad to help out this will just cost you some of your time. Be fore you spend your money. Just my 5 cents jj 850-572-6611 This the best advice I can give come and learn and make up your own mine, from some first hand experience. jj

 

[JWlineman]

M & P Shield 9mm and a good small safe to put in If you want to try some difference things gave me a call will be glad to help out this will just cost you some of your time. Be fore you spend your money. Just my 5 cents jj 850-572-6611 This the best advice I can give come and learn and make up your own mine, from some first hand experience. jj

I would take full advantage of this man's offer...

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[JohnAL]

I would take full advantage of this man's offer...

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

This

 

[rockb]

This is what I use to secure HD Pistol at my house. Meets the secured while quickly available.



http://www.gunvault.com/gun-safes/minivault.html/

Not sure where you live but if you are in the Bay County area you are welcome to come to my place and try whatever pistols I have 38/9mm/45.

 

[ThomasPI]

Some great advice. For strictly HD before any pistol my preference is a good old shotgun, 12 gauge. Long gun over short. Pistols are great, I've got 3. But a 12 gauge with 00 buck is extremely effective. There's a very good reason why law enforcement carries a shotgun in every vehicle and most if not all tactical teams use them to clear a house. Just my two pennies. I'm not suggesting mind you that you use it to go on the offensive in a situation unless your trying to secure the safety of others. If not, maintain a defensive posture and oh, add a weapon mounted light such as a Streamlight.

 

[Dan1612]

^ I'm no LEO, but it seems to me that the shotgun has been largely replaced by the patrol carbine and is now used more as a tool to deliver less than lethal alternatives or as a door breaching tool as opposed to the first line role that it and the revolver once had. It's also tough to EDC.
Just an observation.

 

[07stuntin6r]

Shotguns are also used to breach doors that are locked. I think they primarily use mp5/Ar15/pistol when clearing houses.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[johnhilterman]

Okay, I'll throw my .02 out there.

If you could swing both $$$ wise, I'd go with a Glock 19 for CCW and a Remington 870 pump shotgun for HD. You can get the 870 for less than $300. I like the G19 because it's brutally simple/reliable, relatively easy to carry, and holds 15+1.