Joe is right about the myth of filling the hallway with lead. But there are other factors that may cause some people to reasonably prefer a properly configured shotgun loaded with appropriate ammunition in many situations. Some of what Joe calls "practical problems" would be considered advantages by some people in some situations. There are always tradeoffs, and I would be wary of declaring any particular gun or type of gun ideal as a general matter.
Just to give one extreme example: Eugene asked about "self defense" in general, not home defense specifically. If I were worried about defending myself against a brown bear, I'm pretty sure I would prefer a shotgun to a handgun, and I would hope to use it before the animal was at a range of 3 yards. One could also easily describe situations involving human threats that would lead to the same result, especially if short-barreled shotguns were eligible, which in my opinion they should be. Nelson Lund Joseph E. Olson wrote: > Unfortunately, Eugene, the shotgun idea is the result of ignorance by > gun owners as well as the general populace. Many in both groups > believe the /nonsense/ that an 18 inch (shortest legal length) > barreled shotgun will _*fill a hallway*_ with lead. Simply FALSE. > The pattern of shotgun pellets expands about 1 inch per yard. So at 3 > yards, the usual self-defense distance, the pattern is *3 inches* in > diameter. NOT 3 feet. > > Based on police stats, it is easy to miss completely at that > distance. But, conceding this point, if you hit them at three yards > with a 3" pattern consisting of nine .32 caliber projectiles (using > size OO Buck which has a huge recoil) you will stop them about 96% of > the time (and kill them "dead right there"). > > But the practical problems of size, weight, recoil, and barrel length > (allowing the intruder to leverage it right out of your hands) > remain. All are avoided with a three-inch barreled .357 magnum > revolver which, loaded with proper ammunition has the *same* 96% > one-shot stop record. > > ************************************************** > Professor Joseph Olson, J.D., LL.M. o- > 651-523-2142 > Hamline University School of Law (MS-D2037) f- 651-523-2236 > St. Paul, MN 55113-1235 c- > 612-865-7956 > [email protected] > > > >>> "Volokh, Eugene" <[email protected]> 2/4/2009 1:08 PM >>> > I've often heard people say that shotguns are better than handguns > for self-defense for some people. I know others disagree, but for now > I just want a cite for the proposition that just as Heller points out > that handguns are reasonably preferred by some, so shotguns could be > reasonably preferred by others. Can anyone please pass along such a > quick cite for me? Many thanks, > > Eugene > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > To post, send message to [email protected] > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see > http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof > > Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as > private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; > people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) > forward the messages to others. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
