Reply #58: Long guns have a number of drawbacks in home defense situations

[Euromutt]

There are several reasons why writers like Massad Ayoob advise that, if you're going to own just one gun for home defense, it should be a handgun.

Long guns are very unwieldy in the confines of a building; they take longer to bring to bear, and are easier to seize and wrest from the person carrying them because, due to their length, they're always going to be sticking out in some direction.

It's also difficult to impossible to be discreet with a long gun. That is, if you're going to answer a knock on the door at eleven at night, it's possible to do so with a handgun kept out of sight behind your body, or the door; with a long gun, you're going to be holding a yard of gun that, if it turns out to be the neighbor needing a jump-start for his car, say, will freak him out needlessly.

Long guns have a higher tendency than handguns to overpenetrate building materials, thereby presenting additional risk to other residents of the neighborhood. One exception to this is .223 rounds with 55 grain bullet weight, which is part of why police are increasingly issuing AR-15 variants both to SWAT teams and as "patrol rifles," but of course, a "patrol rifle" in the hands of a private citizen magically becomes an "assault weapon."

You can use a telephone with one hand, while keeping a handgun usable in your other. Wielding a long gun one-handed is an iffy proposition indeed.

Handguns are easier to store securely than long guns. Quick-access lock boxes for handguns are readily available for under $200 even for the high-end models.