I have a friend that made sure his wife had a loaded firearm before he went on a long trip. If there was an intruder, his instructions were for her to fire the gun in a safe direction (no way she'd hit the bg anyway), then throw the gun at the bg's head and tackle him. Hopefully someone would call the police after hearing the gunfire. Honestly, I think that's the best advice for someone that doesn't get any range time.
Anyway, for a gun to keep around as an extra I'd pick an Ithaca M37 16ga or 20ga. A 12ga can knock a person on their butt if they don't know what they're doing, I've seen it. Bottom eject on the Ithaca makes it ambidextrous. Barrel length on a shotgun makes it much easier to aim.
Another concern I just learned about... hearing loss. I think the 357mag is another good choice, but it would suck to have to fire off 6 rounds in a small space without hearing protection.
http://www.freehearingtest.com/hia_gunfirenoise.shtml
Anyway, for a gun to keep around as an extra I'd pick an Ithaca M37 16ga or 20ga. A 12ga can knock a person on their butt if they don't know what they're doing, I've seen it. Bottom eject on the Ithaca makes it ambidextrous. Barrel length on a shotgun makes it much easier to aim.
Another concern I just learned about... hearing loss. I think the 357mag is another good choice, but it would suck to have to fire off 6 rounds in a small space without hearing protection.
http://www.freehearingtest.com/hia_gunfirenoise.shtml
