re: Whats the best defense round for a shotgun

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something stronger than this.

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I bet he stopped doing what he was doing.

I have no. 4 hevi shot, also no.2 steel. These are just my duck and goose loads, I think they would fine for HD.

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He probably did, but he also lived to tell about it. The way things are today, if I'm involved in a self defense shooting, I want one side of the story told, mine.

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Josey, I agree with you in spirit, but at some point you become a murderer if you follow this logic.

For me, there will be 1 of 4 likely outcomes:

1. The intruder(s) overwhelm my defenses and do whatever they want (perhaps we survive to tell about it - perhaps we don't) - we call this one "Failure is not an option"

2. I take action which results in the death of the intruder, but he is able to kill me, one of mine, or causes serious injury before he expires.

3. I take action which stops the intruder(s), but one or more of them live to tell their side. There is little to no damage to me and mine.

4. I take action which stops the intruder(s), and all of them expire. There is little to no damage to me and mine.

I'm going for 3 or 4, and I'll gladly take the stand to defend my actions, regardless if my "victims" can tell their side or not.

Once I decide that the only acceptable outcome is the death of the intruder - I may be crossing a line.

I agree with you as well but while it is not likely to happen with a jury in LA, I don't want one of my "victims" suing me for crippling him and me be stuck paying his bills and mine for the rest of my life. I'm pretty sure the laws in LA protect us from this anyway.

I didn't mean to come off as a trigger happy murderer but the court systems these days aren't typically geared towards helping the good guys.

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I didn't mean to come off as a trigger happy murderer but the court systems these days aren't typically geared towards helping the good guys.

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You'd be surprised...

(ETA: And Josey, I don't want to be seen as implying you're anything other than a reasoned, mature individual - because I've always found you to be that on here. It is just that a lot of this talk about "not leaving him alive" begs the question - What if he's still alive while you're calling 911? Do you put yourself at risk to disarm him? Do you let him go for his gun? I'm not sure if people are ready to cross that line, or if they do, I'm not sure they appreciate what that means.)

I knew that was the case here. I'm just speaking in general terms I guess. That's good that we have common sense laws, unlike places like California.

Remember this.

If you have to shoot someone, you shoot to "STOP" them from doing whatever it was that caused you to have to shoot them. Just being in the house is not technically enough although LA gives you a lot of room there. You have to be in reasonable fear for your life or the life of someone else. So if they go down and throw their weapon to the other side of the room and start begging for their life, you can't finish them off without that reasonable threat reappearing.

So what you do is you don't stop shooting until they are 'STOPPED'. And when asked, that's the word you use. Stop. Not kill. You aren't trying to kill them, that's just a byproduct of five rounds of twelve gauge. You don't know what happened, you just shot till he stopped being a threat. I'd like to continue this conversation with my lawyer present, thanks.

Amen Faxis! I always use the word "stop" because it gives some room for a definition. 'Stop' doesn't necessarily mean "kill." I absolutely agree.

And LP, I would advise you watch the videos I posted earlier and rethink your defense load. But if you're only comfortable with 7 or 8 that's definitely better than nothing.