Home Defense Handgun vs Shotgun vs Rifle

Every year, more and more Americans are deciding to take the defense of their home and family into their own hands. And I understand why. Even if the police are ten minutes away, that might be too late to stop a home invader from doing the unspeakable to you or your family. 

But one hurdle I’ve seen plenty of these people encounter is what kind of gun they should pick for home defense. The grizzled gun counter clerk tells them they just need a trusty pump-action shotgun, while their gun-loving coworker suggests an AR-15. They might ask friends on social media, and the responses will range from reasonable to downright foolish and illegal. 

Thankfully, I’ve done the leg work for you and read more on the subject than you’ll ever care to. Plus, I’ve made many of the mistakes that new buyers have and can tell you precisely what to avoid. Lastly, what is best depends on the shooter's needs, budget, and capabilities - there’s no perfect solution that works for everyone.  So, with that in mind, let’s look at the pros and cons of picking a shotgun versus a rifle versus a handgun for home defense. 

Choosing a handgun for home defense seems like a perfect solution to many new shooters on the surface. It’s compact, easy to maneuver indoors, and keeps a hand free to open doors, turn on lights, or hold a phone while dialing 911. But the reality of running a handgun for serious use is very different from the hypothetical. 

For starters, handguns have fewer points of contact with the shooter themselves. In simpler terms, a shooter has only their hands and arms to control the firearm, whereas a long gun is also stabilized by the shooter’s shoulder. This is one of the reasons why learning to shoot a pistol accurately is vastly more difficult than a rifle. Believe me, I’ve trained dozens of shooters from all walks of life, and even expert riflemen struggle to clear a plate rack under pressure.

The solution to this is a simple but frustratingly time-consuming one: train. No amount of Gucci gear will turn you into John Wick if you’ve only taken your handgun to the range a few times. Plus, gun ranges are static and stress-free locations. In a home defense scenario, your heart will be pounding through your chest, your kids will be crying and or screaming, and your mind will be racing about what may or may not happen next.

And don’t misunderstand me, unless you have ice in your veins, no amount of training will make you into Billy Badass with nerves of steel. All training can do is mitigate how much you screw up when a break-in becomes a gunfight.

But let’s say you’ve dedicated hundreds of hours of training to hone your pistol skills and taken half a dozen classes with force-on-force sessions. There’s one limitation of handguns that cannot be overcome: terminal ballistics.

For the uninitiated, terminal ballistics is a fancy term for what a bullet does when it hits a target. Because handguns are by their nature designed to be shot one-handed, they aren’t very effective against human targets without proper shot placement and projectile selection.

If you’re thinking, “Wait a minute. Handguns are harder to use and less effective than long guns; why would anyone use one for home defense?” You’re not wrong. Handguns are designed to be portable firearms - something that a shooter can have with them at all times, so they always have a defensive tool. There’s a famous saying that handguns should be used to fight your way to a rifle, and that’s not wrong. But there are some critical advantages of a handgun over long guns that can still make them a good choice for specific individuals.

For example, a pistol might be your only real option if you have a physical limitation that prevents using both hands. And no matter what caliber pistol you’re using, it’s always better than trying to fight off an attacker with a melee weapon like a bat.

Another advantage of a handgun as a home defense tool is its limited terminal efficacy. With expanding ammunition, pistol rounds are less likely to over-penetrate walls and strike innocent people on the other side. This is especially important for people who live in apartment complexes where the location of their neighbors is unknown.

Lastly, handguns are great for keeping your other hand free. As a parent, I know that dragging my boys away from something when they’re throwing a fit is difficult under ideal conditions. If I’m holding a shotgun or a rifle in one hand and trying to drag a scared child back to my room for their safety, it could be a fatal disaster. A handgun allows you to stay ready to fight while escorting loved ones to safety. It also lets you keep your hand free for opening doors and flipping light switches when needed. Or, for that matter, holding a flashlight to illuminate potential threats without having to aim a firearm at what could be an innocent person or loved one stumbling in the dark.

 Like everything, there’s no perfect answer. The best way to make the best decision for yourself is to ensure it is informed. With that in mind, let’s examine the advantages and disadvantages of running a rifle for home defense. 

Can you use a rifle for home defense? In a word, yes. (Otherwise, this section would be concise!) A rifle or carbine for home defense is an excellent choice for several reasons. Conversely, there are valid reasons not to run one for home defense, so we’ll dive into both and let you weigh the pros versus cons.

The most significant advantages of using a rifle for home defense are stopping power, controllability, and capacity. Regarding stopping power, I mean the effect a fired around has on a given target. With a rifle, the rounds often have higher velocity and heavier projectile weight, translating to more damage on the receiving end.

These more powerful rounds also translate into increased recoil, but since you’re using a rifle that is larger, uses your body to absorb recoil, and can utilize a strong recoil spring, it remains controllable. Rifles like the AR-15 hold an impressive 30 rounds in a standard magazine and up to 100 in a drum. So shooters won’t have to reload as often in the event of a coordinated home invasion.

Other advantages include the ability to mount dozens of accessories to customize the gun to your preference and advantage. And unlike most pistols, you aren’t limited to ultra-tiny red dots like the Trijicon RMR. Shooters can utilize my favorite defensive optic, the EoTech holosight, which gives a massive view window and gigantic reticle.

The downsides of using a rifle for home defense are overpenetration and the fact that the gun requires two hands to operate effectively. Overpenetration can be partially mitigated by fragmenting or expanding rounds, but none will readily stop in common building materials like drywall. 

Overcoming the need to use both hands is difficult. Shooters can practice manipulating their long gun with one hand, but this isn’t a perfect solution. A better one is using a rifle sling to give you the ability to stow the weapon when you need to use your hands. But the obvious downside is that it prevents you from firing the gun. 

But what about the classic shotgun? Indeed, that is the perfect home defense weapon…

In a word, yes. Shotguns are proven fight-stoppers. With buckshot, they deliver multiple projectiles simultaneously, increasing the likelihood of stopping a threat by hitting a vital spot. But even shotguns aren’t perfect. They require training, proper ammunition, and knowledge of how their rounds work to be used effectively. Plus, they share the downsides of using a rifle for home defense with a few extra ones unique to the platform.

Inside the confines of a home is the perfect environment to maximize the efficacy of a shotgun. Defensive ammunition like buckshot will 100% land every projectile on a target within the limited distances of a home, as long as a shooter aims at the center of a target. Notice that I said buckshot. Both birdshot and slugs are inappropriate for defensive use inside a home, albeit for very different reasons. 

Slugs will almost always over-penetrate a target and have a high chance of destroying what or whoever is behind your target because of their potency. Birdshot, on the other hand, is much more likely to maim or even enrage an attacker, especially if they are on some sort of illicit substance like fentanyl, meth, or cocaine. Buckshot strikes the perfect balance between the two by delivering large pellets approximately 9mm in diameter (in the case of 00 buck) that penetrate deep enough to reach vital organs but not deep enough to pass through a bad guy.

The problems with a shotgun are mainly identical to those of a rifle. The weapon is large and awkward to manipulate inside a home, requiring two hands. This is especially true if we’re talking about a pump-action or a breech-loading gun that, in most cases, can only be fired once without using both hands. Plus, the potent recoil from a shotgun means that shooting one-handed is generally a bad idea. 

That said, if you want the highest probability of stopping a thread with a single trigger pull, the shotgun is peerless. 

So, which one should you choose for your home defense needs? It depends on your situation. The most important thing is making the decision ahead of time to fight. Having a fighting mindset before an engagement makes all the difference. It’s why you hear stories of people fighting off bears with nothing but a stick or a rock after being attacked. They made the conscious choice to live rather than give up. Yes, proper defensive ammunition, a solid gun, and dedicated training increase your odds of survival exponentially, but without the will to live, all these things are wasted.