Home Defense for Women

I work with a lot of people and talk to a lot of women who are usually intrigued by my lifestyle. With the recent events in the world, more and more women are approaching me about firearms and home defense. I have had this conversation more times than I can count and I think it would be a good topic to write about and discuss, especially for the novice shooter out there. Hopefully you can pass this information on to your friend, daughter, niece, sister or whoever might benefit from it.

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I have an advantage of knowledge and a certain comfort level with weapons because I grew up with them; unfortunately, not every female has that blessing and there are so many women living alone or alone with children that are looking to protect themselves in their own home but have no idea where to start. I am going to first go over the weapons many women tell me they want to get and why they are wrong and then explain my choices for best results.

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Stun Gun – I have one of these and have accidently used it on myself; they are not fun and can do damage. Unfortunately, you must be in close contact with whoever is attacking you in your home and for best results you need to hit a sensitive area like the side of the neck. If the intruder has a knife or gun or any weapon the odds of success with a stun gun are slim. The other problem with stun guns is they will only keep an intruder down for a short time; they can recover quickly leaving you back in the same situation.

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Taser – Many women get these confused with stun guns, but when I talk about a taser I am speaking of the weapon that shoots 2 prongs out. I actually think these are worse than stun guns for women and here’s why. You must be within a certain range, straight on. No corners or turns in the house can be blocking your view. Typically you get one shot with these weapons and if you miss or don’t get good penetration into the intruder your chance is over. Also, more times than not an intruder might be on drugs or wearing a thick leather jacket and the effect might be minimal to none. In these moments you don’t need to worry about aim and IF your weapon is going to stop the intruder.

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Baseball Bat – While this is a pretty destructive ‘weapon’ it really is no match for a gun. Again ,you must be within close contact, it requires strength to be powerful enough to stop someone, and it can easily be removed from your hand and possibly be used against you. Also, I know for many women the thought of actually making contact with the intruder and doing harm essentially with your hands is quite frightening.

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So what is the best weapon of choice for a female for home defense? In my opinion it’s a shotgun and here is why. First, you don’t need to have good aim; from bird shot to buck shot, as long as you aim in their chest area you’re going to hit the intruder. This has always been important to me because I wear contacts and at night my vision is horrible without them. I am not going to have time to put my contacts in (I might have time to grab my glasses) and then grab the gun. It truly is a point and shoot weapon. Second, you don’t have to be close, heck you can even shoot through a door if you need to, especially the hollow doors most apartments have! Third, if you get a pump shotgun, the sound of the ‘pump’ might be just enough to get them away if that is your desired effect. The ‘explosion’ also happens away from your hand unlike pistols, which can scare off some women. Finally, shotguns are relatively inexpensive, a 20 gauge will have little to no recoil, and they are simple to load and use.

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Now don’t get me wrong, I love pistols, AR’s, and any other weapon for home defense, but for women, who aren’t comfortable with guns, don’t hunt, or are just really nervous, I personally think this is the best choice all around. As the comfort level increases a pistol is a great investment for women too; it will allow for easier concealment from children (although education not hiding them is the best way), more rounds, and better accuracy. Pick your weapons of choice for home defense but make sure you weigh out the pro’s and con’s of each; especially if you live alone, make sure you can operate the weapon safely and are comfortable using it regularly. In a high stress situation like a home invasion, you need to be able to quickly and instinctively operate the weapon.