Defensive Long Guns

Here's another important video from the Personal Defense Network. What we're gonna look at today is the option of using a long gun, a rifle or a shotgun, to defend yourself. There are some great things about rifles. Rifle rounds are more powerful, generally you can be more accurate at longer distances with a rifle. And of course a shotgun is one of the most powerful close-range weapons a person can carry with them and use effectively.

The reality is, though, that because of those things, quite often it's not the most appropriate self defense tool. You think about a likely self defense scenario that you would be in, in your home or while you're out in public, the chances of you, A, having a rifle or shotgun convenient to you and B, needing that kind of fire power are pretty low. If you think of a minimal rifle distance of 20 yards, 25 yards, then you think of the average settings you find yourself in every day, there are probably not very many times when you can articulate an actual threat to your life or those you care about, outside of 25 yards. It might be a lot easier to simply leave the situation, move around a corner, get to a position of cover, get your family out of an area or barricade yourself in a safer area and wait to see if the threat comes towards you. And then you need to use a self defense response.

That self defense response, of course, when the person is closer to you could easily be solved with a pistol in many cases. So, we're not necessarily gonna talk too much today about what those situations are. We're gonna take it for granted that you are in a situation in which you're justified to use lethal force as a response and that your best option or only option at that point is a long gun. We're gonna look at a number of different types of long guns, couple of types of shotguns, lever action and semi-automatic carbine, that originally, while it was designed with a military use in mind, has been widely adopted by people as a sporting firearm. And, of course, people are training all the time now with firearms just like this for self or home defense.

So, regardless of what this image might conjure up in your mind, this is a completely legitimate option for self defense and, of course, several sporting uses, including hunting. But the primary hunting rifle that I want to look at and talk about before we get started with the more appropriate firearms that we'll be using to defend ourselves in some cases, is this bolt action rifle. With this type of an optical system, this variable powered scope, which includes the opportunity to use these iron sights for a sighting system, and with the slowness of a bolt action rifle in certain situations. And certainly the length and size of this firearm, it would not be your best choice or first choice or in some cases even a good choice for home or personal defense. We talked about different situations in videos, where we could see ourselves needing any firearm, absolutely any firearm.

And certainly you could work the action on this bolt, bring it back and actually be shooting here to where this is very close range. And if someone were coming around that corner, could I absolutely take a combat-accurate hit? Could I take a defensive hit, that would allow me to stop this person from hurting me, with this? Absolutely. But the realities are, by the time we actually get this rifle into a ready position, we can see that our reactionary gap really isn't there.

If we were to get anywhere near a corner with something like this, there's a lot of leverage and a lot of time and space for someone to get this away from us. So there are situations where you could use a rifle like this for self defense but it certainly wouldn't want to be your choice. If your choice is to own a firearm in your home for self defense, and it's going to be a long gun because of legal restrictions in the place where you live or your lifestyle or your choice to only use firearms that you have for other purposes and you don't want a handgun, this probably isn't the best choice. We're gonna look at some better choices. One thing to keep in mind when we're looking at these choices is a rifle is always going to be harder to move.

You're gonna need more space than you will with a pistol. So any of the techniques and tactics that you learn with a pistol such as keeping a reactionary gap from a corner, keeping the firearm close to you with the muzzle depressed and not wanting to point it at everything as you're moving. All of those things are still valid. They're just harder to do with a long gun in many, many cases. The other thing about time is that you're probably not going to have a long gun with you at any given particular moment when you're going to need it.

Unless, for instance, you happen to be hunting. Certainly if you're out in the field hunting with the exact same firearm that we just said probably wasn't the best choice, if that's the firearm you've got with you and someone were to attack you or pose a threat to you or someone you cared about, well that's the firearm you have with you. The time it takes to get to a rifle, to use a rifle, to prepare a rifle properly has to be brought into your planning. If you're sitting at home thinking gee, this is the perfect firearm for me to use for self defense. Of course the real version not the blue training version.

But if you thought this was the perfect firearm and it's stored in a safe in the basement with the ammunition in another closet somewhere, you aren't going to be in very many situations that are predictable where that would be a viable self defenses option for you. Certainly you're not carrying one of these around work for most people. You wouldn't be taking one of these around the mall. Now there could be a situation where you found yourself with access to one of these firearms. But it's certainly gonna take you more time to get to one of them and you're gonna need more space to use them effectively.

Again, there are different ways to cheat the stocks back, whether you have them here or you have them here. You can be in a variety of different conditions with a long gun that allow you to cheat that space. But to use it properly, have the butt placed against your shoulder, have two good points of contact on the long gun to bring it up into a shooting position, resting against your cheek, you're going to need more space. These considerations are important for you to train realistically. Use your time wisely.

If you carry a pistol for self defense and you keep a pistol conveniently located in your home and your rifles are all stored in three or four different places, somewhere outside of your general living area, or outside of the area where you work, spend more time practicing with your pistol. It's gonna be infinitely more valuable for you because it's infinitely more accessible. That doesn't mean you should exclude long guns as an option for your personal self defense. It does mean, however, that you should put it in proper perspective, spend the appropriate amount of time with them and not over-emphasize their viability. Check out more videos just like this one at the Personal Defense Network.