The short-barrel pump action 12 gauge shotgun has been a fixture in police cars for longer than I can remember. Holding five to eight rounds of buckshot (the shell contains 8 to 11 round lead balls of slightly over 0.32” diameter), the 12 gauge is a legendary fight stopper and/or riot suppressor. A common misconception about a shotgun is that the shot spreads out quickly once it exits the barrel, so aiming really isn’t necessary. One just points, pulls the trigger and everything in front of the shotgun is destroyed. Unfortunately, they don’t quite work that way.

The first shotguns of this type were called coach guns, since stagecoaches had a driver and then someone who rode up next to the driver – “riding shotgun” – who carried a short double barrel 10 or 12 gauge shotgun. These are often seen in western movies. The guns have exposed hammers and two triggers, both barrels can be fired at once though recoil is adventurous to say the least. Once the technology of pump action guns was introduced, they could be fitted with longer magazine tubes allowing greater shell capacity. While semi-automatic shotguns are available and some of the newer models work very well, I have only seen them used in a law enforcement context with K-9 handlers. The intent is that the officer can control the dog with one hand and fire the shotgun with his or her other hand, the self-loading mechanism eliminating the need to pump the action for subsequent shots.

Since the pump-actions are the most prevalent, I will concentrate on those, specifically the Remington 870, Mossberg 500 and 590 and Winchester 1200 and 1300. While there are some minor differences, for the purposes of personal defense, they can all be thought of as the same gun. Each has a single trigger, a safety button of some kind and a button to open the action if it is closed (which releases the forend from its forward position, so the forend can be moved back toward the operator and then forward again to eject the empty shell and chamber a new one). The Remington is the classic police shotgun, the military has purchased Mossbergs on occasion, the Winchesters are distant relations to the World War 1 and World War 2 Winchester military fighting shotguns, called “trench guns” and equipped with bayonets.

Do riot guns work? Absolutely. Hitting anything with eight small-caliber projectiles at the same time is going to cause some damage. Why not use a riot gun for everything? I’ve heard they are the ultimate home defense guns. I’ve not heard that statement from anyone who has tried to move around inside while holding a shotgun, though. Shotguns are rather large, relatively heavy, and while a 12 gauge shell is indeed powerful, the shotgun does not hold a tremendous amount of ammunition. A riot gun also generates recoil and one should be used to that recoil before opening up on some miscreant.

Riot guns take training or at the least, good clear instruction to use and manipulate them efficiently. At 15 to 20 feet, there is no big wide pattern of shot, the gun must still be aimed. There’s also a misconception that by using birdshot in a shotgun, that will somehow kill the bad guy but not penetrate walls in a house. Both are wrong. One would need to be close to kill a threat with birdshot. Buckshot works so much better at killing, it should be the standard personal defense ammunition. And, birdshot will go right through most house walls. Try it if you think otherwise. I have and sheetrock (drywall) won’t stop much of anything. Shotgun slugs? A shotgun is not a rifle. I’d leave slugs for hunting applications unless you believe you may need to shoot into car bodies. If that’s a possibility, then slugs will do it, though a rifle would probably be better for that use.

Shotguns are incredibly useful tools within a very small window of defensive encounters. I would always recommend having one available, and it may be your only choice in areas where some government person has decided you can’t own a handgun. If you can get a handgun, get that first. Then do some research on shotguns and decide whether you need one. I am personally somewhat ambivalent about riot guns, but I have several available at all times. I don’t reach for them often. But, if I need something dead right now with a great deal of finality and I think the target will be moving, a riot gun is damn hard to beat.