Phoenix, Arizona:

A homeowner shot and killed a suspect who was allegedly trying to break into his West Valley home early Thursday morning.

It happened at about 1:30 a.m., in the area of 59h Avenue and McDowell Road.

Police said the family of four was asleep at the time.

The homeowner reportedly woke up when he heard somebody kicking in the door. That man grabbed his shotgun and waited near his bedroom door.

When the bedroom door swung open, the man said he saw a man with a gun. That’s when he opened fire.

That suspect died on the scene.

When you’re talking home defense, I sure don’t think anything beats a shotgun. Just racking a 12 gauge is sure to give a lot of invaders a moment of pause, and very few are going to stand in the line of fire even against birdshot.

Shotgun shell image from IHEA.

John Snow at the Gun Shots on How Not To Shoot A Shotgun:

A less obvious, but equally effective, technique to lowering your score is to do a bunch of rifle shooting right before stepping up to the line for some trap, skeet or 5-stand. There’s nothing that throws off the mechanics of a graceful shotgun swing as quickly. Get the concept of “aiming” buried into your body’s sub-conscious and have fun watching those targets sail toward the horizon unscathed.

I’m a shotgun neophyte, having taken my first blasts at clay pigeons last fall. But I quickly realized that the whole concept of “aiming” hurt my accuracy badly. I wasn’t exactly going for Luke Skywalker relying on the Force, but I definitely had most of my success shooting on instinct.

I wasn’t great by any means, but considering my lack of experience with shotguns and clay shooting I didn’t do half badly. At least once I “let go my conscious self and acted on instinct.”

Have these people even thought about how the zombies feel? (Probable Answer: ‘Braaaaaiiinnnnsssss!’)

Protesting zombies is just going to cause the lifeless to withdraw even more. Maybe what Zack needs is a hug. Has anyone asked? (Probable Answer: ‘Braaaaaiiinnnnsssss!’)

And shouldn’t the Nashville Zombie Walk have been called the Nashville Zombie Shuffle? Did the zombies name it? If so, has anyone asked them about changing it? (Probable Answer: ‘Braaaaaiiinnnnsssss!’)

What do we think about the Mossberg Just In Case shotgun line as prep for disasters like floods, hurricanes, civil unrest, and the rise of the undead? Are the zombies prepared to face an armed America? (Probable Answer: ‘Braaaaaiiinnnnsssss!’)

See Les Jones for links to more pictures.

I’ve been noticing a bunch of search engine hits for these, so I thought I’d point out a post I published last December.

Two of my rules are “Always be prepared” and “You never know.” Why do you have to always be prepared?

Because you never know.

I don’t have a Mossberg Just in Case shotgun, but these appear to be decent kits.

I’m not sure who he is or if he’s going to be a regular contributer, but Accurate Slug Shooting Made Easy by Michigan Slugger over at The Firearm Blog is a great first post.

Go check it out.

This autoloader is in use with the US military as the M1014. I had to wait a while to get in some shots with it, but it was worth it. Two shells to get the feel and three more bambambam. Way too much fun.

Brownells carries a 2-round extension kit for the M4 which makes it a 6+1, same as the military version.

Lt Col P at Op-For mentioned this shotgun on Monday.

Murdoc’s not a turkey hunter, but this semi-auto shotgun looks great:

Teen bandits flee after store clerk takes gun

Dover, Delaware:

Two teens walked into the Little Grocer convenience store on East Division Street about 9 p.m. Sunday and demanded money, Lt. James Hosfelt said.

When one of the bandits brandished a sawed-off shotgun in the direction of the clerk behind the counter, the gunman and clerk got into a physical confrontation, Hosfelt said.

The clerk refused to hand over any money from the register and then grabbed the shotgun out of the hand of the would-be robber.

At this point, the two teens decided to leave the store.

Via the Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog, which keeps a steady stream of these stories coming.

Christmas came late to Murdoc. A gift that was on backorder just arrived and it looks great:

It’s the RedHead Trap Vest from Bass Pro Shops. Mesh for comfort while blasting clays into dust, large pockets for loads of loads. Light padding on both shoulders.

Murdoc is new to the clay shooting scene, having tried for the first time this past fall. It’s a blast and I’m not even half bad. (Nor half good, as I’m sure my brother-in-law would point out…)

Thanks, Santa. Pull!

Ray Sasser at the Dallas Morning News writes How to choose a shotgun that’s right for you.