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I tend to like CONCEALMENT magazines as they have more interesting articles. This issue was no exception. There are two articles I liked, and one that I didn’t think was as informative as it could have been.

1. On Her Own. Why You Shouldn’t Carry a Gun by Annette Evans. This is a good article for everyone to discuss. One of the reasons is dealing with the aftermath of potentially killing someone. Not only the offender, but potentially an innocent bystander. I feel people don’t consider the negative impact of violence on their lives. My book covers some research on psychological problems due to violence. They are substantial. Remember, some of the toughest men in the world have PTSD.

I wish Evans had discussed items like the JPX6, a pepper spray pistol that I cover in my book. Because it isn’t classified as a firearm, you can avoid legal troubles and still carry it if you wish. Even if you carry a firearm concealed, having a JPX6 around is a good idea. The reason is that you could find yourself watching a violent situation unfold between a man and a woman, or between kids and adults, and so forth. For example, you see a large man beating up his wife in the parking lot. The wife looks like she will suffer grave injuries without some intervention. However, the man is twice your size. If you threaten the guy with your gun, you might have to shoot him. Even if you shoot a wife-beater, the wife may come after you. This is why law enforcement officers hate domestic violence calls.

2. Taken By Force by Dave Merrill. Unfortunately, I didn’t find this article too interesting, which is surprising since I’ve liked what I’ve read from Merrill before. I’m not sure if the target audience is quite right. Based on the discussion, it seemed like if you fit the profile of someone who would be kidnapped, you would have a security team. Perhaps focusing more on Mexico, Latin America, and vacation spots like Jamaica would have been better. These types of kidnap-for-money schemes could impact many ordinary civilians who are just vacationing.

For America, I suspect the violent crime statistics around kidnapping would likely point to child custody battles. As far as women go, in America, I would also suspect that date rape drugs and voluntary intoxication would be something women would need to worry about much more than kidnapping. In short, protecting yourself from these more common threats would also protect you from kidnapping.

3. Strapping Up – The Thing About Slings for Home Defense by Tamara Keel. This is an excellent article about the use of slings for home defense. I’m firmly in the anti-sling camp myself. However, I grant that my home defense is tailored to not using a sling.

I believe that law enforcement tactical teams have a significant influence on the proponents of using a sling for home defense. One such case is having to go make sure your loved ones are safe, as they are presumably located in another room in the house. Here is where I think people miss:

You are in control of your house. You can set it up in any way based on the threats you perceive. If you think a home invasion is more likely than an emergency, then set up your house that way! You are not constrained! You are not a law enforcement officer raiding a house you have no idea what the layout is. You can make things very difficult for an intruder and very safe for your family by choosing a living arrangement that reflects the level of threat you think you are facing. 

As I point out in my book, modern floor plans are not designed to protect your loved ones. The master bedroom is either in the furthest corner of the house, and the kids' bedrooms are in the other corner, or your master bedroom is downstairs, and everything else is upstairs. Now, you are going to sling up your AR-15 and protect your family? Really? It turns out that 75% of the interior area of your house is between where you sleep and where your kids sleep. Now, you are going to go hunting an intruder with an AR-15 that is likely between you and your kids? You have two 1/2" pieces of drywall to keep them safe? And you are spending time wondering if you should sling your carbine or not? Have you thought this through? 

Furthermore, there is talk about going outside your house to investigate a neighbor's motion light or other similar issues. As I point out in my book, this is a bad idea for many reasons. If your neighbor called the cops, now you are out in your PJs (NOTE: what you sleep in is another discussion!) with an AR-15 and a sling, and law enforcement pulls up. Who is the suspicious person now? Keep in mind that aggravated assault and felony vandalism are common when there are multiple offenses in a single incident for NIBRS. Granted, you may need to protect your animals, but that is a whole different discussion from keeping your family safe. Don't mix the two!

The title of my book is “Beyond Weapons,” indicating my book isn’t about how to use weapons. The subtitle of my book is “A Guide to Holistic Self-Defense.” What this subtitle means is “How to put yourself in a position to be successful.” You want to be in a position to be successful in dealing with ordinary civilians, law enforcement, and criminals. Ideally, you don’t want criminals even to be aware that you exist, and in all honesty, the same can be said about law enforcement officers – you should be off their radar. When it comes to your interactions with ordinary civilians, the goal is to have rich and rewarding experiences, rather than problematic encounters that can escalate into criminal behavior (e.g., domestic violence, road rage, neighbor disputes, and so on). The title and subtitle of my book represent an exploration of how to position yourself to effectively avoid violence.

In this post, I aim to discuss off-body carry and demonstrate how people often overlook the importance of interacting with law enforcement officers. Often, off-body carry situations are used in hot and humid weather. The attire someone wears in this weather doesn’t lend well to on-body carry of a firearm. Given these conditions, many people choose an off-body way to conceal their firearm, which in many cases is a fanny pack.

Now is a good time to introduce one of Olsen’s Laws (my apologies for the liberties taken!). Here is an Olsen’s Law for Ordinary Civilians: You will have more interactions with law enforcement officers than you’ll be a victim of a violent crime. If you give it a moment’s thought, you’ll realize this is a true statement.

Here is the problem. Many reviews of fanny pack concealment will tell you what they store in their fanny pack. It turns out to be their gun, their ID, their phone, and so on. Now, imagine for a moment, you have, say, a boating accident. You are a bit shook up. You are not sure who is at fault. A law enforcement officer arrives and asks to see your ID. You mistakenly unzip the wrong compartment of your fanny pack because you are a bit dazed from the accident. The first thing the law enforcement officer sees is the handle of a gun. Do you know where this leads?

Imagine buying a concealed carry holster with a pocket for your wallet. Is that a good decision? Do you want to reach for your ID in the same motion as you pull a firearm? Probably not! By keeping your firearm and your ID in your fanny pack, you are effectively doing the same thing. You don’t want to be interacting with a law enforcement officer, reach for your ID, and suddenly be dead. Put yourself in a position to be successful. Consider the more common scenarios and how your gun will affect those situations. Make the appropriate trade-offs.

Recognize that self-defense is all about trade-offs. There is no one solution for all scenarios.

In my opinion, most ordinary civilians would be best served with a large-caliber (https://clayeolsen.com/archives/222) double-action revolver or a shotgun as a home defense weapon. I talked about some previous home shotgun suggestions here: https://clayeolsen.com/archives/359. I want to discuss some more considerations for shotguns here.

First, many ordinary civilians may want to purchase short tactical shotguns. These can be short-barreled shotguns (SBS), which require a tax stamp from the ATF, or perhaps have a pistol grip or a short stock. I recommend against this type of purchase because even though home defense ranges are short, you must still be accurate. These short shotguns make that much more difficult in stressful situations.

Second, some ordinary civilians may want to use a regular shotgun made for birds. These may have a 28″ barrel or longer. Depending on how you use them, these can work well. In general, though, I recommend purchasing a shotgun dedicated to home defense with a shorter barrel and a bright front sight (made for shooting things other than flying birds).

Third, some ordinary civilians may want to purchase a .410 shotgun. Here, ammunition selection is critical. Many handguns have been introduced that can shoot .410 shells along with regular .45 Colt or .45 Automatic ammunition. These handguns have rifled barrels, and the .410 defensive loads are made to shoot in rifled barrels (in most cases, this ammunition is labeled for handguns, but make sure with the manufacturer). Regular .410 shotguns have smoothbore barrels, and these rounds may not perform as well in those shotguns.

Given these considerations, what would I recommend? In general, I would recommend a 12 Gauge or 20 Gauge shotgun with about a 20″ smoothbore barrel and rifle-style (or ghost ring sights).

Here are some key questions:
How strong are you?
A fully loaded shotgun can be heavy. If you have a defensive room like the one I describe in my book, you can rest the shotgun on your defensive setup. Depending on what you are resting it on, you’ll need to lift it up to properly feed a pump-action shotgun with a bottom eject (common for left-handers).

What are the risks of overpenetration?
Any firearm used in the home risks overpenetration. Ken Whitmore has done a nice job of testing various firearms and loads here: https://www.pewpewtactical.com/home-defense-overpenetration/. A key point is that regular drywall is not a very good stopper. In my book Beyond Weapons, I discuss ways to help in this regard.

Do you have a lot of property to protect?
In my book, I discuss why it is usually a bad idea to confront 2-legged animals on your property. In this case, I’m talking about 4-legged animals that may be trying to get at your domesticated animals. Your home defense loads may not be right for this type of work.
Many pump shotguns are at a distinct disadvantage here. Unloading and reloading a pump shotgun with different ammunition is much more troublesome, and this process is also more likely to result in a negligent discharge. A couple of exceptions exist: (1) Mossberg makes the 590M, a magazine-fed shotgun. With the 590M, you can have two magazines, each with different ammunition – one for inside the home and one for the property. Some high-visibility tape is all that is required to differentiate between them. (2) Some shotguns, such as Kel-Tec, have dual magazine tubes where each magazine tube can hold different ammunition. A selector switch determines which magazine tube is used. Extreme care must be used in a home defense situation as you don’t want to select the wrong tube and have massive overpenetration problems due to the wrong ammunition being used.
Also, you’ll want a very good light on any shotgun used outside.

How much recoil can I handle?
Unless you handload your own shotgun shells, you’ll be limited to factory ammunition. Low recoil ammunition is typically in 00 Buckshot or slugs, which may result in overpenetration. Ultimately, be prepared to test whatever load you choose (refer to Ken Whitmore’s test process in the link above).