Having a gun for home defense is a very important thing to consider, and because this is a site about handguns, we’ll talk about those (even though a pistol grip shotgun would probably be a better choice). Home Invasions for robbery, kidnapping, or sexual assault is still a problem in today’s society, and the best way to protect yourself and more importantly your family is to have a gun ready. We wanted to look at the best type of handgun and a specific model of that type that would be the best handgun for home defense.
What is the best gun for home defense?
We’ve chosen the full-size, semi-auto, .45 ACP Glock 21 from Glock as the Best Handgun for Home Defense. We chose it because of the following reasons; gun size, round/caliber, capacity, reliability/readiness, and the gun type.
Gun Size
For home defense purposes, it’s not necessary to have a smaller-sized gun, as it would be in the concealed carry arena. In fact, it’s probably a better idea to have a bigger gun, so it can hold more rounds of a more powerful caliber. That’s why we chose the full-size gun frame of the Glock 21.
Capacity
Many people think that the revolver is the best gun for home defense, and I just about decided on a .44 mag revolver for this title. But as I thought about it, there was one major problem with the revolvers; their ammo capacity. A revolver only has the capacity for 5-6 bullets, while the Glock 21 has the capacity for 13. With a semi-auto gun, you also have the ability to reload a new magazine much quicker than a revolver could, even with a speed loader. In a situation of an actual home invasion, you want all the rounds you can have, because you probably won’t be your most accurate shooter when your heart is beating so fast and you’re that nervous. For that, you should have more rounds available to you than a revolver could provide.
Round / Caliber
I’ve chosen the .45 ACP as the round of choice in the area of home defense, because it is a very powerful and accurate handgun round, with ample stopping from close distance. It’s also much smaller than say the .44 mag or the .500 S&W, so you can have a much greater capacity in your gun. Those other rounds have significantly more power than the .45 ACP, but in a home invasion situation, the .45 ACP would have ample stopping power.
Reliability / Readiness
Now there are a lot of great semi-auto, full-size, .45 ACP handguns on the market today, and most would make great guns for home defense. But I chose the Glock 21 for its reliability and readiness. Glocks are known for their reliability, and few can question that. They are designed to be simple, and able to fire every time you pull the trigger. In a home invasion situation, the last thing you want is a jammed gun, and the Glocks will prove to be extremely reliable.
They are also known for their readiness because safety is built into the trigger. No worrying about fiddling around with a safety switch when you want to be firing, and in such a stressful time, another thing to worry about is not good. The Glock will fire when you pull the trigger, period. The Best Handgun for Home Defense is the one that will fire whenever you need it to.
Gun Type
Now this category was a close one, and I had to choose between a semi-auto pistol and a revolver. The revolvers are simple, extremely reliable, and very accurate. They are probably overall more reliable than semi-auto guns, but the magazine capacity was what made the difference here. Semi-auto guns have the ability to hold and shoot more ammo and reload more quickly than revolvers. Again, in stressful times, probably at night when you can’t see as well, you aren’t going to be shooting 1” groups as you would be at the range. You want as many rounds as you can have.
Best Handgun for Home Defense
The bottom line is that the Glock 21 is the best handgun for home defense that you can buy. The large gun size can hold up to 13 powerful .45 ACP rounds, can be quickly reloaded, and most of all will shoot when you pull the trigger. No safety switch or jamming to worry about with the Glock.