Sandy T. is 78 years old and lives with her dog BooBoo in Spanaway, Washington.
One Sunday night, Sandy was relaxing at home when her dog started barking, so she went to investigate what her dog was riled up about
“I opened my door, and standing right 2, 3 feet in front of me was a man. We looked at each other for a few seconds, and he turned and started to leave. And I said, ‘Oh no, you don’t. You stay right there!’” she said.
Because of ongoing crimes in the neighborhood, Sandy wasn’t going to let the man leave after he tried to get into her home.
“I reached over and got my shotgun. And I cocked it, and I told him to stay right there,” she said.
“Told him to go sit on the steps. I followed him out, and I just stood there with the shotgun waiting for the police to come.”
Sandy had long been prepared for this type of situation and had owned a home defense shotgun for years.
But thankfully, this was the first time she had to use the shotgun for defense.
She said she was “scared to death” while holding the intruder at gunpoint.
According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, the man told deputies, “He was looking for his wife and talked about how God had sent him.”
Police arrested the man thanks to Sandy’s actions and preparedness.
“After he was so meek and mild and sat down like I told him to do? It was empowering. I felt like at least I was in charge. I wasn’t afraid,” Sandy said.
Sandy handled this situation remarkably well.
She stopped the bad guy, and no one was hurt, all because she was prepared to deal with a threat.
Any time you can stop a threat without using deadly force, that is the best outcome.
But do less lethal options, such as bean bag shotgun rounds, make any sense for home defense?
Here are a few things to know about bean bag rounds.
What are bean bag shotgun rounds?:
Bean bag rounds are small bags made of fabric or Kevlar and filled with lead pellets.
The rounds were developed in the 1970s as a non-lethal option.
They are typically fired from a 12-gauge shotgun and travel about 200 feet per second.
Each bag weighs about 40-50 grams and is packed into cartridges.
The bean bags have a larger surface area compared to typical shotgun rounds.
This larger surface area limits the chances that they penetrate the skin.
Instead of penetrating the target, the bean bag is designed to flatten out and deliver a forceful blow to the target.
Benefits of using bean bag rounds:
There might be certain situations where using less “force” makes sense.
For instance, maybe a large animal is hanging around your house and you don’t want to kill it but want it to move along.
Or maybe you live in a home with a lot of other people and are worried about over-penetration.
While the justifications for using bean bag rounds may be few and far between, depending on your situation, a less lethal option might be right for some people.
The good thing about bean bag rounds is that they can work with many shotguns without the need to heavily modify the guns.
Also, the rounds are relatively accurate and effective.
People who get shot by bean bag rounds don’t want it to happen again so they’re typically more prone to comply with demands.
Drawbacks to bean bag rounds:
I don’t want to show up to a gunfight with a bean bag.
While these rounds make sense for police officers, there is little reason for citizens to use bean bag rounds.
If there is a threat in my home, I want a solution that I know will stop them.
I don’t want to pin my family’s safety and lives on the hope that being hit with a bean bag will hurt the criminal and either make them comply or run away.
And I’m not a lawyer, but from a legal standpoint, it’s possible that firing a gun at someone – even a bean bag round – constitutes using deadly force.
If I’m already justified in using deadly force in the eyes of the law, then the situation is dire, and I want to be using live rounds to end the threat.
Now, if you are interested in checking out bean bag rounds, consider the Reaper Defense 12-gauge, 40-gram bean bag round.
But be prepared for sticker shock, as these rounds sell for about $7 apiece.
Bean bag rounds could be fun to shoot at the range for kicks, but there is little use for them in home defense situations.
Instead, focus on the skills, strategies and tactics of home defense planning, and defending your loved ones.
