If you are Hoplophobic, or have limited experience with firearms, I can not overstate the need to seek professional help before following anything suggested here. Contact the NRA or your local shooting club/range for help and training.
The .357 revolver is just about the perfect personal protection weapon. It has the highest One-Shot-Stop rating of any small handgun, even better than the big old .45. Loaded with magnum ammunition, the .357 is not a lot of fun to shoot, but it definitely has the energy to stop the most aggressive goblin. Load it with .38 rounds and it makes for great practice at the range. (NOTE: Clean the cylinder well after shooting .38s or it won't properly chamber the longer magnum rounds.).The addition of a grip-mounted laser-sight makes this weapon much more than just a gun. Lasers allow you to shoot very accurately even from the hip, or when you can't use the sights, and with either hand. Even most cops, when involved in a shooting situation, never see their sights. They keep their eyes on the bad guy, and many times miss the target alltogether, even at close range. A laser sight lets you keep your eyes on the goblin and the bright red spot on his chest. Just illuminating a bad guy with the laser, more times than not, will defuse the situation without the need to fire a shot.
Recommended Gun: Ruger SP-101, .357, Stainless.
Recommended Laser: CrimsonTrace.
Recommended Ammo: Federal 125 grain jacked hollow points.
Approximate cost: Gun=$350. Laser=$250. Cleaning Kit=$25
The granddad of all home defense weapons. A short-barreled shotgun is simply the best tool to have handy for home defense.Learn gun handling and self-defense from a professional. All the firepower in the world won't help you if you don't know how to properly use it. And I don't just mean how to aim and fire. Test after test has shown that a bad guy with a knife, standing twenty-feet from a cop who has his gun out and aimed, can cross the distance, about one car length, and plunge the knife into the cop's chest before he is stopped. Yes, after the goblin started moving, and after the cop's reaction time-delay, the cop got one or two fatal shots into the threat, but most goblins, especially if on drugs or rage/adrenalin, will not die until he has inflected a mortal wound on the good-guy. (Keep the threat at least 30-feet from you at ALL times.)
Unlike the movies, a 12ga blast to the chest will not lift an attacking goblin up in the air and blow him out through a wall. A well-placed shot of 00-Buck, at close range, might stagger, or even turn the bad guy. If you don't hesitate and rapidly put one or two more well-aimed shots to the rapidly approaching goblin, you may be able to stop him before he reaches you. If he does reach you, try like your life depends on it, to retain your weapon, because it will! You would be wise to ask a professional to teach you the art of weapon retention.
Recommended Gun: Mossburg 500, 12-gague shotgun w/18.5 inch barrel.
Recommended Ammo: 00-Buck - indoor use. Slug - to reach out and penetrate..
Approximate cost: Gun=$200. Cleaning Kit=$25
When you need to reach out and touch that tasty animal across the field.The .357 is a good all-round caliber. Low power .38s can be fired for varmint suppression. Full load .357 Magnums will take larger game. The Rossi model 92 is an easy to use and reliable rifle that simplifies your ammo needs, as it holds 10 of the same cartridges as the above-recommended revolver.
Recommended Gun: Rossi Model 92, .357 lever-action rifle.
Recommended Ammo: Same as revolver above.
Approximate cost: Gun=$350. Cleaning Kit=$25
