Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Americans don't need semi-automatic weapons to protect their homes because a couple of blasts from a shotgun will scare off intruders.
"Buy a shotgun, buy a shotgun," the vice president encouraged those worried about defending themselves.
Meanwhile . . .
A 20-year-old man armed with a shotgun and driven by no motive that investigators could discern blasted his way through Orange County on Tuesday, killing three people and then himself, authorities said.
First of all, I will say, ol' Joe is right - a shotgun is perhaps the most efficient home defense firearm, as it sends out lead in a spray pattern. For people too scared or nervous to aim properly, or in a situation with darkness and limited visibility, the shotgun gives a greater probability of hitting a target.
Biden said he keeps two shotguns and shells locked up at home and he's told his wife, Jill, to use them if she needs protection. He presumably was speaking about before he became vice president, a position that gives the couple full-time Secret Service protection.
"I said, 'Jill, if there's ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony ... take that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house,'" Biden said. "You don't need an AR-15. It's harder to aim, it's harder to use and in fact, you don't need 30 rounds to protect yourself."
If only the victims in Orange County had firearms to protect themselves. The shooter, Ali Syed, did not - could not - keep his weapon concealed when he walked up to Melvin Lee Edwards' car and ordered him out of it. Sorry, but a reasonable assumption if a stranger walks up to me with a shotgun and orders me to do something is that he is up to no good and the use of deadly force is justified.
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