The ignorance of Joe Biden is gnawing at me. I shall explain his malfunction.

“Kate.

If you want to protect yourself, get a double-barreled shotgun. Have the shells, the 12 gauge shotgun, and I promise you, as I’ve told my wife… we live in an area that’s wooded and somewhat secluded… I said Jill, if there’s ever a problem, walk out on the balcony here, walk out… put that double-barreled shotgun… and fire two blasts outside the house.

I promise you, whoever is coming in is not….

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.

Buy a shotgun. Buy a shotgun.

That’s the gist of what Mr. Biden said. He was speaking off the top of his head, so obviously he cut off some of his words as he worked to get all his thoughts out. No issues with that, I do understand how that goes.

So what’s the problem here? Where to begin.

His first major recommendation is to fire the shotgun into the air. I suppose “warning shots”. It comes off like he’s saying if you make the noise, that will scare them away. Bluff. I’m not really sure how well that works. Oh sure, some people may well get scared away by it, but a determined attacker will call your bluff. You’ve given away your position. And really… if “shooting into the air” was such a good tactic, why don’t the police do it? Why doesn’t our military do it? Why doesn’t the Secret Service do that?

Of course, if we’re only to have a double-barrelled shotgun and are to just shoot those 2 blasts, now they know you’re empty. That’s not a good position to be in, especially if they call your bluff.

Mr. Biden is very confident he knows how YOUR self-defense situation will play out. He knows exactly how much ammo you actually will need. He knows exactly how many attackers you will have. He knows exactly what tactics and defensive approaches will work. It’s great that he knows so much! But alas, most of us aren’t able to see into the future as he seems able to do. So if we cannot know what will come, isn’t it in our best interest to be as prepared as possible? But you know… Mr. Biden promises that 2 shots into the air is all you need and that will stop ’em. I’d like to see his Secret Service agents do the same… that’ll stop ’em, right?

An AR-15 is harder to aim? No it’s not. In fact, I’d say an AR-15 tends to be easier to aim, because of things like collapsible stocks that allow the gun to be better adjusted to fit the shooter. Most double-barreled shotguns are big and long, not very well suited for someone even the size of Mrs. Biden, nor very easily adjustable. But an AR-15? Very much so.

Harder to use? No, not really. Point-and-click interface.

Besides… have you ever compared the recoil of a 12-gauge shotgun vs. a .223 Remington AR-15? The 12-gauge will knock your shoulder out. The AR’s recoil is almost negligible. My wife will be very happy if she never shoots a 12-gauge again in her life; or even a 20-gauge. But an AR? She’ll shoot that all day. The gun fits her better, she can hold it better, she can adjust it to work for her better, the recoil is manageable… it’s frankly a lot easier to shoot.

And if you don’t believe me, well… I’ll be more than happy to take anyone to the range to shoot a 12-gauge and an AR-15 side-by-side. Proof is in the pudding.

Updated: I was in a hurry to get out the door last night and forgot to mention a few things.

Firing “warning shots” is reckless.  Do you know where those bullets or pellets will come down? Is “up in the air” a safe direction, because what goes up does come back down… or there could be something along the trajectory there. Let us remind the Vice President of the gun safety rules, or is it OK to ignore these “common sense rules”?

As well, “warning shots” can still be construed as use of deadly force. Depending upon your local laws, you might still wind up in a lot of legal trouble… just for “bluffing”.