The reasons for using a shotgun for home defense are numerous. Shotguns are powerful weapons in close quarters that provide an intimidation factor like no other gun. However, to be truly effective at putting down bad guys, users must still aim these devices. A man learned this recently during a Tennessee home invasion. The homeowner was able to stop the attack, but the blast came fairly close to missing the suspect.

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According to WJHL, the incident began around 9 p.m. on Feb. 24, when a couple heard banging noises outside their home. So, Jeremey Easterly grabbed his shotgun and went to investigate. That’s when he found two men at this door. He told them to leave and tried shut the door, but one of the men, Timothy Letts, allegedly ran past Easterly and into the home. Easterly chased Letts into the bedroom, eventually hitting Letts in the shoulder with a shotgun blast.

The other man, who happened to be Timothy’s brother Justin, then entered the home. Emergency personnel transported the wounded suspect to the hospital, but have not released his condition. However, the Greene County Sheriff’s Department has said they will charge Timothy Letts with aggravated assault and burglary/breaking/entering. Police do not plan to charge Easterly in the incident.

Reasons Why Tennessee Home Invasion Victim Should Aim Defensive Shotgun

As is usual, we don’t know much about what happened regarding this Tennessee home invasion victim. He lives in Tennessee, he’s married and he used a shotgun to win a home-defense situation. That is the basic gist of the story. In fact, we don’t even know if he meant to hit the suspect, but it is unlikely he would fire a warning shot inside his home. He might have even aimed at the shoulder to limit the chances of the suspect dying. Now, there are places where others might have handled the situation differently, such as pulling the trigger when the entered the home, but this is about aiming a defensive shotgun.

Many people don’t realize the importance of aiming a shotgun. A whole lot of this is because of TV and movies that show countless inaccuracies regarding firearms, perpetrating myths. This covers everything from bullets blasting people backwards to pinpoint accuracy at extreme distances with snub-nosed revolvers. This also includes shotgun blasts hitting multiple targets at close range with the hero simply pointing the gun. All this, of course, isn’t true, including the bit about shotguns.

At home-defense ranges, a shotgun blast is very small, the size of a fist at most, even coming out of a short barrel. Therefor, users need to remember to aim shotguns, just like any other firearm. In fact, shotgunners should keep both eyes open, use whatever sights are included, aim at center mass and squeeze the trigger for every shot. This ensures hitting the intended target, which is the whole point of using a defensive shotgun in a situation.