I would rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.
Our new friend is moving into an area I am not familar with, so my advice might be way off base, but I was under the impression that it was Copper Canyon land and those areas suffered terribly as a result of folks pouring out after residency was repealed.
If my advice seemed alarmist, that was not my intention, I did not mean to frighten Mr mjcmex.. In fact, I should have refrained from even touching on the subject, but I was concerned he might be considering a handgun because when outsider hear Detroit they automatically think handguns. I am not a fan of handguns for home owners. Too much damage can come from those things, the bullets go through walls and roofs and bodies too easily.
But a nice friendly shotgun is a different thing altogether. Especially if loaded with short load birdshot. Big affect with minimun effect. Bird shot won't go through a wall if that is not your intention. In short if the last thing you want to do is hurt someone while at the same time protecting your family in a desperate situation, a shotgun is a good thing to have.
Now, in the shotgun catagory, not all shotguns are your friend in close quarters. A long barrel is as likely to end up tangled in the curtains as being used. A 4 ft long gun in a 3 ft wide hallway is no way to feel safe and hit what you intend to hit; that is why I recomended the Mossberg 500 JIC ... the JIC stands for
Just In Case. No stock, a pistol grip combined with a short barrel. It is made for defensive purposes.
The even make one for marine[[water) conditions:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3D20%26um%3D1
Which Mr. Mjcmex might consider since he will be close-ish to the water. A desert dweller might not have even been thinking about a boat, but with all the money he'll save after buying his house, he could think about a nice 28 foot bayliner for the weekends.