Letter Re: Birdshot Ineffective as a Home Defense Load

Dear Jim,
In his recent article “Prepare or Die”, J. Britely wrote: “For home defense ammo, I use bird shot. This will not penetrate and stop a criminal as fast as buck shot but is also less likely to go through a wall and hurt an innocent person.” This is one of those myths that won’t die. Any ammo that will kill will go through a wall. There is no magic ammo that stops people and doesn’t penetrate walls.
Birdshot will not reliably stop a person. It’s “bird” shot. If you don’t know what your backstop is, don’t shoot. There is no magic. – Michael Z. Williamson