TSwizzle
Let's Go Brandon!
I've had a number of people tell me that for home security, a shotgun is the way to go. The reasons are pretty obvious but it seems such a clumsy weapon to handle and it's not easy to squeeze it into the night stand.
Go with one with a "tactical" barrel. That is, a semi-auto with an 18.5" barrel. In 12 gauge it would vaporize any unwanted person in your house in about 2 seconds. You can't really miss if you load it with OO and unlike a bullet, it won't travel through all of your walls and potentially hit someone in another house. The Mossberg 930 is worth a look. Mine came with the 18.5" as well as a longer barrel one could use to hunt turkeys with.
I see the advantage of shot/pellets over a single bullet but I wouldn't want to vaporize anyone !