Somebody with mods points PLEASE send this up.

"They don't even need to stigmatize gun ownership. Rather than taking guns away they are just taking the ammo away."

I disagree on the taking away ammo. Demand is outstripping supply. Currently, there's U.S. military action in two different countries. The manufacturers would be busy making .223 and 7.62x39. The latter as we are training the natives in the area to do their own policing and building up the Iraqi and Afghan armies.) The government contracts come first in wartime. The common law enforcement calibers, 9 x 19 and .40 S+W are even seeing shortages. So much so some police departments can conduct training exercises.

You may want to look into reloading. Depending on what caliber you shoot, you can do the math to see if makes sense for you.

I thought it was Suck All Profits ?

Short answer: A 20 ga using #3 buckshot will do the job. In pump, I'd go with a 20 gauge Remington 870 Express or a Mossberg 500. Consider adding a youth stock, sling, side saddle and a flashlight. (These expanded on below.) If permitted, have a gunsmith cut the barrel down to 18.5 inches. Some folks load a birdshot round first, then followup with buckshot rounds. Then scroll down to the part about plan.

Long answer: Bear with me here.

To my way of thinking, a weapon is a tool to inflict damage upon an enemy to impair their ability to fight. Death being the ultimate impairment. If someone invades my home, then I want to impair them. If I am not around, then I want my wife to be able to use the available tools to do so. My wife is shorter than I and half my weight.

Within arms reach of where I sleep is a fixed edge knife. Very reliable. Very sharp.

Closet has a shotgun. A used Remington 870 Express from a pawn shop fit our budget. Due to her short reach, I installed the youth model stock which is about an inch shorter than the factory wood. (The technical term here is Length Of Pull or LOP.) This one mod really helped her. If the term "youth" embarrasses her, tell her that the shortened stocks are what the cops use.

One can't leave a pump action loaded as it will wear down the spring. So, the side saddle keeps 4 to 6 rounds right there. Tacstar makes a great side saddle. If you choose 6, the shotgun forend may bump up against it. You have to be able to see what you are shooting at. Tacstar also makes a sidesaddle light mount that holds the mini AA maglights. It works well and should be within your budget. A sling allows you to carry it, leaving your hands free for other stuff. Like opening doors or having to climb out a window.

Some folks load birdshot as their first round, then followup with buckshot. I'd stay away from the exotic stuff. A 20 ga using #3 buckshot will do the job. Especially at ranges of 25 feet or less.

Useful Links:

• Performance of the different rounds as well as good information about shotgun spread. http://www.chuckhawks.com/ammo_by_anonymous.htm
• 20 Ga Shotgun performance. See the second page about the buckshot performance. http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot22.htm
• Gunsite. 7 part series, this link cover the 4 basics and speed loading from a side saddle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7ZCNUiz79k&feature=related
• One way to fight according to box o truth http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/edu83.htm

Plan: Plan for different scenarios. One plan would be that you and her hear break in noises. (Examples: Glass shattering or the back door getting kicked down.) Waiting in the bedroom, you get the shotgun and she gets the phone to call the cops. You take cover together. Point the shotgun at the door, the home invader busts open the bedroom door. If the flashlight reveals it's a drunken idiot friend of yours standing in the doorframe, then you don't shoot. If the flashlight reveals it's a bad guy standing in the doorframe, shoot for his chest. I leave it to you to decide at what point she would call the cops. Note that this does not cover if she's alone. Would she dial 911, say "someone is breaking in my house!". Then she sets the phone down, gets the shotgun and waits for the home invader to come through the door?

Finally, practice, practice, practice. I cannot stress this enough. You and her must practice the plan as well as range time with the shotgun. Take a day off. Spend the morning at the range, after lunch something she wants to do. Snap caps allow one to do a dry fire exercise in the home. As for range time, skeet shooting is one method.

FTA:" Dell claims it had received emails and telephone calls from customers asking how Tiger could possibly sell Dell computers at such a bargain and demanding their sales rep match Tiger's prices." Simple - because Carl's gone CRAZY!!

Talk about an episode of "Pot meet Kettle". Dell, the same company that the NY AG took to task last year over deceptive practices in selling computers, is filing a lawsuit against Tiger Direct over what amounts to deceptive practices in selling computers. So only Dell has the right to lie to their customers?

No personal experience with Abit. To your statement, all the motherboard manufacturers have been affected by bad capacitors. See http://www.badcaps.net/. In the bad caps dot net forums, you can read about the details of the class action lawsuit against Abit.

Heck, Wiki calls it a "plague" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague.

"It won't be nearly as bad as the thirties because people's money is insured by the FDIC to the point where most (hopefully) won't be living in cardboard boxes again." In the Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (bank bailout bill) was this. Banks no longer have to keep even a small amount of people's bank accounts available as cash. The banks don't have to fail. They can just say they are out of cash today. Your money is still insured by the FDIC. They just stop giving out money. In addition to numerous pork, the bill gives the IRS now has permanent authority to conduct undercover operations. Reference (scroll to the bottom): http://www.dailypaul.com/node/66109 In short, you can be denied access to your own money. One can only speculate as to why this was done.