Joe Biden - Gun expert (said no gun expert ever)

Wow.  I can't think of worse advice to give someone who believes that their life is in danger.   This is the kind of advice that will get innocent people killed.   It just shows how ignorant this guy is when it comes to firearms.

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Biden indicated that he has given his own wife the same advice. “I said, ‘Jill, if there’s ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony here, put that double-barreled shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house,’” he said, and urged viewers, in closing, “Buy a shotgun, buy a shotgun!”
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Biden to Woman: ‘You Don’t Need an AR-15; It’s Harder to Aim, It’s Harder to Use’

Lets forget for a second that Jill does not need to defend herself... That's what the armed Secret Service agents are there for.   But lets assume this advice is over 5 or 6 years old.

While a shotgun is a fantastic self defense weapon, there are several points that Joe, not only is ignorant of the issue on, but where his advice could land someone in jail.

1)  A double barrel shotgun can only hold 2 rounds.   When you fire both rounds, it is then empty and worthless for any use other than being a club.

This point is really significant because lots of things happen to your body when you're threatened.   Your adrenal glands will excrete adrenaline into your blood stream and create a physiological impact.   This impact is, loss of fine motor skills, anxiety and panic attacks, tremors and shaking, and other issues (such as increased heart rate which we won't go into).

Loss of fine motor skills (FMS): FMS is what allows a person to do things like put their keys in a locked car door.   Have you ever seen movies where the girl is being chased and (after she trips over some non-existent object and the sinister music goes into high gear) she finally reaches her car only to fumble the keys?   This is normal behavior when your body is full of adrenaline.  In the case of Jill, she would have just emptied her shotgun into the air in the hopes of scaring the bad guys off.   If they are not afraid of a woman with an empty shotgun, they will proceed into the house and it is now Jill's requirement to reload the shotgun.   Unless she has been trained on this procedure over and over (and over and over) until the action is muscle memory, there's a significant chance she'll not be able to reload in time to meet her attackers.  Basically Joe just told Jill to make loud noises and disarm herself to be safe.

2)  If the shotgun is supposed to be used for self defense, and is kept loaded in the house, one can assume that they are using slugs or self defense rounds.   I'll assume that Joe at least has the presence of mind not to use target ammo in a self defense weapon - but based on my previous point, since he wants her to only make loud noises with it, maybe this 2nd point is moot.   If he expects her to reload, then this argument would stand.

Firing a shotgun slug or protection round (which usually has large BBs, buck shot, or a combination of slug and shot) into an unknown direction (one is not aware of the target) then one runs a risk of injuring a bystander as these types of rounds have a much greater range and destructive force than target loads.   I'm not sure if that's violating rule number 1 or 2 of gun ownership... I think its 2  (I think rule 1 is "the gun is always loaded even when its not").   By telling Jill to fire indiscriminately, Joe is telling Jill that its OK to kill an innocent person in order to attempt to scare off an attacker.

3)  A shotgun is a great tool to use for home defense.   However, if Jill didn't live in a nice wooded area, but instead lived on a farm or ranch with lots of land, a shotgun is completely impractical for defending one's self at a distance (unless slugs are used, but then you have a magazine capacity issue of which I'll address).  

If Jill is beset upon by bad guys on her property, who are intent on entering the house  (let's assume that they're armed and not afraid of loud noises), Jill will have to wait until they're in range of this double barrel shot gun before she can use it to defend herself.  An AR-15, or some other long rifle, has the range and accuracy to hit a bad guy at 100 yards or more.  If their cover is 100 yards out, she can prevent them from moving closer - or at least delay them somewhat depending on surroundings.

Now, the size of a magazine is significant here.   A double barrel shotgun, we've already established, can hold two rounds.  A "standard" shotgun usually has a built in magazine that can hold 5+1 (5 rounds in the mag plus 1 in the chamber).   A "tactical" shotgun may have a removable magazine (like an MKA-1919 or Saiga) that can hold up to 10 rounds (more if you can find a larger magazine).    However, if you're in a firefight at a distance, and are limited to large shotgun rounds and small capacity magazines, your reload times may end up killing you.

An AR-15 has a "standard capacity" of between 20-30 rounds.   This is how the gun is designed and that's why its "standard".  "High capacity" by definition, would be a capacity greater than the original manufacturer's design (of 20-30).   When one is in a firefight, there is a guarantee that one will miss.... often.  It goes back to the adrenaline issue and FMS.   You need FMS to aim.   When you can't aim, you'll miss.   Another impact of adrenaline that will cause you to miss is the "panic and confusion" issue.  You will (not might) fire in panic rather than at the target.  If you're magazine is limited to 10 rounds, and you miss 9 times, you still need to reload if you have more than one assailant or you do not stop the assailant with a single round.    In the case of protecting a large area of land (back at the ranch), Jill will need to be an expert marksman or have enough ammo to keep the bad guys at bay.   A double barrel shotgun will do neither.

4)  A double barrel shotgun is (slightly) more clumsy to use than a handgun and much harder to store and retrieve effectively (unless you want rifle cases all over the house).  A handgun also has a larger capacity for ammunition (unless you're stupid enough to use derringers) because, when you miss (not "if" but "when"), you will not need to reload often to neutralize the bad guy.

Using a handgun for personal defense in the home is also a very good solution.   Single gun safes can be placed strategically and discretely in the house (depending on the size of your house and your perceived overall threat level), can be opened in less than 2 seconds, guns can be kept loaded (because they're locked up), and brought to bear quickly when the threat is already in the house.

Do NOT listen to Joe.  His advice will get you or someone else killed.  Hell - don't even listen to me.   Bring these comments to the home defense expert of your choice and let them tell you their opinion of Joe's (and my) comments.