Free Republic

If you can give up a small perceived ballistic advantage and in exchange, get the ability shoot the gun better, that's a worthwhile trade-off. But even so, I don’t usually recommend a 20 gauge shotgun over a 12 gauge for home defense. And not because it isn't powerful enough. It has a lot more to do with the lack of industry support for the 20 gauge. The shotguns you can buy today that are set up for self-defense are almost all based on shotguns used by law enforcement and the military. For the last century or more, almost 100% of...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Charleston resident Kelli Davis was in for a surprise when her daughter brought home some routine paperwork at the start of school this fall. Davis signed the form and then handed it to her daughter for the eighth-grader's signature. "I just assumed she knew how to do it, but I have a piece of paper with her signature on it and it looks like a little kid's signature," Davis said. Her daughter was apologetic, but explained that she hadn't been required to make the graceful loops and joined letters of cursive writing in years. That prompted a...