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AR-15 Rifles, Pistols & Tactical Gear | Gun Store in Roanoke, TX

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Self Defense

Best Home Defense Shotguns 2026: Texas Top Picks

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A shotgun is still one of the most sensible things you can keep by the bed, and here in Texas it’s practically tradition. I’m Lance Rankin, owner and gunsmith at Western Sport in Roanoke, north of Fort Worth, and I’ve sold, repaired, and patterned more defensive shotguns than I can count. These are the ones I actually recommend, with the trade-offs spelled out.

Pump or semi-auto?

Quick framing before the list. Pumps are cheaper, simpler, and eat anything, but you have to run the action under stress. Semi-autos shoot faster with softer recoil, cost more, and the cheap ones can be ammo-picky. There’s no wrong answer, just an honest budget question. Whichever you pick, load it with quality 00 buckshot and pattern it at household distances so you know where those pellets go.

1. Mossberg 590A1

The pump I’d grab if I could only keep one. The 590A1 is the military-spec version of Mossberg’s classic: heavier barrel, metal trigger guard and safety, parkerized finish. It’s heavier than a standard 500, and that’s the point; the extra weight soaks up recoil and the gun shrugs off abuse. Aftermarket support is enormous. It costs more than a basic pump, and it’s worth it.

2. Beretta 1301 Tactical

The fast one. Beretta’s gas system cycles noticeably quicker than most semi-autos, recoil is soft, and it digests a wide range of loads without complaint. It’s the darling of the tactical shotgun crowd for good reason. The catch is price; you’re well north of the pumps here. If the budget allows, it’s the semi-auto I’d take into a hallway.

3. Mossberg 940 Pro Tactical

The value semi-auto. Mossberg reworked the gas system on the 940 line and it shows; it cycles smoothly across ammo types. You get a 12-gauge with 7+1 capacity, an 18.5-inch barrel, M-LOK slots for a light, and a receiver cut for a red dot that co-witnesses with the irons. It’s most of the 1301’s performance for meaningfully less money.

4. Beretta A300 Ultima Patrol

Beretta’s answer for folks who want the 1301 experience without the 1301 price. You get 7+1 capacity, a 19.1-inch barrel, oversized controls, grippy texturing, and that soft Beretta gas-gun recoil. The loading gate takes a little getting used to if you’re new to shotguns, but a range trip or two sorts that out. A lot of gun for the money.

5. Benelli M4

The premium option. The Marines adopted it, the ARGO gas system runs everything, and the build quality is what you’d expect from a gun at this price. Capacity is 5+1 and it weighs 7.8 pounds, so on paper it gives up ground to cheaper guns. What you’re buying is a shotgun that will still be running when your grandkids inherit it. If money were no object, plenty of serious shooters stop looking right here.

6. Mossberg Maverick 88

The budget king. It’s a simplified Mossberg 500 built to a price, often under $250, and it shares barrels and most accessories with the 500. The safety sits in front of the trigger guard instead of on top, recoil is what recoil is, and there are no frills anywhere. None of that matters at 2 a.m. It works, and for a first shotgun or a truck gun, it’s hard to argue with.

7. Remington 870 Tactical

The old standby. The 870 has been guarding American homes for generations, and the tactical versions with 18.5-inch barrels are handy indoors with aftermarket support to match the Mossbergs. Quality wobbled during Remington’s bankruptcy years, so if you’re buying used, look it over or have a gunsmith do it. A good 870 is still a great shotgun.

Bottom line

Buy the Maverick 88 if money’s tight, the 590A1 if you want a pump for life, the 940 Pro or A300 Patrol for the best semi-auto value, and the 1301 or M4 if the budget’s open. Then spend whatever’s left on buckshot and practice, because the shotgun you’ve patterned and run hard beats the fancier one sitting in the box.

Not sure a shotgun is even the right tool for your house? I’ve written up the best home defense handguns and a full home defense AR-15 setup for comparison, plus a bigger-picture piece on surviving a home invasion. We stock most of these shotguns, and new buyers can start with my guide on how to buy a gun in Texas. Questions? Call 817-393-4000 or email [email protected].

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Court Rules Church Gun Ban Unconstitutional: A Big 2A Win

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I’m Lance Rankin, a Texas FFL and gunsmith at Western Sport in Roanoke. A federal judge in Buffalo just declared New York’s ban on carrying firearms in churches and other places of worship unconstitutional, and the reasoning matters well beyond New York. The usual caveat applies: this was a temporary restraining order in active litigation, so this is dated commentary. Check where the case stands today before assuming anything below is still the operative law.

What the judge ruled

Federal District Judge John Sinatra issued a temporary restraining order halting enforcement of New York’s prohibition on guns in churches, synagogues, and other houses of worship, finding the law violates the Second Amendment under the Supreme Court’s decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen. Notably, he refused the state’s request to limit relief to just the plaintiffs who sued. He declared the law itself unconstitutional, which meant the ban couldn’t be enforced against anyone while the order stood.

The “sensitive places” question

New York passed this ban as part of its response to losing Bruen, essentially declaring huge swaths of the state “sensitive places” where carry could be forbidden. But Bruen said sensitive places must be narrowly construed, historically analogous to polling places, legislative assemblies, and courthouses as understood around 1791. Judge Sinatra found New York offered no historical evidence that churches belonged on that list.

The history actually cuts the other way. In parts of the colonial era, some congregations were encouraged or even required to bring arms to services. The state could point to a few scattered restrictions from the late nineteenth century, but the judge treated those as what they are: outliers, decades removed from the founding, not a long-standing American tradition of disarming worshippers. That’s the correct application of Bruen’s method, which looks to 1791, not to whatever a few jurisdictions tried in the 1880s.

Why this one hits home for me

This isn’t abstract in North Texas. In December 2019, at a church in White Settlement, maybe twenty minutes from my shop, a volunteer security team member stopped a shooter seconds after he opened fire. Armed congregants ended that attack before it became a massacre. Texas law trusts churches to make their own security decisions, and plenty of my customers serve on volunteer church security teams; I’ve helped outfit more than a few. The idea that a state would criminalize exactly what saved lives down the road from me has never made sense, and now a federal court has said the Constitution doesn’t permit it either.

The pattern since Bruen is hard to miss. When judges actually apply the text-and-history test, laws with no founding-era analogue keep falling. Expect similar challenges anywhere legislatures responded to Bruen by multiplying “sensitive places,” New Jersey and California included. And expect appeals; as of this writing, this was a TRO, the first round rather than the final word.

For Texas readers

Here, carrying at your own church is generally lawful unless the property gives proper notice otherwise, and many churches actively welcome trained carriers on security teams. If you’re getting equipped for that role, my guides on the Texas LTC and constitutional carry cover the legal side, and the right defensive ammo matters more in a crowded room than anywhere else. A good holster that stays put through a two-hour service matters too. Questions about any of it? [email protected] or 817-393-4000.

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Best Handguns for Women: Self-Defense and CCW Picks for 2026

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I’m Lance Rankin, owner and gunsmith at Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas. Western Sport is a family shop: my wife Donna runs the office and compliance, and my daughter Lexi is a responsible person on our FFL and shoots more than most of my customers. So when a woman comes in asking what she should carry, she gets advice shaped by the women who actually work here, not by a catalog. Here’s the honest version of that advice, and the guns that earn it.

First, the rule that outranks everything below: there is no “women’s gun.” There’s the gun that fits your hand, that you can rack and load without a fight, and that you’ll actually carry and practice with. Pink frames are marketing. Fit is everything.

Sig Sauer P365: the default answer

Sig Sauer P365X 9mm pistol

If I could only stock one carry gun, it’d be the P365. Before it existed you chose between a slim gun that held little or a fat gun that held plenty. Sig put 10 to 15 rounds of 9mm in a micro-compact frame about 5.8 inches long and under 18 ounces, with good sights and a clean trigger. It conceals under light Texas summer clothing, the grip fits smaller hands well, and the aftermarket for holsters and accessories is enormous. Lexi’s short review: “just buy this one.” I only argue with her when a customer’s hands or budget point elsewhere.

Smith & Wesson Shield EZ (.380 and 9mm): for hand strength issues

The most common problem I see at the counter isn’t recoil. It’s racking the slide. Arthritis, injuries, or just less grip strength make plenty of good pistols frustrating. The Shield EZ line exists for exactly this: a slide that racks with a fraction of the usual effort and magazines with a load-assist tab so loading doesn’t chew up your thumbs. The .380 version is the softest shooter; the 9mm EZ gives you more punch with an 8+1 capacity and stays pleasant because the gun is a bit bigger. Neither is the smallest option out there, but a gun you can operate confidently beats a smaller one you struggle with, every single time.

Glock 43, 43X, and 19: boring reliability

Glocks are the pickup trucks of the handgun world. The 43 is the slim single-stack six-shooter, dead simple and thin enough to hide anywhere. The 43X adds a longer grip and 10 rounds, and for most people it’s the better buy; I’ve written up the differences in my Glock 43 vs 43X comparison. The Glock 19 is bigger, 15 rounds and about 21 ounces, and it’s the right call if the gun will pull double duty on the nightstand and only occasional carry. All three just run.

The tiny guns: Ruger LCP and Glock 42

The LCP weighs 9.4 ounces and genuinely disappears in a pocket. The Glock 42 is a touch bigger at under 14 ounces and noticeably nicer to shoot. Both are .380s. Here’s my honest warning: the smaller the gun, the harder it is to shoot well. The LCP in particular is snappy, with tiny sights, and I don’t recommend it as anyone’s first or only gun. These are experts’ guns and deep-concealment backups, not beginner guns, even though they get marketed to beginners constantly.

Sig P238 and the used-market Ruger LC9s

Ruger LC9 pistol

The P238 is a little all-metal 1911-style .380 with a light single-action trigger, and women who like it tend to love it. The metal frame soaks up recoil better than featherweight polymer guns. It costs more than most micro .380s and has a manual safety you must train with, but it’s a sweet shooter. The Ruger LC9s is discontinued, replaced by the EC9s, but clean used examples are cheap, slim, and reliable if the budget is tight. Expect some snap from the short grip.

How to actually choose

Come handle several. Check that your finger reaches the trigger without shifting your grip, that you can rack the slide and lock it back, and that the gun points naturally. Then, ideally, rent or borrow your top two and shoot them, because hands lie less than spec sheets. Whatever you pick, feed it quality defensive ammo, my 9mm carry ammo guide covers that, and get training. In Texas I still recommend the LTC even under constitutional carry, for the training and the reciprocity.

New to buying entirely? Start with how to buy a gun in Texas. And if you’d rather talk it through with a family shop where women are behind the counter and not just on the posters, that’s us. Local pickup by appointment in Roanoke, north of Fort Worth. Call 817-393-4000 or email [email protected].

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Canik METE MC9 Prime NC: The Non-Compensated Carry Gun, From a Dealer’s Bench

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Lance Rankin here, gunsmith and FFL at Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas. Canik has announced the METE MC9 Prime NC, and the interesting part isn’t what they added. It’s what they took away. The NC stands for non-compensated, and I think that’s the smarter carry gun. Let me explain why. Note this was written when the announcement was fresh, so verify current pricing and availability.

The comp trend, and why it’s not for everyone

Compensated micro-nines are everywhere right now. The ports vent gas upward to fight muzzle flip, and on a range gun they genuinely help you shoot faster splits. But I’ve had this conversation across my counter a hundred times: a comp on a defensive pistol has real costs. More muzzle flash and more concussion, which matters a lot if you ever fire from inside a car or a dark hallway. And ported guns can get finicky about ammo, since they bleed off gas the slide needs to cycle.

The original MC9 Prime shipped with an integral comp. The Prime NC is the same pistol without it. Canik’s pitch, and I agree with it, is that some shooters would rather manage recoil with grip and training than with technology, and get predictable function with whatever defensive ammo they load.

What you get

The NC keeps everything that made the Prime worth a look in the first place:

  • Aggressive grip texture where your hands actually need it
  • Deep front and rear slide serrations, easy to run with sweaty hands
  • Canik’s aluminum 90-degree flat-face trigger, which breaks cleaner than most striker triggers at any price
  • Night Fision tritium sights from the factory
  • Optics-ready slide for micro red dots
  • Accessory rail and a magwell
  • 17-round magazines in a genuinely micro-compact frame

That last line deserves a pause. Seventeen rounds in a gun this size was fantasy ten years ago. And factory tritium sights plus an optic cut are things you’d pay extra to add on plenty of competitors.

Price and my honest take

Suggested retail is $650. Canik hasn’t confirmed the full package contents yet, but they have a habit of including a holster and interchangeable backstraps, so I’d expect similar here. Street price usually lands under MSRP once stock normalizes.

Here’s my honest read as someone who sells and services these. Canik triggers are legitimately excellent, the feature list embarrasses guns costing more, and the company has built a real reputation on value. The trade-off is that the aftermarket for holsters and parts is thinner than what surrounds a Glock or a Sig, so check holster availability for the exact model before you buy. For a shooter who wants maximum gun for the money and doesn’t need the biggest ecosystem, the Prime NC looks like a strong option. For a first-time carrier, I’d still have you handle it next to a Glock 43X and a Sig P365 before deciding. Hands beat spec sheets every time.

Where Western Sport comes in

If you’re shopping the micro-nine category, I keep a running guide to the best 9mm handguns under $500, and once you pick one, feed it right with my notes on the best 9mm self-defense ammo. Buying online? I handle online purchases and FFL transfers for $40 plus $10 for the NICS check, with local pickup by appointment here in Roanoke, just north of Fort Worth. Call 817-393-4000 or email [email protected] and I’ll help you sort it out.

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Liberal Elites Want You Disarmed, But Not Them

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I’m Lance Rankin. I run Western Sport, a family gun shop and FFL in Roanoke, Texas, and I’ve been behind the counter long enough to notice a pattern that ought to bother everybody, whatever their politics: the loudest voices for disarming ordinary Americans tend to live behind armed security themselves.

Do as I say, not as I do

Peter Schweizer wrote a whole book with that title, documenting public figures who advocate policies with great conviction and then quietly exempt themselves. Gun control is the clearest example of the genre. A celebrity films a PSA about the danger of firearms, then rides home with an armed detail. A politician proposes restricting the guns you can own while accepting taxpayer-funded protection for life. A billionaire bankrolls gun-control groups from behind a private security budget bigger than my whole town’s police payroll.

Notice what none of them ever proposes: disarming their own guards. The guns aren’t the problem when they’re pointed outward from the gated community. They’re only a problem in your safe.

Why this matters beyond the hypocrisy

Hypocrisy alone is just annoying. What makes this one worth writing about is what it reveals: the people pushing these policies do not actually believe armed defense fails. They believe it works, which is why they pay for it. Their real position is that armed defense should be a service you buy, not a right you hold. If security costs six figures a year, the wealthy stay protected and everyone else files a police report after the fact.

My customers aren’t celebrities. They’re nurses coming off night shifts, ranchers an hour from the nearest deputy, single moms, retirees. None of them can hire a detail. What they can do is buy a reliable handgun or shotgun, learn to use it, and sleep better. Orwell had the line for the alternative arrangement: all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

The Second Amendment doesn’t have an income requirement

The founders wrote the Second Amendment precisely so that the means of self-defense wouldn’t be reserved for whoever holds power or money. It’s a right, not a subscription tier. When someone with armed protection tells you that your protection is the problem, you’re allowed to weigh their actions against their words. I’d encourage it.

I’ll add a note of fairness, because I’d rather be honest than ranty: some public figures face genuine, documented threats, and I don’t begrudge anyone security. That’s exactly my point. Their threat assessment led them to guns. Yours might too. The judgment call belongs to you, not to them.

What you can actually do about it

Here in Texas, exercising the right is straightforward. If you’re new to this, my guide on how to buy a gun in Texas covers the process step by step, and constitutional carry means most law-abiding adults can carry without a permit, though I still think the Texas LTC is worth getting for the training and reciprocity. Not sure where to start on hardware? My first gun guide is written for exactly that question.

I don’t have a security detail either. I have a safe full of tools, a family that knows how to use them, and a shop where I help other folks get to the same place. If I can help you, call 817-393-4000 or email [email protected].

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