Slings on shotguns and home defense
While I must admit that I have never taken a shotgun training class, and I have not yet gotten around to watching the Magpul Art of the tactical shotgun DVD, I have seen enough things happen on firing lines to know that the more stuff you put on a firearm, the more you are complicating things. The more you complicate things the more you have to worry about things falling off or getting snagged. Slings are extremely useful tools and it will get real uncomfortable carrying a firearm with out one. I recently picked up a shotgun scabbard because I personally do not like having slings on a pump shotgun. The fact that you have to manually cycle the gun and your sling will be moving around while you do this, I’ve seen too many times where people’s hands get snagged up.
I must remind you that this is a personal preference, not everyone has these types of problems. There are ways of training to get around some of the issues, but they can all be eliminated by not having one on. My shotgun scabbard is basically one of my rifle cases because it is attached to one of my primary shooting backpacks, I can just toss a lever action rifle or small bolt action into the same case and carry it on a hunting trip. Some of my friends have the Galco battle sling on their shotgun and it is a very thick sling. Some people may prefer this because it is easy to grasp and feel.