For want of a shotgun

[Mazryonh]

There is something that's been bugging me about shotguns recently. I'd expect to hear about them being used to breach locked doors during vendetta killings/assassinations or spree killings, but I haven't found them (unless I'm not getting my news from the right sources). This is odd to me, because of the following:

• 12-gauge shotguns are available even in places with stricter gun control laws.
• Several forms of commonly available 12-gauge shotgun ammo can reliably breach door locks, from slugs, buckshot, and even birdshot.
• Unlike lock picking, you don't need special skills and a lot of practice to breach doors with a shotgun (though of course they help if you want to do it quickly), just the right distance and good aim at a close target.

Of course, lock-picking or using a crowbar is less noisy, but given the recent news reports about spree or vendetta shooters who don't intend on surviving their rampages, I don't think most of them would care about staying quiet, and I've also read eyewitness accounts that the opening shots of spree shootings are often mistaken for firecrackers. Am I just missing those news reports where spree shooters in fact do use shotguns to break-in or get to victims who are behind locked (and not heavily barricaded) doors?

Probably the most glaring example of this can be found in the La Isla Vista shootings. The shooter wanted to break into a building but since he had only handguns and no entry tools, he resorted to shooting people on the street instead. All for want of a shotgun.