Riot shotgun - Definition

A riot shotgun is a shotgun designed or modified for use as a primarily defensive weapon. Generally this involves a shorter barrel which makes the shotgun more compact and easy to handle, and more suitable for quickly aiming at stationary targets. Generally they have an open choke, to cause the shot to spread quickly, and they may be equipped with special sights to make them more accurate when shooting shotgun slugs. The division between the riot shotgun and the combat shotgun is blurry, and is more a matter of application than design. A combat shotgun would be used in military combat situations as a primarily offensive weapon, where a riot shotgun would be used in law enforcement or civilian situations as a primarily defensive weapon. See the entry on combat shotgun for more information.