Joe Biden has already let you know that a shotgun will fill all your self-defense needs. Now, he’s back with another home protection tip: this time, on how to use your twelve gauge when someone is trying to rob you blind and/or harm your family! In an interview with Field & Stream magazine, Biden dropped this little nugget of wisdom on how to deter home invaders. (Disclaimer: don’t try this at home.)

F&S: What about the other uses, for self-defense and target practice?

V.P. BIDEN: Well, the way in which we measure it is–I think most scholars would say==is that as long as you have a weapon sufficient to be able to provide your self-defense. I did one of these town-hall meetings on the Internet and one guy said, “Well, what happens when the end days come? What happens when there’s the earthquake? I live in California, and I have to protect myself.”

I said, “Well, you know, my shotgun will do better for you than your AR-15, because you want to keep someone away from your house, just fire the shotgun through the door.” Most people can handle a shotgun a hell of a lot better than they can a semiautomatic weapon in terms of both their aim and in terms of their ability to deter people coming. We can argue whether that’s true or not, but it is no argument that, for example, a shotgun could do the same job of protecting you. Now, granted, you can come back and say, “Well, a machine gun could do a better job of protecting me.” No one’s arguing we should make machine guns legal.

Sounds like a crock, yes? Indeed it is. As my pal Erika Johnsen over at Hot Air pointed out:

Honestly, did no one bother to inform the vice president, after his first round of similarly awful advice, that just blasting away on the back porch will 1) reveal your position, 2) leave you effectively disarmed, and 3) possibly get you into some legal trouble?

Yes, that’s right: when attempting to defend your home as the Veep suggested, you put yourself at risk for committing negligent homicide with errant shotgun blasts. It’s a little remarkable that he’s out there prescribing self-defense tactics without having any knowledge of the consequences of such actions–legal or otherwise.

So there you have it, America: this is the man in charge of determining the fate of your guns. God save us all.

Editor’s note: This post was authored by Kate Hicks.