First, a shotgun is better than a rifle for home defense, and a rifle is better than a handgun, if we're only looking at the level of trauma inflicted on a bad guy. Handguns suck at stopping bad guys; I read someplace that gunshot wounds from handguns are fatal about 20% of the time. Now that I've gotten everyone all pissed off, I'll say that a handgun is sometimes the best option. For example, if you have little ones in the house, a handgun goes nicely in a quick-access safe, which are much cheaper than a quick-access long gun safe. Also, if you have a panicky four-year-old in your left arm, you're going to have a hell of a time running any long gun with only the right. When I don't have my daughter, my shotgun is propped in the corner next to my bed. (Planning on rigging up a bed rack like the ones previously mentioned.) When she is here, I'd be going for the handgun, since that allows me to dual-wield toddler and .45.
As for people criticizing the police, a lot of that is based on statistical evidence that shows that CCW permit holders in deadly force encounters fire less total shots, score more hits, and injure fewer innocent bystanders than police officers do. Having never been shot at myself, I'm still confident that since I shoot several thousand more rounds per year than the average officer, I will respond to a deadly threat at least as well as the average cop.