Ed,
Do yourself a favor. Buy a copy of Robert Ruark's
The Old Man And The Boy (
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Boy-Ro.../dp/0805002391 ) and read it. There's a lot in there on shotgunning. Reading it will do you good and teach you a lot, and unless you're all dried up and dusty inside and never were any kind of boy at all, you'll enjoy it too.
Get yourself some defensive shotgun training from someone who knows how to teach it. What you know how to do with a shotgun is a lot more important than what shotgun you have.
Learn to use the safety, it's there for a reason. More importantly, learn that safeties are mechanical devices and can fail, so you have to practice trigger finger discipline, muzzle control, and all the other safety stuff that's been discovered over the years to help keep Murphy at bay.
Or else Mr. Murphy will likely be coming to pay you a visit, Real Soon... and I can name at least one shotgunner who won't have one thing to do with you in person, if you refuse to use a safety when it should be used, and be safe on top of that. You see, I don't like that Murphy, and I won't hang around with people who invite him in.
Stay Safe,
lpl