Editing Shotgun (section)

===Law enforcement===
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In many countries, especially the United States and Canada, shotguns are widely used as a support weapon by police forces. One of the rationales for issuing shotguns is that, even without much training, an officer will probably be able to hit targets at close to intermediate range, due to the "spreading" effect of buckshot.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} This is largely a myth, as the spread of buckshot at 25 feet averages 8 inches,{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} which is still very capable of missing a target.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} Some police forces are replacing shotguns in this role with carbine rifles such as [[AR-15]]s. Shotguns are also used in [[roadblock]] situations, where police are blocking a highway to search cars for suspects. In the US, law enforcement agencies often use [[riot shotgun]]s, especially for crowd and riot control where they may be loaded with [[Less-lethal weapons|less-lethal]] rounds such as [[rubber bullets]] or [[flexible baton round|bean bags]]. Shotguns are also often used as [[Door breaching#Ballistic|breaching]] devices to defeat locks.