IMO taurus pistols are kinda like cheap skimmers, you get what you pay for. thye are ok if you only intend on shooting it a few times in its life, but if you are talking about going to the range and shooting it enough to be efficient i wouldnt trust my life on it after its been well used. They are cheap for a reason.
Also, you don't need to buy a handgun specifically designed to shoot shot, rounds are available for most common calibers of handguns, they arent as powerful as te one posted, but they will certainly throw a few BBS out there with minimal kick. easy for the old lady to use.
Personally I have a shotgun with slugs in one closet and a .44 nearby my bed.
I'm pretty good with both as i was raised around guns my whole life and have always had my own range on our property to become efficient.
I do like the idea of the laser on the pistol for personal protection, gives it more of a point and shoot witout having to see much of anything.
training is going to be the biggest thing no matter what you choose.
you certainly dont want to shoot te wrong target or alow the wife to use it without training even though you may have taken courses only to have her shoot herself in the leg or something.
In most instances just the sight or sound of a gun in the hands of the homeowner is enough to get the bad guy to turn tail.
lets hope we all get proper training but never have to use it for the purpose we trained for