"Seriously - it sprays shot so you shouldn't need a semi auto."
Unless you live in a genuinely palatial home, any shot you have to make in self defense will almost certainly be from 10 yards or less. In that range, even a short-barrel, open-choke shotgun's pattern will only have opened up to about a foot or so. At about 40 yards, the pattern opens to about a yard in diameter.
Also, must pump-action shotguns (by far the most prevalent type) hold between 4 and eight rounds. They are undeniably effective self-defense weapons (and as far as severity of wound goes, a 12ga shotgun is considerably more likely to be lethal than all but the most powerful of rifles...as in "elephant guns," and such). The intimidation factor of a shotgun is legendary (and very real), so you might be increasing your chances of not having to fire, assuming the situation allows you to give the home invader a chance to surrender.
But that scenario points out one of the weaknesses of a shotgun for home defense, at least for people who might expect to be alone: it takes two hands to use. If you need those hands to keep the invader who just surrendered covered, how are you going to dial for the police? I guess you could make the invader do the dialing! 
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