The way lawmakers and the libs have been acting lately, it seems to me that they'd have a harder time taking a firearm from my cold dead hands, if I knew what the h3!! I was doing.
Any recommendations from the FR peanut gallery?
you really need to get cozy with the banglist folks, o my sister.
how in the hell have you known me for going on 36 years and NOT learned how to use a pistol???
that... is an impressive feat.
some stock advice:
buy lots of ammo today (BLOAT)
turn ammo into skill (TAIS)
"having" a gun ain't good enough
you must learn how to safely and effectively handle and operate it, first under completely safe conditions, then under unpleasant conditions.
look into combat range simulations.
make DAMNED sure your entire family knows the rules.
rule one: every gun is always loaded
you treat it as if it is loaded even if you damn well know through inspection that it is not.
rule two: never point a gun at anything you'd mind putting a hole in.
all things being equal, that means point it down and front at all times, away from any living creature you don't intend to maim or kill.
rule three: keep your finger out of the trigger-guard until you are ready to shoot
rule four: take your time, aim, squeeze the trigger.
Accuracy and correct form/usage come first! train up your target acquisition speed and your posture and trigger pull so that when speed AND accuracy are required, BOTH will come automatically
***
some advice:
1. buy a handgun which is comfortable in your hand, is a reliable design, from a reputable manufacturer, of a heavy enough caliber.
2. on that caliber note: in handguns (and rifles, and to a lesser degree even shotguns) there is no such thing as "stopping power" or "dropping power". A simple consultation of Newtonian Mechanics makes that rather obvious.
What there IS, however, is FUBARage and placement.
You want a bullet that makes a big enough hole to cause massive bleeding and organ ruptures, and transfers the majority of its kinetic energy into the target within six inches of travel through mixed-bag meat.
At the same time, you want a load (bullet weight and powder charge) that is mild enough that you can handle REPEATED RAPID SHOTS UNDER AIM AND PLACEMENT CONTROL in inclement conditions.
Stay away from anything more powerful than a .45ACP
(the .44Magnum, for example, has a two-foot long muzzle signature that is so bright it will blind you at night and kicks so fiercely that I have seen beefy fellows with thick wrists put their second and third shots into the ceiling rather than on paper).
3. You should decide, right now (if not sooner), that you are perfectly willing to kill a human being flat dead and bloody as hell.
Guns do not kill.
Bullets do not kill.
It is the will of the shooter which kills.
If you lack the will, a gun will probably be more of a danger to you than a help.
4. That said: Practice to kill.
Screw this "good wound" BS.
"Two in the chest, One in the head, Drops a perp fast, And makes sure he's dead."
If you practice to "wound" and end up killing, a lawyer will make that seem like you had some particular hatred of the perp you planted.
Much better to practice "practical combat gunnery" than that fancy crap - fancy crap won't work better in the mud, and only leads to trouble in a courtroom.
Go to my Links page and click through to "Front Sight Resort". It's AAAAA-1 training on-par with the very best in the world. Check it out thoroughly.