I am not a poster. I am a crispy critter.

[The Zontron 7000]

I am an internet java script sent to infiltrate your site and transform you from political neanderthals into a modern 21st Century progressive mode.

This is your first warning.

Do not try and resist.

It is useless.

Accept your fate.

You will be assimilated.

[King Prout]

cut the stress by any legal means you can use!

in most people, particularly those who are already overweight, stress leads to fat retention.

meditation is a very good idea.
shipping the horde off to bootcamp might be as effective

[King Prout]

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.

[Alice au Wonderland]

Book of Common Prayer.

I insisted on being married according to the 1928 BoCP rather than the wimpish 1979 version that is the standard in most Episcopalian (not American Anglican) churches.

It caused quite a stir with the clergy, but they did what I wanted anyway.

[Alice au Wonderland]

IIRC, the basic models cost @ $1,000 or so, but that was a few years back. The one I got was @ $1,200.

We bought it straight out; no financing at a ruinous percentage.

[Dead Corpse]

Dictionary.

Thesaurus.

Gray's Anatomy.

[Dead Corpse]

600? :-|

If you say so.

[Alice au Wonderland]

I have had some informal (through the hubby) training with various handguns and rifles.

I am the reigning "head shot" champion in the family.

I simply have not had a formal course on gun use and safety. Nor have I put in nearly enough practice time to become proficient under stressful circumstances.

[Alice au Wonderland]

Meditation means no interruptions from the young of the species. As I homeschool them, the only hope of peace and quiet for me is to rise well before them or to go swimming during adult lap swim late at night. This not so easy as it may sound.

[King Prout]

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.

[King Prout]

yikes

[Alice au Wonderland]

I know, it's hard to believe, but I tracked every food item that I put into my mouth. If it was a prepackaged food item, I recorded the calories from the wrapper. If it was from scratch, I measured the quantities and looked them up according to the dietetics assoc.

Personally, I think the results say alot about how stress affects the body.

[Dead Corpse]

Yep

[Alice au Wonderland]

Seriously nifty!

[Delta 21]

Sure they do! You just have to know where to look for 'em!

I never could find a $500 toilet seat tho...not for lack of trying.....

[King Prout]

when I grade home defense, only "dead perp" plus "living defender" get the A marks

[King Prout]

on G.A.: I use a reprint of the 1858 edition, myself

[Alice au Wonderland]

I knew most of this and am quite sure that I could kill someone in defense of my life or the lives of my children.

I think I'm ready to get some practical experience under controlled conditions, that's all.

[Dead Corpse]

Sounds about right. Double tap to Center Mass. One to the head to cut down on the nuber of lawsuites I'll have to deal with for defending myself.

It's a crazy world out there when you can go bankrupt from defending yourself from a predator.

[Alice au Wonderland]

Holy Cow!

However, I must confess that the illustration led to thoughts of a decidedly lewd quality.

[King Prout]

combat simulations and combat handgun competition is the thing, then.

there is at least one national organization for that... hold one...

so you can hunt while I hunt: "practical+handgun+competition+ranges+PA"