Buy a good 12 or 20 gage shotgun (I reccommend the Maverick 88 20 gage pump with an 18 1/2 barrel (saw off the long barrel to 19 inches if need be). Buy a couple of hundred 20 gage rounds and practice hitting what you point at. Then load a few #2 buckshot rounds in the shotgun and hit you target with those, then load the mag with those for home defense.
If you want a pistol to carry around, look into the Bersa .380 single stack. But practice often with this tool if you intend to stake your life on it.
If you want a pistol for around the house, buy a .357 revolver with 4 inch barrel and load it with 38 special +P+ hollowpoints.
I’m going to the gun show this weekend with my husband and I’ll take a long what you wrote. I wish my dad was alive, he was police officer and had a few guns. As a kid, I never payed much attention except for the fact he had a gun like James Bond, ( Walter PPK?) and a few revolvers with long barrels.
I’m going to have to get familiar with the local gun club.
Dude, if you are buying a .357, load it with .357 HP. Practice with .38.