No such thing as a stupid question. FreeRepublic is a good place to get gun advice. You may get some silly ones like “ get a 50 cal pistol but the silly remarks are all in good fun. Personally when I first fired a 40 caliber it felt like it had a sharp kick. You may experience different results. If you ever decide you want to switch calibers, consider a 9mm for the lower recoil and often higher capacity. Regardless of what firearms you have, get lots of extra ammo I.e at least 500 rounds full metal jacket and at least 200 rounds hollowpoints . 5 extra magazines also. You need a pistol cleaning kit. It might seem excessive, but it’s a good start. Once you get shooting and start enjoying it, you’ll make time for it. Anyway that’s my 2 cents.
That's not silly. The S&W 500 is a great gun. It's a little weak on concealability, but it more than makes up for that with stopping power. [sarcasm?]