Six Steps To Buying Your First Handgun

The Six Steps To Buying Your First Handgun – Step 1: Use

Many people have asked me “Rick, can you give me some advice on buying a gun”? This question weighs heavy on me, because there isn’t a easy, by-the-book answer. There are so many different ways to answer it. After doing some research, I came across this article on the Daily Caller titled “6 Steps In Choosing Your First Handgun” by Jeff Levant, The Shooting Channel. This article is very good as a skeleton to build on. I am going to break up over 6 articles. The first step that Jeff  recommends is to think of the intended use: 

Step One: Evaluate Intended Use

The first step in any purchase is determining if you even need a handgun or would your intended uses for the firearm be better served with a rifle or shotgun.  Many first time buyers are looking for a gun to simply use for self-defense in and around their own home.  In this instance I advise everyone to look at purchasing a basic shotgun or modern sporting rifle.  These firearms provide a great amount of protection for the money and require a lower level of training to become proficient at typical home defense distances.  That being said, long arms are more difficult to conceal, store, and secure around the home than most handguns.

As the country seems to be Most Americans Say Country ‘Out of Control’ in New Survey, more and more are thinking that it is time to pick up a firearm, whether it be a shotgun/rifle/pistol. Do you intend to carry out or just defend your home? As this series goes on we will look at all these issues. Before we get to all of that, you need to take a good, long hard look at intended use, will you use in the home or get your license to carry?  

Since we are discussing handguns, from Chuck Hawks on some reason why handguns for good for home defense:

Handguns are the most popular firearms for home defense. A handgun is handy indoors and can be conveniently concealed almost anywhere in the home, ready for use. It is the easiest of all guns to retain in a hand to hand struggle. It can be fired from either hand in an emergency situation. (This is especially true of revolvers). Centerfire pistols and revolvers from approximately .380/9mm/.38 caliber on up (all three actually use .35″ diameter bullets), assuming appropriate ammunition is chosen, offer adequate stopping power for indoor home defense without the extreme risk of over penetration of a deer rifle. They are much less likely to severely damage the home you are trying to protect than a shotgun. For all of these reasons handguns are the first choice of the majority of experts for home defense.

Next up, we talk setting up a budget for a handgun.