Oh... I forgot to addess costs. Well, what is your comfort level of spending on a gun. The sky is the limit. First figure out what you like to use, double or single action.Then start to narrow down the manufacturers. That is one way to decide how much to spend.

Or

Just plan on spending between five and eight hundred, that will get you pretty much anything.

 

I have no problems with spending that much money, especially since I can forsee this being a very fun and enjoyable hobby.

Wouldn't I need some sort of license before I can just go to the store and buy a handgun? How do I get it home? I'd also need to keep it locked up at my house. (Actually, my parents probably wouldn't want me to keep it in their house).... All things I suppose I need to look into....

 

As long as you are over the age of 21, you can purchase a handgun. The laws regarding transport of the weapon vary by state. I would not keep it locked up in the house, that defeats the purpose of a defensive hand gun. Education and responsibility training take care of firearms in the home issues. That said, don't keep it out so some kid can get it and start messing with it. But put it in a place easily accessible by you, and deployable in the event of a SHTF scenario.

 

Umm unless you have children or very irresponsible friends, you should NOT lock up ALL your handguns. What's the purpose of having a weapon if you can't access it?

Damnit, Choke beat me to it

 

Good to see you in on this discussion! Another good guy for adding perspective.

 

I'm 21.... Do I need to be 22? If that's the case I need to wait til November. =(

I'm the youngest in the house. Other than me, it's just the parents. My brother is currently in training to be NYPD... Maybe he'll go to the range with me!!

 

Also,

Are there such ranges that allow you to I guess "rent" a gun to shoot, instead of bringing your own? I think this would be a great way to practice with a few different handguns so that I know which I would like to purchase. I don't want to purchase a handgun that is too much for me to handle, or even too little for me to handle. I don't want something too big, I don't want something too small..... Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

It's funny you bring this topic up because I'm trying to find the time to get involved to reverse my universities' policy on handguns. I think it's absolutely ludicrious for the State of Texas to allow chl permits but to have a university committee over rule it.

 

You can rent any weapon you want, just be sure to follow the shops renting policy. Many places want you to (okay, force you) to purchase their ammo; some of the reasons make sense such as damage caused by hot reloads to making more money from buying 50 rounds for twice the amount it costs elsewhere.

 

Interesting... I'm working on such notions here, but in a more indirect route. I'm about to put to market a software as a service architecture that bridges the gap between mass notification and emergency actions plans. I've got an "incident management" architecture that can ensure that a lack of response like what we saw at Va Tech never happens again. And if such things do happen, there is an evidentiary chain of what went down.

You're not anywhere near Dallas are you? I'm looking at being out there soon.
We've already got a few Tier 1 schools in GA under a pilot.