 Questions that I most frequently asked about gun ownership include what gun should I buy as a personal carry gun. I'm getting a concealed carry permit and I need a pistol. Another question is what the best home defense gun is. The first thing that I would think about would be the primary way that you plan to use this gun. If you are going to be carrying it on your person as a concealed gun then there are some considerations that otherwise we don't care about so much. Namely the size and the weight. So if we're gonna use a gun for anything I think the first thing we need to think about is are we gonna be able to hit what it is that we're shooting at and not miss and hit something behind that target perhaps a person that we don't want to hurt or a building or something like that. So we want to be able to hit our target even if there's an emergency that we have to save our lives by shooting someone we still want to be able to hit them and not miss shots. The most common and I would even say up 95% of the reason that most people miss their shots has to do with anticipation of the gun kicking. So they either heal the gun or they anticipate and push low left that's the most common one. The heavier that a gun is the less likely that you're gonna push it down or up as you shoot or just the moment before the trigger breaks. That means that generally speaking a lighter gun you're gonna be less accurate with and a heavier gun you're gonna be more accurate with. Now if you practice a lot then you can overcome the the lightweight issues and if you're shooting two, three, four hundred shots a week and you do that consistently for some months on end you're gonna be pretty good even with a lightweight gun. Most of us don't shoot that much though. So that is the first big consideration. Now when it comes to actually carrying on your person are you gonna do that? Are you gonna add an extra several pounds or even a pound attached to your body that's cold if it's made of metal or even plastic it gets cold in the winter rubs against your skin it has a bulge is just kind of digs into your body. Are you really gonna do that? If you do I applaud you. It's wonderful please please do carry concealed maybe you'll be able to protect yourself or someone else someday it's a great thing. The truth is the vast majority of people with concealed carry permits do not carry a gun concealed on their person even 50% of the time much less 100% of the time most people don't do it at all that gun is kept on the bed stand or under the pillow or in the center console of the vehicle or in a backpack or a purse or something like that. So if we're gonna keep the gun in a place that isn't rubbing against us we're not jogging with it bouncing against our body then that kind of gets rid of the need for it to be small or lightweight that means we can have a bigger heavier gun that we're gonna shoot better with. So this is the most important thing to consider in my opinion now most gun sales folks are gonna suggest that for the inexperienced shooter especially a woman that they're gonna be best off getting a light-framed little tiny 38 caliber revolver because it's easy for them to figure it out is what's frequently said. That is a bit demeaning but the you know somewhat true for both men and women if you aren't gonna go out and shoot at least monthly but if you're gonna wait a few years between your shots it is harder to work a semi-automatic gun and clear malfunctions and reload and do all those things it is a bit more complicated it's not very complicated but a little bit more than a revolver so that is a factor personally I like I like pistols I like semi-automatics that's that's my favorite so if we've kind of decided we're gonna lean toward a heavier metal gun so not a Glock or a little plastic Ruger or any of the other brands all the brands have the little lightweight plasticky polymer guns if we've decided we want a heavier gun that is made of metal and is a little bit bigger easier to hold in our hand then we have to ask about caliber what caliber do we want 22 caliber 9 millimeter 380 2545 ACP most people in the self-defense industry trainers will agree that the best size is the largest that you can comfortably shoot well so what we mean by this is if you have big strong hands and you enjoy the recoil of a gun and you can shoot a 45 ACP really well even under stress then that's a perfect size for you if you can only shoot a 9 millimeter then that's a great size for you if you can only shoot a 22 caliber now this is where we really start to separate separate our paths many trainers will say a 22 is just too small for personal protection I agree that a 22 is not as good as a 9 millimeter which is not as good as a 45 ACP which is not as good as a 500 Smith and Wesson Magnum which is not as good as a 20 millimeter howitzer however the 22 caliber long rifle handgun is better than a wet q-tip and a wet q-tip is better than a sticky note so as we look at all this all the different options for personal protection yeah a knife is better than that wet q-tip so maybe a knife would fit somewhere between the 22 caliber and the wet q-tip there it's a scale it's not a guess or no thing if you are comfortable shooting a 22 caliber but when you've tried shooting a 9 millimeter or a 38 special it scares you and you just don't want to touch the gun you're not going to go and practice with it because it's not fun it hurts your hand and it jolts and you just hate it well then that that gun's too big you should probably go back down to a 22 caliber maybe in time you'll work your way up to a larger caliber but for now maybe that 22 is better no it's not going to do as good of a job at stopping a 300 pound leather jacket wearing drunk guy as a 45 caliber ACP however if you're comfortable shooting it and you're actually gonna be able to hit the guy a couple times unlike the 45 ACP that you're afraid to pick up well 22 caliber is better for now and now we'll get into a really sticky topic what about brands what is the best brand of gun you know as long as it's not a high point it's probably okay there are some cheapo guns that have been made high point is just one of them but they're these little Saturday night specials that are not the greatest guns however as long as you're spending at least $400 on a used gun or 500 on a new gun you're probably gonna get a pretty good gun so I'm not really gonna get into all the different brands and and you know everybody has a preference for Chevy Mercedes yes some are better than others but they're all pretty good most important thing is to narrow down the size the weight the caliber and then go to gun stores feel different guns see what feels right in your hand for me I don't like plastic glocks they just glocks are not good for my hand I don't shoot well with them I'm not a good enough shooter to shoot well the Glock some people absolutely love them and shoot way better than I can so it's not Glock's fault it just doesn't work for my hand for me 1911 models in many different brands are what feels best I shoot best with an STI 9 millimeter 1911 for me that's what's best for you it's probably something else so feel a bunch of different guns if you get a chance to shoot them you know come out on a shooting experience with us or just hires for a couple hours a private pistol and let's try a lot of different guns and of course we have you know I don't know dozen dozen and a half guns we don't have all many hundreds of this but enough to give you a good idea so we'd welcome you to do that and finally let's address the other question what is the best gun for home defense if you're not going to practice shooting much then I would suggest that probably the best gun for home defense would be a pump action 12 gauge shotgun or if that's too much kick a 20 gauge pump action shotgun the sound of the pumping is a universally known sound that will probably discourage someone from coming to attack you and if it doesn't you're probably not going to be as likely to miss with a shotgun with many little BBs coming out of it as you would be with a pistol so that is definitely worth considering and you can check the web page we have a firearms consultation service so if you do want more advice I'm happy to get more detailed and help you find one that's perfect for your unique situation just let us know and we'll get something scheduled and make sure you get the perfect gun please do write back with questions comments and we'll hone in on the perfect gun for you