Can someone shed some light on how one goes about buying a gun? Do you just wander into a gun shop? I know that it varies by state, but what's the norm? Do I have to get a license from the state before I buy? Or is it like buying a car, you select one and the dealer does all of the screening/licensing?

While I'm at it, any recommendations for particular brands/types/models for simple anti-burglar purposes. I'd definitely want a handgun.

If your name is Skye, do not post in this thread. Also, if you are from the Eastern Hemisphere, do not post any anti-gun dribble in this thread.

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"It's just gonna be goin' on...like Donkey Kong...144,000 strong."
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Just curious, what do you need a handgun for?

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Q

You can just wonder into a gun shop and buy one but there is a waiting period like 10 days until you get the gun.

Then you must apply for a permit with the state to carry the gun.

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I know many states including my own (Illinois) require a license. I'd suggest checking to see if your states does. As for the gun itself, what are you looking to get? Is it a handgun you want or something else?

If it's a handgun, I can ask my brother. He's a new police officer and has tried out and experimented ([I]by killing random people[/I]) with different handguns. He also goes to the shooting range fairly often and has asked if I wanted to go. Although I was having a [I]Skye[/I] moment and said no.

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haha skye....

The best thing to do is ask the gun shop owner themselves. In the mean time, get a machete.

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I bought a handgun for kicks and shot off my left leg by accident. Now I have a pirate style wood peg in its place. he he

[quote=pipesdrums]Just curious, what do you need a handgun for?[/quote]

To shoot people who end sentences prepositions with.

Read my post. The answer is there.

To Coasterlove, yes it is a handgun.

I'm trying to avoid wandering in without getting facts first. I tried googling it, but I got 1.9 million links screaming about gun control. I'd rather not look like a tool when I ask the gun dealer what I'm supposed to do.

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"It's just gonna be goin' on...like Donkey Kong...144,000 strong."
I still BRAKE for Kraken.

get a glock diesel. In most states if you buy a gun with a valid drivers license within your home state, all they do is run a quick background check.

Hey Diesel - Gun shop owners WANT to be asked questions. If you are a total novice they may even recommend a course in learning how to handle your gun. The last thing they need is bad publicity - like you accidentally shooting yourself or someone else. Don't worry about looking like a fool. When it comes to something like this the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask.

Go to your local Department of Natural Resources page and start there. (for safety at least) Uhfortunately I'm not good with hand guns and I only use shot guns. If you are ever interested in a shot gun, get any kind of Benneli, also, if they have Benneli hand guns (I'm not sure) try to get your hands on those.

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Any reputable gun shop should know the law for that state, same with reputable pawn shops. As for brand, I'd go with a Glock, if you can afford it. VERY reliable, safe, accurate and easy to maintain. Also, make sure to have a place to lock it away SECURELY, such as a gun safe/lockbox. Other good brands would be Beretta, Smith and Wesson, and Walther.

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Gun Shop?

Look all you need is 2 pounds of weed and a fifth of Jack. Gather up a couple homies and head to ghetto. Find someone to make the exchange, you could probably get a couple of very nice handguns, and hope they don't shoot you and take your ****.

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Its AMERICA MAN!!! You can buy a gun the same place you buy your pants, all you need to do is register and have some bankround checks done so people know you can handle the weapon properly.

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[QUOTE=Diesel]

While I'm at it, any recommendations for particular brands/types/models for simple anti-burglar purposes. I'd definitely want a handgun.

[/QUOTE]


Okay, I'm going to stray away from what you made clear for a minute, but bear with me.

For home defense, there is NOTHING better than a 12 gauge shotgun. Something pump action like a Mossberg 500 with a reasonably short barrel. Load it with 00 buckshot.

That said, if you are dead set on a handgun, and have no experience with handguns, I would recommend a revolver. I would suggest a .357 Magnum. The .357 magnum is a proven man stopper, a revolver is simple to operate, and with a .357 you can practice with cheaper .38 Special ammo. Of course, you can spend big money buying one of the top shelf names like Smith and Wesson or Colt, but there are some VERY nice mid-level price revolvers out there, such as Ruger or Taurus.

If you're set on a semi-automatic handgun (as I am) make CERTAIN that you get one that fires the .45 ACP round. .40 S&W caliber isn't bad, and avoid 9mm like the plague. 9mm is a BAD choice for self defense- it overpenetrates (Meaning you could shoot the bad guy, have the bullet pass completely through him, and then hit something or someone else) at the same time it overpenetrates, the 9mm is sorely lacking in stopping power.

If you go the semi-automatic route, because they're more mechanical than revolvers, be sure to get a good quality one. There are many different good names out there- Colt, Browning, S&W, Ruger, Walther, Para-Ordinance, HK, Sig, and even though I detest their safety system- Glock.

Whatever your final choice- BE SURE TO TAKE A FIREARMS SAFETY COURSE!!!!!!!! Also, once you've purchased and recieved your weapon, you need to find a range and practice with it. Practice at least every couple of months. Did I mention the safety course?

I could go on and on about lower level choices (type of ammunition, double action vs. single action, etc) but I'd probably bore someone to death. If you want, e-mail me off the board, and I can go into it further.

Don't forget the safety course and practice!

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Damn thanks for the info.

I was leaning towards a handgun because I thought it would be easier to move around corners and point.

I'd definitely do the training course, would the gun shop have info on local courses?

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"It's just gonna be goin' on...like Donkey Kong...144,000 strong."
I still BRAKE for Kraken.

I'm curious for the reason behind wanting a gun. I know you said security and that but was it anything specific? Is crime on the rise where you live? If it's too personal, don't worry about it.

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[QUOTE=Diesel]
I'd definitely do the training course, would the gun shop have info on local courses?[/QUOTE]

Any decent retailer of handguns should have information on safety courses. Ask them.

Also, you can find courses near you at

[url]http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/basictraining.asp[/url]

Let me know what you decide on, I'm curious. And if you have any other questions that I might be able to help with, post them, PM or E-mail me.

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My neighbor got a big new house, and all I got was his lousy payments

[quote]Whatever your final choice- BE SURE TO TAKE A FIREARMS SAFETY COURSE!!!!!!!! Also, once you've purchased and recieved your weapon, you need to find a range and practice with it. Practice at least every couple of months. Did I mention the safety course?[/quote] Good tips, and the Firemans Safety is required in Maryland anyhow. (as it is in most places nowadays unless you've been grandfathered)

For more details regarding Marlyand laws, go here:

[URL="http://www.mcsm.org/mdlaw.html"]http://www.mcsm.org/mdlaw.html[/URL]

Looks like the process should take less than a week, assuming you are approved of course ;)

[quote=coasterlove]I'm curious for the reason behind wanting a gun. I know you said security and that but was it anything specific? Is crime on the rise where you live? If it's too personal, don't worry about it.[/quote]

Just living 15 minutes from Baltimore, and realizing that nobody else can protect me (outside of arresting and prosecuting once it has happened).

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"It's just gonna be goin' on...like Donkey Kong...144,000 strong."
I still BRAKE for Kraken.

Hey Deisel, I stumbled upon this thread and gave it a good read to see what type of info people were giving you, and might I say some of it is a little off. The one thing that I definitely recommend is that you take a firearms safety course. To disprove what fbama73 said, while a 12 gauge shotgun sometimes can be good for home defense I do not recommend it because buckshot does not always kill the person that you are shooting at and the worst thing that can happen is to shoot someone who is illegally in your home and not kill them. Unfortunately they can sue you for everything that you own. This is why most firearms safety courses and Ohio's Concealed Carry Weapons License course strongly state that if you don't intend to take someone's life and be prepared to deal with those consequences then do not carry a firearm. Now for the biggest reason I had to chime in with my two cents on thisa thread, bama also stated " I don't know about handguns but I'd get a .357 Magnum, It's a proven manstopper". This is total bull****! There is NO SUCH THING AS A MANSOPPER HANDGUN! No matter what size handgun you are shooting, if you shoot someone they can still fire a gun or lunge towards you with a knife\weapon. It's a natural impulse that even if shot in the heart that for about 3 seconds the human body's reflex actions were still work. So if they are already pulling the trigger or moving towards you they can still injure you. The only place that you can shoot a person and get the nerve impulses to immediately stop is in the "t-zone of the face" which is right between the eyes and between the tip and bridge of the nose. An Ohio SWAT officer that taught my CCW course informed us that this was to damage the frontal lobe af the brain which would sever all nervous impulses instantaneously. If you want my serious opinion, start with a .22 caliber handgun, which I know all of these so-called gun enthusiasts will say "that's just a starter pistol" and "You can't kill any one with a .22" and that's bull. More gun related deaths are caused in the U.S. every year by .22's than any other firearm. I recommend it because if you've never fired a gun they are very easy to controll and to hit what you are aimming at. the ammo is also very cheap so that it doesn;t cost a fortune to practice at the range. The problem with .357's , .45's and other large caliber guns is that most people cannot fire them accurately on a rnge because of the recoil, let alon e in a home defense situation. Do you really want to miss and possibly hit a family member because someone told you to get a high caliber gun that you can't control ? Probably not! If you feel comfortable with a .22 you can always move up to something like a 9mm or a .380 relatively in expensively later on down the road but always shoot and practice with what YOU are capable of handling not what status item high caliber weapon that someone says will do more damage than another. Hopefully this info helps you out some .

[QUOTE=clone1219] bama also stated " I don't know about handguns [/QUOTE]


Just curious- when did I say that?

I respectfully disagree with about 90% of what clone1219 has said.

I made the suggestion of a revolver over a semi-automatic for simplicity of operation. Because of what has been said about "Large caliber guns that you can't control," I think I'd better offer one caveat.- When you use a revolver, you will feel more recoil, and experience more muzzle rise than with a semi-auto. The reason is because a semi-auto uses part of the energy from firing to cycle the next shot into the chamber. That's one of the reasons that I prefer semi-automatics over revolvers. Also, while the statement that the larger the caliber, the more difficult it is to control IS true, the practical truth is that until you get into monster loads, (such as the S&W .500 Magnum) control is pretty easy to gail with practice. My 5' tall wife's hands barely fit one of my .45s, yet she can fire and control it just fine.

"move up to a 9mm?" You'd be better off staying with the .22. The FBI used to use 9mm. In 1986, the FBI had a shootout in Miami with two robbery suspects- One of the suspects, Michael Platt, had been hit 12 times with 9mm shots before he went down, and stopped shooting at agents. The other suspect, William Matix, was hit 6 times before he wnet down and stopped firing. (they hit 7 agents, killed two and paralyzed a third) That, and the ballistic data on the 9mm (overpenetration) are my reasons for saying NOT to go with it.

If the 12 gauge is so bad, I wonder why almost every cop car has one.


Diesel, you've gotten some food for thought from this thread, I'm sure. And since you're now getting some differing opinions, it's time for you to trade up on your information source. It's time to get an expert's opinion. Massad Ayoob is a former police officer, police trainer, and is now involved in writing about,teaching self defense shooting to private citizens. He is widely regarded as the top expert in the subject. I've read a lot of his articles, and I can tell you that he won't lead you astray. Google him- Several of his articles are available online, and you may even want to order his book.

And for the record, I'm not a "so called gun enthusiast," I'm not even a gun enthusiast. I am a shooting enthusiast. Trust me, there is a difference.

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