Now that I've outed myself as truly uneducated in the niceties of handguns, I should be safe from foot in mouth disease, right?

OK, here's where I'm at:
I have a couple friends with Carry permits and have been shooting a few times. I think fireatms must be the most addictive thing I've ever experienced. But, I have no real prctical experience.

I've never (yet) purchased a handgun. I've never (yet) purchased ammunition outside of a range. So, to say I have a few questions would be an understatement.

1) Education...
I need to learn to care for whatever gun I buy. How should I go about that?

I'm considering a Carry class but for my immediate needs (read: a handgun fix ) it's not strictly necessary

What should I buy (I know, here comes the flood... ). I SHOULD buy a revolver. the logical side of me points that direction... but I think I've fallen for a XD something

2) The gun itself
What is the ettiquette at a gun shop? How do I not come off as a complete asshat know nothing?

Try before you buy? how does that work? or does it exist? I'd hate to pay $15 a gun for the 6 or so guns I'd like to try. (Spring shooter's show is soon, but come on, we're talkign a couple weeks here ...

What do I need to to purchase a handgun?

3) what are the things I left out?

You'll get lots of different answers to your questions. Here are mine.

Any new handgun will come with instructions on how to field strip it for cleaning. Most gun shop employees have their own prejudices as to what to use on a gun to clean/lubricate it. Most of those prejudices are fairly valid.

Not much to disassaembling a revolver. If it's a double action all you do is open the cylinder to clean. If it's a single action, it's easy to remove the cylinder. But when you say revolver, most people think double action anyhow.

Semi-autos can be everything from stone cold simple to an exercise in frustration to field strip. Glocks are about as easy to field strip for cleaning as you'll find. Don't know about XD9/XDwhatever from Springfield Armory.

Do some research. What I found helpful when I bought my first handgun was to go in with a couple things in mind. It's OK to be new--at least at some of the gun shops I have gone to. Tell them what you want it for and what your ideas are. But it really helps if you do know some gun nomenclature so you can understand the language.

What do you need to purchase a handgun--besides money? A permit to opurchase, for which you can apply at your local PD.

If you find that Bill's rents guns you're thinking of, I would go in and rent the one you're most attracted to and put some rounds through it. Does it point at the target almost instinctively? Do the controls seem to be where your fingers can reach them easily? How's the recoil? And yes, how does it look to you? If it's a 1911-type, do you get hammer bite? I think I've rented 4 guns at Bill's and used one from a representative at the last shooter's show. Of the four I've rented, I bought one. I also bought a model I used at last spring shooter's show.

Others will have other viewpoints. There is no one answer that fits everyone, which is why there are so many different kinds of guns out there.

The internet has lots of information. Even if it's not for your gun, you can still pick up good tips.


If you take a class that offers Utah with it, part of their requirements is that the teacher teach you a little cleaning.


You buy whatever you want! There are benefits to revolvers, there are benefits to semi-autos. Pick out something you like and ask us about it.


No offense to anyone here that works at a gun shop. Gun shop workers don't have a great reputation for knowing what they are talking about. With that said, what I do is listen to whatever they say (ask questions like I'm stupid) and then compare that to what people on the internet say. Ask them anything you want, appear stupid, who cares. But, just remember that what they say isn't gospel.


1. Go get your purchase permit. Go to your police chief right now. Stop reading this and GO!
2. Wait until the shooter's show, it is the absolute best thing you can do when you are looking to try a bunch of guns and narrow down your descision. A couple of weeks is nothing, when it saves you from buying a gun you don't actually like.


A purchase permit, or permit to carry.
Of course you cannot be a felon.
Money.


I don't know... ha

I plan on being at the shooter's show trying things out. I can certainly help you out if you'd like.

You know - being honest about your lack of knowledge is one of the most important things. There's far too much bravado, head-nodding, and pretending in this arena (guilty as charged )



There's a bunch of instructors on this forum who are better qualified than me to answer those questions.



The common knowledge answer is buy a revolver first. But, my first gun was an XD and the first time I shot it was to qualify for my carry permit. I still don't own revolver. XD's are quite easy to maintain.



There's a number of gun shop owners/employees on this board who can answer that question better than I also. Maybe one of them would make an appointment to see you? My first thought is to avoid going in to ask a bunch of questions anytime on the weekend, and try to go during the day when it's not busy.



1. Shoot friend's guns
2. Take a buddy a split the rental fees
3. Sit tight until the shooter's show
4. I don't recommend asking other people at the range to shoot their guns. The proper etiquette is to admire their guns and hope they ask you if you want to try it out, then offer to pay for the ammo and/or offer to let them shoot yours.
5. I think Bill's will rebate you the rental fee if you buy the same model gun you rented



Either a permit to purchase: http://www.dps.state.mn.us/bca/Forms/Do ... ansfer.pdf
which you turn in to your local city police or a permit to carry.



Hang out here for a while and learn a bunch. This is a pretty active forum with some good folks with good advice.

I'd also like to recommend The Guns and Ammo discussion forums, but I'm fabulously peeved at them right now for running some very intrusive pop-up ads on their site.

Yup, it can be a test of patience to wait two weeks when you catch the gun bug.

Others answered a lot of your questions very well. I'll run through a little also.

1) I have never taken the basic handgun familiarization course at Bill's, but you might want to try that. They will introduce you to guns, their care, proper handling, and shooting. There are a lot of very good instructors on this site as well that may be able to help you out with that.

What should you buy? You should buy whatever you feel comfortable and confident with that fits your budget. There is no "perfect" gun. Revolvers are excellent, simple to operate, highly accurate if they're maintained, and classy guns. XD's are also excellent, very reliable, durable, and I think reasonably accurate guns. Depends a little on what you want the gun for. Target, carry, hunting, etc.

I would recommend you go to a gun shop, try handling a variety of guns. Prior to buying my first defensive pistol, I handled every single gun practical for defensive use on the wall of a local sporting goods store. I then went to a Bills Shooters Show and shot several of them. 3 months later, I made a purchase that I absolutely do not regret. (Kahr P9) It stunk waiting in the meantime, but I couldn't afford it, and we weren't sure if the new carry law would pass. Anyway, a good patient salesman will explain to you some of the characteristics of the guns, probably tell you their bias (everyone has them) and explain why, and let you handle the guns. I would definitely recommend shooting what you're considering buying. Handling them first does decrease extra ammunition and rental expenses in guns you don't like in the first place, though.

2) Umm, etiquette in a gun shop. Hmm. Same as a bike shop if you're new to quality bicycles. They'll be polite. Don't point a gun, loaded or unloaded, at me or anyone else. Yeah, I think that's about it.

I don't know about other places, but Bills discounts the price of your rentals, I think with a limit, from a gun purchase. I'm not sure though. You should ask them. When you're out on the range, often other shooters are happy to have you try their guns out a little(if you pay for the ammunition).

To purchase a handgun you need money and a permit to purchase a handgun from your police department, or a permit to carry.

Lots of options -- use several. It'll be covered in general in an NRA Basic Pistol class, and in the owner's manual, among other places.Your call, of course -- but you won't be wrong in starting off with a revolver, IMHO. If you hang out at the range, you'll end up being offered the chance to try a few, more'n likely. Bring along a cute female friend, and it becomes more than more'n likely.Money, a lack of felony convictions, proper MN ID, and a purchase permit -- obtained at your local PD -- or a carry permit.

There are numerous NRA instructors on this Forum (me too!) and I would suggest the NRA First Steps or NRA Basic Pistol Class. They normally are fairly inexpensive and do offer lots of hands-on work.

Like I said, the intellectual side of me knows that if I end up deciding to Carry a revolver may be in my future. The pocket carry option seems particularly attractive to me from the printing and access standpoint.

Since my current budget calls for only one gun, and I'm smitten with semi's at the moment, I guess I have to feed my craving.

I should have put in a section on safties for Semi-Auto's too. Part of me wants Grip and / or Trigger safeties like the XD's have, but part of me wants the standard Safety that I've seen on my buddy's Browning Hi-Power so that if someone were being stupid and picked the gun up and pulled the trigger, it wouldn't fire until they intentionally took the extra step uf disengaging the safety. I guess it's a balance of vigilance vs. preparedness.

Thanks for all the responses so far. I've been lurking here for a few days and have found this to be a pretty knowledgable and civil bunch.

Come by the shop here and I will take time out to sit down with you and talk about everthing you what to know and can show you many things like guns ammo etc.....

Safeties- The trigger safety on Glocks and XD's are a feel good measure for anti-gunners. They do nothing. If something were to pull the trigger, it would end up pulling the safety also.

The grip safeties are ok. I shot a XD, the grip safety wasn't even an issue. They did that right.

I don't have a safety on my CZ. The trigger pull is tough enough to where I could just drop it in my pocket without worry.

In most cases, it looks like it would. Looking at their literature, the purpose is snags and / or unfirm grips. So, it wouldn't handle the kid who picked it up correctly and pulled the trigger but would prevent snags and other accidental trigger pulls without a full grip.

Thinking about it, it is more feel good than useful..

The only "real" safety on a Glock is the brains of the user. As can be seen from some videos, there are folks using Glocks I wouldn't trust to use a ballpoint pen.

Nope. Safety, as it is often said, is between the ears, not on the gun. No lever will keep bad things from happening -- that's up to you.

If you are leaving a loaded gun where someone unauthorized could pick it up, YOU are violating a vital safety rule: KEEP GUNS SO THEY ARE INACCESSIBLE TO UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS.

My very first gun shop purchase was a semi-auto, a cleaning kit and a small gun safe. Don't buy a gun before you have a plan to secure it.



Pick the right shop, and it'll be okay that you don't know anything. Just be honest about that, and you should get plenty of help.

My advice: Take up LastGunShop on his offer and drop by. He might not be pretty, but he sure knows guns.

If you're on the west side of town, Frontiersman (South side of Louisiana exit of 394) also treats newbies very well.

Also remember that a lot of gun folks -- particularly gun shop folk -- will state rumor, opinion, prejudice and legend as if it was fact. (One gun shop owner was convinced that CZs were the cat's pajamas and Glocks were garbage. His shop has since closed. Hmmm....) Take everything with a grain of salt and get lots of opinions before making a decision.

As for etiquette: Ask permission before dry-firing. Don't point a gun at anything but the floor. Check that every gun is unloaded, even after watching the gun salesman do it.



Here's a radical notion: Consider a used .22 target pistol (semi or revolver). No big bang, no real recoil, but really cheap to buy, cheaper still to shoot, and you can work on shooting fundamentals while you wait for the chance to pick the right larger-caliber gun.

plblark- Great way to start. When it comes to weapons and safety you can never ask enough questions or learn too much....even the pros "forget" on occasion....me included.

1) Get you papers, either a permit to purchase or CCW. (memorize the 3/4 safety rules - then memorize them again)

2) Go see lastgunshop (repeat to him the safety rules...twice)

3) Purchase a weapon, any weapon...it doesn't matter which one you start off with as you will buy, sell, trade, borrow many-many others. Follow the discussions and you will see many - well when it's raining I carry my xxxx,, but when it's winter I carry my xxxx, etc.....etc....etc......

4) Come to the next Defensive shoot (Wed, 22-march, meet lots of great people, see lots of "guns", and repeat the safety rules to everyone new that you meet)

...and if you don't want to do all that then I suggest you join the Army or whatever.... they will teach you and give you one to shoot for free.....

This is my rifle
there are many like it
but this one is mine.........

good luck, be safe, and have fun....>!

With not even a quater inch on either side of the trigger safety, there is little protection against snags. Is 5% of protection worth the illusion of 50%?

I think if I were to buy a Glock (which I would like at least 1), I would look into replacing the trigger or removing the so-called safety.