You’ve made the decision to join the gun owner community. Welcome! Now comes the first of many, many decisions. What kind of gun should you buy as your first firearm? The options can be daunting, but don’t stress about it! There are no real wrong decisions here if you get something you want, so it’s really just about figuring out what’s best for you and your needs. We’re here to help! One thing to remember is that just because you decide on a first gun, it doesn’t mean you can’t purchase additional firearms now or down the road. So, don’t feel like that first purchase needs to somehow check every box of how you might want to make use of your firearm.
That is actually a great place to start, to help you decide which firearm to purchase. What is the main purpose for the firearm? There are plenty of reasons you might want to own one and while most firearms can be used in a variety of ways, not every weapon is good for every use. So, here’s a very partial list of reasons you might be looking at buying a firearm.
- Self-Defense: This is among the most common reasons people decide to purchase a gun. Whether you live in an area where you or your family might be at risk or you just want to have a firearm at home in case the worst case scenario happens (something like a home invasion). A wide range of firearms can be effective for home defense: handguns, shotguns, and rifles.
- Concealed Carry: Many states allow people to carry a concealed weapon (typically with a permit but some states don’t require them). This is really just a specific type of self-defense, but worth separating, since it calls for a specific type of firearm that you can easily carry in a concealed manner. Only a subset (although a large subset) of handguns are truly designed with concealed carry in mind. So, that’s the place to start looking, if concealed carry is your main purpose.
- Hunting: Hunting is a great hobby and popular throughout the U.S. Unless you are a bowhunter (which is also an amazing sport!) you’ll want a firearm to take up hunting as a new pastime. This would most likely be a rifle or shotgun, depending on what you plan to hunt.
- Target Shooting: Taking your gun to a range and shooting targets can be a lot of fun. There are also plenty of competitive options where you can not only have the fun of shooting, but also competing against other shooters. A wide range of firearms can fit this category, from pistols to long guns.
- Just Because: Really, you don’t need a special reason other than you want to own a firearm. In this case, it’s really entirely up to you what kind of firearm you would like to own.
Firearms come in many shapes and sizes, but we can start breaking them down a bit based on your likely usage plans. For the purposes of keeping this article length shorter than a novel, we’re going to focus on the most common reason that people buy their first firearm: self-defense. We’ll split it up by Home Defense vs. Concealed Carry, since the options change depending on which of those two is your focus.
Home Defense Options
When it comes to home defense, you will get a lot of different opinions on which firearm should be your go-to option. Let’s consider some potential choices.
Shotgun
There’s a saying that a homeowner racking a shotgun will terrify any home invader into running away. But does it? It certainly lets that intruder know where you happen to be, which may or may not be a great idea. That aside, a shotgun certainly offers some distinct advantages. It packs a serious punch and depending on what type of ammunition you are shooting, it may require less accuracy than a handgun or rifle. That can be a good or bad thing in a deadly force situation like a home invasion.
Pros
- Versatility in types of ammunition that can be tailored to your living situation (shared walls, etc.). You can use ammunition that is designed not to penetrate through walls, if that is a concern.
- Fairly easy to use, without extensive training. Especially at close range, shotguns really are more point and shoot and don’t require a lot of training, except for dealing with recoil.
- Reliable. Shotgun designs are well-established and generally reliable.
- Relatively inexpensive. You can buy a high-quality shotgun from one of the major manufacturers for less than many handguns.
Cons
- Limited ammunition capacity before reloading is required. Most shotguns can only hold a few shells at a time (usually in the 4-6 range).
- A lot of recoil for smaller homeowners to handle. While shotguns may be easy to aim and hit your target at relatively close range, the recoil requires some strength in order to get back on target for any follow up shots.
- Slower to load than a semi-automatic handgun, if it isn’t already loaded when stored. If you have to load your shotgun, for most models, it’s one shell at a time. That can take up valuable time in an emergency where seconds count.
- Safe storage may not be easily accessible. There are some handy desktop storage vaults for a handgun that keep it secure and can be right next to your bed. But, a shotgun generally needs to be stored in a safe, if truly safe storage is your goal. You might have a gun safe next to your bed, but chances are it will be somewhere else.
Rifle
The Rifle category includes a wide range of options, from bolt-action hunting rifles to high-capacity AR-15s or even Pistol Caliber Carbines. A typical bolt-action hunting rifle probably isn’t your best bet for home defense, but the other options are more than viable.
Pros
- High magazine capacity. Unless you have restrictions in your state on rifle magazine capacity, you can likely count on 20+ rounds in your magazine.
- Wide variety of ammunition, with a lot of power. Rifle ammunition is generally sterner stuff than most pistol calibers. So, you get a lot of stopping power.
- Highly flexible for multiple home defense scenarios. You can have an AR-15 with an attached light and red dot, along with other accessories that make it extremely easy to aim and fire in a home defense scenario.
Cons
- Over-penetration of various ammunition options. This can be a real issue in an apartment or other shared wall situation where you don’t want rounds to go through into the next room.
- Safe storage may not be easily accessible. Rifles have the same storage challenges as shotguns.
- Rifles can be challenging to fire accurately in a pressure situation. While generally easy to shoot, rifles are inherently a bit more complex than a handgun, which can be fired one-handed if needed. So, at a minimum, practice is needed, and training is even better, to effectively use a rifle in a home defense situation.
Handguns
For many people, a semi-automatic handgun is the quintessential home defense gun. There are so many options on the market that you’re almost guaranteed to find more than a few (probably a lot more) that meet your home defense needs and are comfortable for you to shoot.
Pros
- High magazine capacity. As long as it’s legal in your state, you can find handguns with 15-20 round magazines fairly easily. Even in states with restrictions, a 10-round magazine is likely to be available.
- Easy access to safe storage options. There are numerous desktop gun vaults that can sit on a desk or nightstand, not stand out, and are incredibly easy to open with one hand in an emergency.
- Very quick to deploy. Unlike a rifle or shotgun, you can simply grab a handgun with one hand and get it on target, if you have a round in the chamber. There is no faster firearm to get on target and ready to fire.
- Wide range of ammunition options. You have a large range of calibers and then choices of power in each caliber. There are also rounds designed to not penetrate walls.
Cons
- Being accurate with a handgun, especially under stressful circumstances, takes practice and training.
- Some smaller caliber handguns may not be great home defense options. So, you should select your home defense pistol carefully.
Concealed Carry Options
If your goal is to find an effective ‘out of home’ self-defense option, a firearm designed for concealed carry is your go-to. Because of the concealed aspect of this use-case, you are really limited to handguns and most likely to weapons designed for concealed carry. Fortunately, there is an entire handgun industry specifically focused on this purpose and you will have plenty of very good options to consider.
Compact, Sub-Compact, and Micro Handguns
Pros
- Easy to carry comfortably, since it’s what these handguns are made for. There is also a range of sizes designed for concealed carry, making it likely you will find multiple options that are comfortable for you to carry.
- Newer concealed carry handgun models include compensators and larger capacity magazines, mitigating some of the common drawbacks of smaller pistols.
Cons
- Typically concealed carry weapons have lower capacity than a full-sized handgun.
- Smaller handguns tend to be flippy, with their lower overall size and mass, making them harder to shoot accurately, particularly on follow up shots.
- For people with larger hands, many of the handguns designed for concealed carry are too small to shoot comfortably.
Gun laws vary by state and change often. Check your local requirements before you buy or carry, and see our Disclaimer.