The Glock will work fine, of course. A 12GA or 20GA would be better, if you don't plan to carry the pistol. Pistol is harder to hit with than a shotgun.

+1

Yeah, a short shotgun is ideal for many reasons.

+1. The Gander Mountain here has some nice 12- and 20-ga double-barrels with short barrels that would be tremendous for home defense - when I move out, I'm getting one for myself.

If you'd rather go pistol, see if there's any range nearby that will rent you the one you want to get. See how it feels, etc. before you buy. You may not even like firing a 9mm - I myself find the recoil to be too snappy and do much better with a lumbering .45. But you gotta shoot 'em before you know. Maybe try a 9mm, a .40 S+W and a .45 ACP. You might add to that a .357 SIG and a .45 GAP if you're so inclined. Plus some revolvers as well. I guess that's the long way of saying, try as many as you can before you buy. That way you know you have one that you're comfortable using and can fire accurately.

cool i didn't know i could rent a gun to test it out. who would i have to call or speak to? i don't know what all those abbreviations mean, could you please fill me in?? :rolleyes:

If your in a fairly large city, try to find a gun store that has an indoor shooting range. Or visit some local gun stores and ask around. Just say your looking to try some pistols out and ask if they know a place that rents them.

As for the abbreviations. Often times manufacturers will create cartridge's with more specific purposes. I.E. the .45 long colt, .45 auto, .45 gap etc. The .45 long colt is used in old western style revolvers and the case is quite long. The .45 auto is shorter and was popularized by the colt 1911 style automatic pistols. The .45 gap is a shortened .45 auto case, introduced by glock to allow for a smaller grip size and make it easy for people with small hands to use a .45 pistol.

If you can't find a place to rent a pistol, get yourself a 9mm glock 17,23,26(3 different sizes or a springfield xd9. Both good guns, easy to shoot, cheap bullets, adequate power. If you decide you want something better don't worry because you can sell or trade off what you have. Guns hold there value well if you properly care and maintain them.

My Dad's getting his CCW license pretty soon. We're looking into a Para compact .45 for him to carry. If I find a good .357, I may think about getting CCW, too.

Without going into a full list... S+W is Smith and Wesson, SIG is just short for arms company Sig Sauer, GAP stands for Glock Automatic Pistol. .45 ACP is Automatic Colt Pistol, and although this round is known by a lot of different names, it is most commonly referred to by the ACP abbreviation or .45 Auto[matic]. The numbers are basically bullet diameters; a .45 is nominally a .45" wide bullet, a .40 is a .4" wide bullet, and a 9mm is a 9mm wide bullet. Some of these designations are more accurate than others, however...

Another thing I'd advise: get a good .22 to practice with. It won't do much for teaching you to deal with recoil, but a good, accurate .22 will really help with your basic shooting form, build confidence, and ammo is SUPER cheap. Plus, it's fun! I practice with my Llama Comanche .22, 6" barrel all the time and it's an absolute blast while I get to practice a smooth trigger pull, stance, and grip.

thanks guys for the help! i think i might do some practicing this weekend?!

Ask the people in Briton that are now wanting to own guns again. Every week 5 to 10 people are shot to death yet they banned guns in the country back in 1995.
I would rather have the right to protect myself then wait for some bureaucrat decide how to protect me by banning guns. When the politicians give up their personal security details that you and me pay for then I'll talk to you about limiting firearm ownership.

The Court yesterday ruled that the Second Amendment goes beyond service in a militia. Very important decision for the rights of responsible citizens.
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