Buying Your Fist Firearm.
Determine the Use of Your Firearm
Try Out Several Guns Before You Buy
Start Training and Practicing Immediately
The advice to train, practice, and take classes came in a VERY close second. Some suggested training before purchasing a gun and a majority of those who gave this answer made a point to mention that knowing how to use your gun and shoot competently is the most important part of being a gun owner.
Know Your Local and State Gun Laws
There are (unfortunately) thousands and thousands of gun laws on the books across the country. Laws and policies restricting where or how you can carry your gun and what you’re allowed to own vary wildly from state to state, so in addition to knowing and understanding federal gun laws, it’s vitally important to study up on the laws in your immediate area.
Personal Defense Ammo
Selecting personal defense ammunition is a bit different.
With target ammunition, overpenetration, or going through the target is not an issue at most ranges.
If you are engaged in a personal defense situation, having your bullet go through your intended target and possibly striking an innocent bystander is not what you want to have happen.
Ammunition for your concealed carry firearm should be one that is intended for personal defense such as a cartridge with a hollow point bullet.
Hollow points are built to open as they enter or bloom as some people call it.
This slows the bullet down and decreases the chance of it passing completely through the intended target.
What is +P?
Once again, be sure to check your manual before using ammunition that has been designated as +P.
Some manufacturers advise against this kind of bullet. Ammunition with a +P or +P+ label on the box is an overpressured round also meant for personal defense.
The overpressure gives the bullet a higher velocity.
Before you fill your magazine with personal defense rounds, holster up and head out to conceal carry, make sure you have gone to range and run some of that personal defense ammunition through your firearm.
It is important to be able to depend on the ammunition that you have chosen for your concealed carry firearm.
In the heat of a situation is not when you want to learn that your firearm does not work with that ammunition.
It’s also a good idea to shoot your personal defense ammo through your concealed carry firearm on a regular basis, to get a feel for the increased recoil.
