I am wanting to get a hand gun. What do I need to do? What are the requirements? What kind of hand gun should I get? I am a 40 year old woman. What would be the best? 

A small to medium size 9MM semi automatic. Go to Academy and see which one fits your hand the best. The Taurus 9mm or .40 cal is a reasonably priced option. 

Will you change your name to bang40? 

I carry a Sig Sauer .380 (sometimes my .22 LR) ...its easy to conceal, very smooth. Emperor is right, see how difference weapons fit your hand. Might even go to a gun range and ask to try out different guns. Just remember, don't let anyone tell you what to get. Get what you are comfortable with.

Also, take a gun safety course, go to the range and practice, practice, practice. You have to have your LTC before you can legally carry. 

I alternate my EDC (every day carry) between my Ruger LC9 and the 9MM Beretta PX4 Storm-sub compact.

The Ruger conceals nicely compared to the Beretta, but the long trigger pull on the Ruger leaves a lot to be desired.

I agree with EoK and SwimSwim ... Buy the 9MM and go to a range that rents pistols and find one that you're comfortable with before making a purchase. 

I alternate my EDC (every day carry) between my Ruger LC9 and the 9MM Beretta PX4 Storm-sub compact.

The Ruger conceals nicely compared to the Beretta, but the long trigger pull on the Ruger leaves a lot to be desired.

I agree with EoK and SwimSwim ... Buy the 9MM and go to a range that rents pistols and find one that you're comfortable with before making a purchase.?

I would definitely suggest she start with a .22 (if she has NEVER shot a gun) just to get a feel for shooting in general...a 9MM might be a bit intimidating at first 

Thank you. I will print off this topic and try the examples you've given me. 

I'd suggest a trip to Carter's County. 

I am wanting to get a hand gun. What do I need to do? What are the requirements? What kind of hand gun should I get? I am a 40 year old woman. What would be the best?

Why? What do you want the gun for? What you want the gun for would make a difference on what gun to get. 

Why? What do you want the gun for?

Why do you have to question someone's rights?

They want a gun. 

[i]Why do you have to question someone's rights?[/





removed and iced 

Why? What do you want the gun for?

Why do you have to question someone's rights?

They want a gun.

I wasn't - not sure how anyone could answer her question without asking what she wanted the gun for. To me it matters.

If her main concern was home protection I would tell her to get a shot gun.

If it was to carry for personal protection, I normally would suggest a revolver. I prefer the reliability, can leave a chamber blank for safety and easily get to loaded chamber. And it is rare in personal defense scenarios that you need the capacity of a semi- auto pistol. I like that there is nothing to do with a revolver than pull the trigger, when under pressure easier is better, and the heavy trigger pull can avoid mistakes under pressure as well.

If someone asked me my recommendation of a table saw, my first question would be what to you want it for ???

How can you recommend a tool, without knowing what the tool is for ??? 

if you've never shot before I recommend you try shooting a gun first. This may not be something you want to dive into until you feel comfortable with it first.

Carters Country and that little indoor range on 1960 will let you rent one and buy a box of bullets. 

The Taurus 9mm or .40 cal

Taurus has a class action law suit against them where some automatic models fire when dropped or just by shaking them, Google it the video's are quite scary 

Smith & Wesson M&P Shield in 9mm is a great carry/self defense semi auto. My daughter carries a Ruger ultralight .38 Special revolver. That's a great first gun. Very light weight and compact. Just point and shoot. No magazines or possible failure to fire/eject issues.

Best advice on here is go to Carter's Country and talk to the experts while looking over the inventory and using their range. 

Here are a couple things to think about:

1) a .22 is not a realistic gun for conceal carry.

2) Getting a conceal carry with a revolver, though nice for conceal carry, will limit you to only having a license to carry a revolver. If you get a conceal carry with a semi-auto you will be able to carry a revolver or a semi-auto.

3) Learn to carry on your person, not in your purse. If your purse gets snatched, not only will the criminal have your home address and keys, they will have your gun too.

4) Always carry locked and loaded. If you're not going to carry one in the chamber you shouldn't even bother carrying. Guns don't automatically go off. Get some training and don't be afraid of your gun. If you wince when you pull the trigger you don't need to be carrying a gun.

5) It's irresponsible to leave a gun in your vehicle that is not locked up in some sort of a safe box. That doesn't mean a locked glove box. If you plan to leave your vehicle for a long period of time and you cannot carry your gun, leave it at home...locked up.

Just some friendly advise. 

For beginners, get a revolver, like a Smith and Wesson .38 Special.

No slide to rack. No magazines to mess with. Just point and shoot. 

PS, buy a gun you will carry every day. If it is uncomfortable to carry it you will end up not carrying it at all. 

I suggest the Ruger LCR(a revolver) in .38 Special. 

I've got a Ruger .357 revolver and while it is a little heavy for some, I've been acquainted with weapons since I was about 6yrs old, so it doesn't bother me.

I think a .22 for beginners would be about right until you are comfortable with handling a pistol. JMHO 

I would say about the opposite of most posters here.

I say never start with a gun that has a barrel shorter than 4 inches and for god's sake DO NOT buy anything chambered in .40 caliber.

I love .40. I have four different pistols chambered in .40. BUT it is a TERRIBLE round for beginners. You will absolutely hate it.

As far as revolvers go...my opinion is that revolvers are and have been obsolete since 1911. Nothing more than a dinosaur. TERRIBLE trigger pull that will surely cause you to miss your mark, terrible capacity, terribly slow to reload should you have to. The ONLY advantage to a revolver is that it won't jam. But if you purchase a quality semi-automatic firearm it won't jam either. Once again, this is just my opinion and we all know what they say about opinions.

I have YET to experience a single jam or failure to feed/failure to extract in ANY of my semi-automatic pistols with one exception being my Smith & Wesson Sigma which is a total piece of crap.

I would say to go for a full sized pistol. A Smith & Wesson M&P or something similar. They are simple to shoot, simple to operate and extremely reliable.

When choosing your first firearm I would recommend to stay so far away from any compact models and I would DEFINITELY stick to picking a 9mm.

Also, Taurus is complete junk. Stay away. 

2) Getting a conceal carry with a revolver, though nice for conceal carry, will limit you to only having a license to carry a revolver. If you get a conceal carry with a semi-auto you will be able to carry a revolver or a semi-auto


That is no longer the case. That restriction was lifted a couple years ago. Now if you pass, you pass and can carry whatever you'd like. 

2) Getting a conceal carry with a revolver, though nice for conceal carry, will limit you to only having a license to carry a revolver. If you get a conceal carry with a semi-auto you will be able to carry a revolver or a semi-auto


That is no longer the case. That restriction was lifted a couple years ago. Now if you pass, you pass and can carry whatever you'd like.?

Thank you for clarifying that. I was pretty sure it was incorrect, but wasn't 100% 

Anyone that has never handled a weapon before, needs to become comfortable with a weapon before they make choices of a long term gun. Start with something comfortable then go from there. 

you might look at Gander Mountain- better selection- 

The trouble with Gander is everything is $100 more than anywhere else. 

I bought both of my pistols at The Sportsman's Outlet at FM1960 and the HWY 59 bypass and paid between $75 and $100 less than Carter's Country and Gander Mountain.

Plus, The Sportsman's Outlet has a very nice indoor range.

Carter's Country is way over rated ... 

Bought the wife a Sig P938 9mm for Christmas. Great little gun for carry and enough to stop an intruder. A .22 or even a 380 may not stop a bad guy.

Not much recoil with the Sig. Been to the range a few times and still some work to do but she can rack the slide and easily handle the weapon. 

but she can rack the slide and easily handle the weapon.

That's what counts. Learning to NOT being afraid of a weapon is the biggest hurdle for some. 

Learning to NOT being afraid of a weapon is the biggest hurdle for some.?

The thing I see in people most is recoil anticipation or flinching. Even with people who have used firearms quite a bit in their lives.

I know and shoot with plenty of veterans that still can't precisely place a shot with a handgun because they flinch in anticipation of the weapon's recoil.

Then if you add a stiff trigger-pull to the mix you've got a bad situation.

Make it even worse if you're using a high-pressure, snappy round like a .40 caliber.

I say the BEST handgun for a beginner is going to be a 9mm with a decent safety option and four inch barrel that feels good in the shooter's hand. 

Defcon - back to my first question, what do you want the gun for. If you want to be a proficient shooter, and put in the range time, and get a kick out of tight groupings, Go for a good 9mm.

But if you are not experienced, and don't have hours to spend at the range, go for the revolver. The vast majority of self defense shootings are inside 10 ft, and many inside 5, And the vast majority are 2 of 3 shots. 

I want to be a ballerina, but that's not a good idea either. 

Tony Horror is correct, try various ones out at the range to see which you are comfortable with. Most ranges have ones you can rent? to try out and are usually very helpful with newbies... 

There's a lot of good advice on this thread and the advice to try multiple weapons is good. But in my opinion, Defcon is spot on.

I would also add that a good semi-automatic will only jam due to user error - poor technique. But the jam is temporary. Tap, roll, rack, and go. The clearing technique can be executed in less than a second.

Federal law enforcement agencies do a lot of testing with handguns to ensure they identify weapons that the average shooter can be quickly trained to use proficiently, with other considerations being stopping power, and being easy to maintain. This is why the Glock .40 is the preferred issued weapon. Defcon recommended to stay away from that caliber and here's why he's right. Research shows that stopping power only works when you hit the target with a well placed round. Since a .40 caliber creates more recoil, subsequent shots can be less accurate. So you'll likely see law enforcement agencies trending back to 9mm to ensure more accuracy on subsequent shots, since assailants cannot be reliably stopped with one or two shots on target.

This above explanation is another reason why a revolver should be avoided. Yes, it's true that most self defense shootings are short distances, but the heavier trigger pull will increase the odds of delayed, less accurate shots.

For these reasons, my recommendation is a 9mm Glock. It comes in different sizes to try. I've had a 9mm Glock since my first job out of college and carried it until I was issued a .40 cal in '98. I train with only one and stick with it because you should want the moment you need to use it to be exactly like you trained. 

I will relent to the experts, my experience in this is admittedly very old.

The last sidearm I carried was a S&W 9mm - 8 shot mag, and that was in the late 60's - ely 70's in a land far away. 

I'm with AMDG here. I love my Glocks and they are reliable, but the fact is that on numerous occasions, I've handed a Glock 19 or 17 to people who will jam it everytime due to limp-wristing it. Then, they had a problem racking the slide (or became dangerous with the gun while they struggled with the slide (pointing it in every direction) while trying to rack it) or loading ammo into the magazine.

For an inexperienced shooter, a revolver is the way to go... Easy to use, easy to load, reliable.

I say revolver until you can practice with someone experienced in a semi-auto. 

For an inexperienced shooter, a revolver is the way to go... Easy to use, easy to load, reliable.

I disagree. A newcomer is going to hate shooting a revolver, therefore likely will never practice with it. If you don't like shooting it you're not going to practice with it. That just is what it is.

A revolver is only going to delay you coming into the modern world of firearms and leave you with bad habits once you finally decide to switch.

I've got a thing against revolvers, though. I honestly see them as nothing more than an antique. Something neat to experience the past as a hobbyist.

I would never even consider carrying a revolver over one of my semi-automatic pistols for defense purposes.

That's just me, though. Personal preference. 

You want a revolver. It won't jam.

Bottom line.

Remember not to be breathing when you squeeze the trigger. Aim for center mass, no head shots. Always leave the last bullet left until you confirm target is disabled. 

This is not the place for this question. The better question would be who do I need to consult about what type of handgun would suit me.
Go to Sportsman's Outlet in Humble, TX. They are also a training facility for cops, so you could even talk to several officers. Those people would go one on one with you, probably let you try a few of their rentals out, and give you realistic answers that you can bet your life on. Some businesses just want to make a sale, and some want to give you the CHL course where you just watch their DVD's and they take your money. If you have to deploy a weapon, you're whole life changes and your fate is in the balance, as well as any family members you are protecting. ALso, Texas Law Shield covers criminally and in civil court in case you get prosecuted or sued, for $13 dollars a month in my case. The extra $3 is for expert witnesses, which can cost more than a lawyer.
And ask alot of questions. If you live in an apartment and you have to shoot, will the bullet go through 3 walls and hit a baby in a crib? Gander mountain has a cool shooting simulator but I never tried it. I would imagine their instructors would be able to give excellent advice. 

I've been carrying one of these suckers for years. Barely cleaned it, shot terrible ammo in it, put thousands and thousands of rounds down range...not one single misfire, jam, failure to feed or failure to eject.

A revolver is a terrible idea for a new shooter. What's she gonna do when she spends her 5 rounds and misses, then can't reload the damn thing in time?

You couldn't pay me to rely on an old west relic to guard my life.