How to pick the right handgun for you!

If you are thinking about buying a handgun, You'll quickly notice that there are lots of options to choose from. Not only are there different types of hand guns, revolvers and semi-auto for instance, but there are numerous calibers to choose from. Today, I am going to discuss how I choose a handgun for me. I am going to leave the debate of which type of handgun to get for another day. We will focus on semi-automatic handguns with a use for conceal carry for this discussion.

You need to ask yourself: what is the purpose of the handgun I am looking to buy? Is it going to be carried on your person every day? Is it going to be used for home protection? Will it be used solely for target shooting? Once this is determined it will help you decide what type of gun to start looking at.
Since we are discussing conceal carry firearms today, I recommend that you check out a smaller caliber handgun. A 9mm single stack (this refers to the way the bullets stack in the magazine, a double stack is wider and makes the handle a little wider and sacrifices size for more ammo whereas a single stack is thinner and sacrifices ammo capacity for size of the firearm.) pistol would be my personal preference.
My personal Favorites include the following because they are all relatively small firearms that are easily concealed and have a variety of holster options available.

I recommend going to your local gun range or gun store so that you can try out or handle several different guns to see how they feel in your hand. In Tulsa, we have several places that you can purchase firearms and several gun ranges you can try them out at. I personally like to go to Atwoods or Academy to handle the firearms.
- When handling the firearms, what you are looking for is how they fit your hand. You want a gun that you can hold comfortably and securely. For example, I have large hands so the Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 9mm I mentioned above does not work well for me as the handle is short with the standard magazine. However, it does come with an extended magazine which adds about an inch to the length of the handle and then it fits my hand comfortably and I can hold it well.
- My personal favorite out of the three I listed is the Ruger American 9mm compact. This gun comes with adjustable grips to allow it to be thicker or thinner to adjust for the person using it. It is also well balanced and feels very comfortable in my hand.
Once you have found a gun that feels good in your hand you want to shoot it and see how it handles for you. Everyone has different expectations when using a firearm. I am lucky enough to have a gun range in Tulsa that allows me to rent various guns and try them before I buy them. After putting about 25-50 rounds down range, you will know if that gun is the right fit for you.
At last, you have picked a gun, and you know its the right fit for you. From here the last step is to purchase the gun. This part can be tricky because not every place sells it for the same price. I recommend calling several different gun stores and find the best price for you. You might also check out some of the online gun stores as well since you can sometimes find a much better deal on the internet also. Keep in mind you will have to have it shipped to a FFL dealer that can do your background check and they usually charge a little for this as well.

Check out some of my other posts on the topic guns and keeping children safe around guns.