My personal views are expressed below. You, as I've stated through this page, need to decide for yourself what is necessary and what you feel is right for you. This is simply information to help you make an informed decision.
There are many reasons you would "need" a firearm. Firearm through this portion of the web page will refer to either a handgun, or a long gun (rifle/shotgun).
A firearm could serve as a food gathering tool should you find yourself needing to hunt for food for your family.
A firearm could be used as a tool of protection. Should things melt down to where chaos does end up being rampant, a firearm could protect your family, your posessions and your home from anyone who would try to invade and harm your family. As well as being used for protection against human intruders, it could also be used as protection against animals. If you choose to move to a rural area you have placed yourself into the situation of having wildlife around you. Wildlife is beautiful to view and have around. But depending on if there are any type of predatory animals in the area, or varmint ruining your garden or diggnig holes around your buildings (ground hogs). Should you have these types wildlife around you will eventually find a situation where a firearm would need to be used against one of these types of animals.
Finally, heaven forbid, if your freedom is challenged. If the government or foreign terrorists come to remove your freedom, or to cause harm to you the firearm could also be used.
LET ME CLARIFY ONE POINT.... A firearm is not the FIRST rule when trying to end a confrontation, whether it be animal or human. A firearm should be one of the last options you need to consider. BUT, should the situation arise where there is no option other than to use a firearm, I'd much rather have one and find out I didn't need to use it, instead of needing to use one and find out I didn't have one.
There are basically 3 types of firearms, with sub-classes below each of those. You have a handgun, a rifle, and a shotgun.
The handgun, depending on what type you have, can serve almost all the purposes as described above. You have to be more proficient at using a handgun to make it effective.
You can hunt with a handgun, you're limited to the size of the animal by the caliber that your handgun chambers. You can use a handgun for personal protection. This is the main idea behind the handgun. It is made to be a close quarters weapon, once again it can be used for longer distances depending on the set up of the handgun.
Basically what you're going to have to ask yourself when looking to purchase a handgun is; What am I going to use it for, which gun seems to fit my hands better, and what is the largest caliber I can handle without having the gun be uncontrollable.
WHAT WILL YOU USE THE GUN FOR. If you're going to use it for hunting then my suggestion is that you'd get a single action revolver or double action. Depending on the size of the game you'll be hunting for you'll want to get anything from a .22lr caliber pistol up to a .44Magnum. Remembering that a handgun can be used for both hunting and personal protection, you may be able to cover both bases with one handgun.
If you're going to hunt only small game, rabbits, ground hog, squirrel, birds, etc, then I'd suggest getting a .22lr. This is a great round for small game. It will terminate the animal without too much damage to the meat. The downfall to a .22lr is that it is not very effective as a protection weapon. It will work, but very inefficiently.
If you're going to look to hunt larger game than previously mentioned you'll want to check into at least a .357Magnum or larger. I've used a .357Magnum to hunt whitetail deer. My pistol was a double action Smith & Wesson 686 with a 8 3/8" barrel. I knew, through practicing with over 500 rounds a weekend, that I could place the bullet exactly where I wanted out to 100 yards. Using the right bullet I could take a deer using the .357Magnum. Let me say though that a .44Magnum is a much better, more efficient, round for hunting the medium to larger game. Both the .357Magnum and the .44Magnum would make good personal protection weapons also.
Handguns as personal / property protection is the other main use of a handgun.
In choosing a handgun for use as a personal protection firearm you'll need to answer 2 questions. The first being, what is the largest caliber I can effectively control and handle. The second one being the most important. Which firearm fits my grip the best. What you want to check when you hold a handgun is if you grab the handgun, placing your finger along the slide / barrel, does your index finger naturally point straight in line with where the sights/barrel is pointing? If so then the gun had proper aim for your hand. Now you just need to decide if it fits well. You can alter it later with after market grips to fit more precisely.
If the handgun you're thinking of will be used primarily for personal / property protection you will have a wide variety of calibers to choose from. One of the most popular calibers today is the .40S&W (Smith & Wesson). It is a powerful cartridge yet is very managable. Personally I choose to carry a .45ACP. I am from the school of Bigger is Better.
Choosing whether to purchase a revolver or a semi-automatic pistol is another avenue of personal choice. There are many options to consider, you should find a good firearm dealer to ask their opinion and knowledge on functionality.
Please be patient, I ran out of time to finish this section. I will be updating and finishing this information soon. Please come back. Thanks.
