What prompted this article was all the lunatic, survivalist, gun nuts on youtube.
As ex military and having worked in several hot spots as a contractor, I can tell within 10 seconds
that most have no experience at all on the subjects of survival, Gray Man or guns in general.
What some are preaching is outright dangerous.
If you want to watch videos specifically about guns, I recommend
Paul Harrell or Hickok45

These are just my general thoughts on the subject and feel free to post comments
at the bottom of this page. Just keep it civil please.

1. Your best plan is to avoid using a gun in the first place.
It's much better to avoid ANY fight than get involved in one in the first place and a gun will
just take the fight to a whole new level. Remember when men used to settle things with fists?
The simple fact that you have a gun, might actually start the fight.

2. Pick a gun that actually works for you. Try out many. You'll know when one fits you.
Don't get too draw into calibers. The most important thing is having one you might actually use.
Having a .45 auto because you heard they are powerful won't do you much good
if you never use it, practice with it, or carry it because it's too heavy.
The fact is nobody wants to get shot with any caliber.

3. In the case of a hand gun, does it feel comfortable to hold? Can you carry it day to day with no effort?
I went through many hand guns until I found one that just felt like part of my hand.
I chose a Bersa Thunder .380 concealed carry. It just fits me and I practice with it.
Choose a hand gun that fits YOU.

4. Just my opinion but in the case of someone who doesn't shoot often and has no interest in concealed carry,
I recommend a simple revolver. Just a simple pull of the trigger is all it takes.
No messing with the slide, magazines, or "is there one in the chamber?". A revolver just works.
I keep one in my night stand just because it's always ready to go.

Regardless of which hand gun you choose, practice--practice--practice until it feels totally natural to shoot.

5. Rifles:
This one has so many variables it could go on for pages and still not cover it all.
There are some who claim a 12 guage pump shotgun is the ultimate home defense weapon.
Hard to argue with that. It's simple, cheap, easy to clean, and honestly you don't have to aim as accurately.
The sound of racking in a shell is a universally known "sound" and might stop someone on the spot.
We can thank the movies for that. Everyone knows that sound.

What a shotgun lacks is range. So if you plan to hunt game, this might not be the best choice or at least,
in addition, have a rifle more suited to long range shooting.
But keep this in mind. The vast majority of game is killed at less than a 100 yards.

6. Rifle Calibers:
Here the gun nuts go crazy in more ways than one.
They want something with a 300 yard range or more, for what? Survival or protection?
Do you really shoot at someone 300 yards away? At that range they can't be a real threat.
At that range, they probably don't know you're there so you're going to announce yourself to them?
Before the shot, you were unknown to them. Now they have to defend themselves. Talk about stupid moves.
Keep your caliber needs based on the 100 yard shot.
The reality is most people can't see clearly enough beyond 100 yards to know if there is really a threat.
At that range even pistol calibers are deadly to humans.

7. Pistol calibers do have one good advantage.
You only have to stock one type of ammunition.
A 9mm pistol cartridge will also work well in many 9mm carbines.
My personal favorite and one I've come to love is the Ruger® PC Carbine
Will take both Ruger and Glock mags and easily twists into 2 pieces for storage.

8. If where you live supports shooting game at long distances, or larger game in general,
by all means research more long range ammo and rifles.
Even the simple 30-30 is good for 200 yards and relatively cheap.
"I think the millions of deer taken with the .30-30 is sufficient evidence of the cartridge's adequacy at
dropping most medium-sized game."

9. In Closing:
Don't let all the hype about a specific caliber or gun overwhelm you.
Remember the Ruger Mini-14 is same caliber as the AR-15, it just doesn't look as cool.
Cool looking could even make you a target? Something to think about.
Purchase a gun that suits YOU and how you intend to use it and above all, PRACTICE.