Just One Gun? Choose Wisely!

If I was limited to owning one firearm, it would not be a difficult decision to choose which one that would be. Don’t get me wrong, the decision would be agonizing in many ways because it would be a compromise no matter how you look at it! There is no perfect firearm for all roles and whichever one you decided upon would eventually show its shortcomings.

Thankfully, this is still America and the second amendment does not limit me to one firearm. None the less, due to current politics and the perpetual fear (and very real danger) of losing our second amendment rights through restrictive state or federal laws, many people have been purchasing their first firearm over the last five years. For some, if not many, that firearm may be the only firearm they ever intend to own so although seasoned shooters may scoff at the thought of owning only a single firearm, this is a very real predicament for many new buyers.

If your purchase is purpose driven, the choice may be mandated for you. Obviously, if you are going to buy a weapon for concealed carry, you are going to be looking at a handgun. If you are planning to start deer hunting, a high powered rifle will be in order assuming your state allows rifles for deer hunting of course.

I don’t think most of these recent buyers are purpose buyers though, I think they are arming themselves for a number of other reasons. They are concerned they may lose the ability to purchase a firearm in the future and/or they are concerned about the direction of both the economy and an ever encroaching government who appears to be bent on protecting the elite and to big to fail corporations over their own citizens.

These people are buying firearms for two reasons… for personal protection and to put meat on the table if necessary. Unfortunately, I see many of these people buying the wrong firearms for this purpose and although any weapon is better than no weapon, some are certainly better than others for fulfilling this role!

Probably the most common firearms being purchased by these people are handguns and assault rifles. Both of these are legitimate choices –if- you already have a good multipurpose weapon but they are poor choices if it is going to be your one and only firearm.

A handgun in my not so humble opinion is one step up from a good knife. Its only legitimate use (short of target practice and shooting for fun) is for concealed carry or as a secondary weapon in case your primary weapon fails or runs out of ammo. Ask an experienced law enforcement officer or other professional what a handgun is best used for and they will tell you it is for fighting your way to a long gun!

An assault rifle is a much better choice than a handgun but it still lacks some utility and has a few disadvantages. Although it is an excellent combat weapon at any reasonable range, it also has over penetration issues if you are in a home defense scenario. Additionally, it may be a fine deer rifle but taking small game at close range can be challenging since your proper sight zero is between 50 and 100 yards. You had better be able to make a headshot on a rabbit, squirrel or duck because hitting them anywhere else with an assault rifle is going to leave very little usable meat for your dinner. Another disadvantage currently is ammunition availability, it is scarce and expensive. Considering you are probably a little late in the game already if you are just now purchasing your first firearm, I would not count on stocking up on a minimum amount of ammo at a reasonable price in the near future. That expensive assault rifle is just a useless hunk of metal without ammo.

So what do I personally think is the best choice if you must own a single weapon? Hands down, it is the 12 gauge, pump action shotgun!

There are many reasons for this choice and I will try to cover as many as I can. First of all…

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