[Jeff Higgins]

I'll re-iterate my advice from the other thread refered to above: Buy a revolver. As a first gun, especially for some one new to guns, the simplicity cannot be beat. Your ability to operate whatever you choose, under a great deal of stress and maybe in the dark, is paramount. Unless you are an enthusiastic hobby level shooter, or some one that handles firearms a lot, an automatic can prove to be unworkable when you are threatened and very scared. Even profesionals such as police officers have found this to be true, especially in departments that tend to under-fund firearms training.

Don't get me wrong; I love automatics and own several. I shoot an awful lot - probably to excess in most folk's view - and find myself comfortable with just about any firearm you can put in front of me. I own far more of them than my wife even suspects (my sons have at least a fuzzy idea...) and can load up just about anything you can name for home defense. What do I choose, based upon a lifetime of familiarity, coupled with the luxury of choosing whatever I want from my collection? Revolvers. Simply put, if ever my family is on the line, I want myself or any one of them to be able to pick it up and make it go "bang" with no fuss or confusion. To me, that is the bottom line.