The Gun Purchase is Only Step One

Working here at Boise Black Rifle, I have encountered a lot of people who come into the gun store looking to purchase their first gun for home or self-defense. While we are happy to help them choose the right gun for their needs, it is important to remember that the gun is only one part of the whole package. Having the tool is important, but more important is having the right accessories and skills to use it, and use it well, if and when the need arises. When you set out to buy that first gun, remember to include some of the following things in your budget.

In addition to the gun, you should expect to spend money on some other things as well. You are going to need ammunition for the gun, and not just one box. You will need both practice ammo, for training, and defensive ammo. You need to buy enough of the defensive ammo so that you can run a few magazines worth of it through your gun to make sure it feeds reliably as well, so don’t just buy one box and hope it will work when the time comes. That is just setting yourself up for failure.

If your new gun is a handgun, you are going to need a holster and if it is a long gun, you should consider a sling. In addition to how you will carry it, you need to consider where you are going to store it. Safes and lock boxes are an important part of gun ownership. That junky padlock that is included in the box with your new gun, the one the feds mandate be included with all new guns, is only intended to keep a young child from loading the gun and shooting it. I would not trust it to secure my lunch, let alone a firearm.

No matter what platform you decide on, you should consider putting a weapon mounted light on it, because a very high percentage of self-defense shootings occur at night or in hours of low light. If it is a handgun and you decided to add a light, you will need a holster that can accommodate the light as well, so bear that in mind as you start considering holsters.

Some handguns come with excellent sights on them, and some, like Glock, come with the bare minimum in terms of usefulness. Glock makes fantastic defensive/combat handguns, but their base sights they install on most guns are garbage. Depending on the gun you go with, you might really consider upgrading your sights. If you purchased a rifle, unless you bought a package that came all decked out, you are more than likely going to need to purchase some sort of sighting system. For a home defense long gun, that more often than not will be some sort of holographic or red dot optic.

In addition the ammo we mentioned earlier, you are going to need something to hold that ammo. Other than some 1911 pistols, most handguns come with two magazines, and some come with more. But most rifles and AR pistols only come with one magazine. You are going to need more, not just for having spares around the house, but for practice and training.

Lastly, and most importantly, is training. Just because you understand gun safety, can load and unload your gun safely, can hit a paper target on a static range with some consistency, that does not mean doodly squat when the excrement hits the oscillator. Fear, anger and adrenaline will destroy your ability to take those calm, aimed shots when that ability is needed most. Find a good trainer that is recommended by more than one person in the industry, and preferably someone who has been there and done that. People can talk about what it is like to have someone shooting at you, but unless you have been in that situation, you really do not know what it is like or how you and others might react when it happens for real.