So, I'm Going To Buy A Gun And I'm A N00b.

[Cowboy8467]

I'm surprised at some of the misinformation being put forth in this thread. To start with,

If you live in Virginia, just buy a used gun and you don't have to go through any background checks or paperwork, plus it's cheaper.

You are legaly allowed to open-carry without a permit, meaning gun must be in plain sight. To carry a concealed weapon, you need a permit.

You are not allowed to bring guns to anyplace alcohol is served.


For a first gun, just get a Glock.

This is not true. To begin with, you have always been allowed to open carry your gun into a bar if you desire. You are even permitted to legally drink in a bar while you are open-carrying, but it is up to the bar owners discretion if they want to serve you. You are not allowed to open carry while you are intoxicated.

Up until recently it was illegal to carry a concealed weapon into a bar, but the law was changed, and you can now carry a concealed handgun into a bar, but you are not allowed to drink.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/vir...pproves_b.html

As a Virginia resident, I can tell you that self defense is defined as when you have reasonable apprehension of serious bodily harm or death from a situation you did not start (for example a mugging or home invasion); you are not required to retreat and may stand your ground. There's also something called justifiable homicide where you may get into a yelling match with someone and then they bring out, say, a knife and you have, again, reasonable apprehension of serious bodily harm or death. At that point, you are required to retreat if possible and try to ease the situation. If you are unable to resolve the situation peacefully, then you can use deadly force and it would be considered justifiable homicide.

This isn't necessarily untrue, but I just want to point out that Virginia really has some pretty weak laws when it comes to self-defense. Virginia does not have a castle doctrine law, so the circumstances under which you can defend yourself versus when you have the duty to retreat are tricky.

I would highly recommend reading this brief .pdf put together by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, it has it outlined pretty well.

http://www.vcdl.org/pdf/Virginia-self-defense-cases.pdf

Also, the wikipedia article on Castle Doctrine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_...our-ground_Law

Finally, I have two Springfield Armory handguns at home, a subcompact 9mm XD and a full sized .45 XDM. Both of which are great guns, and the fact that they have both a trigger safety and a grip safety makes it very unlikely that it will accidentally go off when you don't want it to. My personal preference is with SA and I would highly recommend checking them out and shooting them at a range that lets you rent guns, like blue ridge arsenal.

Good luck!

[SWFLSkins]

yes you still have to aim, the pattern depends on the choke,but generally within 10 ft it is between a fist or spread hand size
most now have interchangeable chokes with modified or improved modified giving ya the best spread.

the stopping power on the other hand is like getting hit with a full clip from a nine

Stopping or tearing? Yikes just the thought of being hit with a shot gun blast after shooting them is scaring. I can imagine surviving a bullet wound, but how you going to survive a shot gun blast with all appendages in tact?

[twa]

yes you still have to aim, the pattern depends on the choke,but generally within 10 ft it is between a fist or spread hand size
most now have interchangeable chokes with modified or improved modified giving ya the best spread.

the stopping power on the other hand is like getting hit with a full clip from a nine

[SWFLSkins]

double post?

[Cept One]

Man your spot on, and I want that pistol as my next gun. Already have the Mossberg. How much should that pistol go for?

Between $500-600

[No_Pressure]

The EAA Witness is a clone of the CZ 75 series of pistols. I have a CZ 75 P-01 and love it. Ergonomics are fantastic, great balance, extremely reliable. I highly recommend it

Yes! God I was trying to remember what the hell it had an exact similarity to. One of my brothers friends has a CZ and we fired it with the Witness and they were pretty much the same gun. I also fired a Beretta that a friend of mine had and it felt like I was firing the Witness. I love those guns, they're great hand guns they feel so damn balanced in your hands.

[ardowling]

XDM .45 3.8 inch, 9 rounds with the carry magazine, 12 rounds with the full size magazine. $686 plus tax.

[frostyj]

Some great advise in here.
When I was looking into getting a hand gun I was leaning towards a Glock with all that I have read on them. I went to the range and rented a Glock 9mm, .40 and a .45. I had also shot my friends .45 was a S&W think. I liked the Glock .40 the best, it just felt better when shooting. I have shot a Beretta 9mm. I read an article about the Walther P99 series. Rented it in a .40 and fell in love with it. To me it was more comfortable than anything I had shot before. What ever you choose you really can't go wrong, just be sure to handle and shoot each pistol that you are interested in.

[twa]

XDM .45 3.8 inch, 9 rounds with the carry magazine, 12 rounds with the full size magazine. $686 plus tax.

sweet...but does it have a safety

[ardowling]

sweet...but does it have a safety

It actually has three, the grip safety (so you can't pull a Plexico), the same style trigger safety that Glocks have, and the most important one....the safety between the shooters ears

[Hubbs]

Okay, I know people mentioned a couple ranges already, but just to see what else anyone feels like throwing out there, I currently live in Alexandria. I'd like to find a range where I can rent some guns, where there are some staff who could offer some of their own advice, within reasonable driving distance. Oh, and if they happen to be kind to your wallet, that's always good, too.

[Jumbo]

People should really stop quoting pics in this thread and violating r11 since many are being banned for a week for doing so (read the rule, and we've run numerous sticky threads and made many many in thread warning---like this one).

[frostyj]

Okay, I know people mentioned a couple ranges already, but just to see what else anyone feels like throwing out there, I currently live in Alexandria. I'd like to find a range where I can rent some guns, where there are some staff who could offer some of their own advice, within reasonable driving distance. Oh, and if they happen to be kind to your wallet, that's always good, too.

Blue Ridge Arsenal Chantilly near the Costco. Rentals, great staff.

Clark Brothers Warrenton - Not sure about rentals, outdoor.

NRA HQ Fairfax - No rental, open to non NRA members

Those are three that I know of.

[Stophovr6]

I have a question about sighting. I went shooting with my friend tonight. We rented a Glock 34 and shot about 50 a piece. My friend shoots with both eyes open but I can't put together a target picture with both my eyes open. I can only shoot with my right eye open. Is this normal? Can most people shoot with both eyes open?

[Skinz4Life12]

Hubbs, check out sharpshooters in lorton. It should be pretty close to you. I'll post my opinion on the gun you should get when I'm not on my ipad