Skip the MK23 if you don’t have guns to begin with. I could write out a several paragraphs on why, but please just take my advice. Honestly, goes for all I’ve written below. Time is getting urgent, don’t dive into the deep end of online gun arguments, the point is to get out and get good at shooting.

For pistols, get something that’s proven and has common parts and aftermarket, and get it in 9mm, don’t worry about other calibers till you know your shit. Striker fired is fine, don’t sweat the tactical and technical stuff from gun-tubers.

If you like Glocks, skip them and get a Glock clone, namely the Ruger RXM. It’s cheaper, often more reliable, more comfortable to shoot, shoots better, and has the modifications you’re going to want to make already standard. It takes magazines from the most commonly used pistols in the world that are very cheap and reliable. Other excellent options: Smith & Wesson (S&W): Shield Plus, or M&P 2.0. If your strapped for cash, get the first generation Shield, their very cheap now days. CZ: P-10c, spring for the compensated version if you got the coin. Beretta: APX A1 Compact Sig: P365 (pretty bad company, but the gun works).

A lot of states have a purchase permit law for handguns, check your local laws.

Long guns - AR-15, specifically in 5.56 NATO with a 16" barrel. Under 16 inch barrel and it’s more time and paperwork and learning the laws, and it’s a really great barrel length that can be effective 500 yards and beyond if you’re well trained.

A couple features to get:

• A free float handguard (easy to tell the difference, if it doesn’t have an italicized A looking part towards the front of the barrel, then you’re good.
• A phosphate coated bolt, it should be a dull charcoal black/grey with a somewhat rough texture.
• Purchase a Primary Arms SLx prism scope. 1x magnification if you don’t see yourself shooting beyond 100 yards, 3x magnificationif you do. Prism scopes are pretty bomb proof and still work when the battery dies.

Quick and easy selection: S&W or Ruger, Palmetto State Armory if you feel like rolling the dice on everything being in spec, but either way go out to a range and start shooting it right away to see if everything works as it should. If not, most companies will repair it free of charge if it hasn’t been clearly abused. Yes, you can ship guns in the mail, they only need to go to an FFL when it’s transferring ownership.

Shotgun: Should be lower priority than the two above. Grab whatever used Mossberg 500 series 12 gauge that your local gun dealer has on the shelf. If they’re out, order one or a Maverick 88 if you’re on a tight budget. Load it with #4 buck shot for home defense.

Ammunition: it’s expensive, which sucks, but stick with these basic rules:

• Buy factory made, new, brass cases ammo.
• If it has a bunch of bang wiz tech advertised on the box, it’s probably bullshit.
• “Defense” branded rounds look better to a jury if you ever have to shoot someone and you get prosecuted. “Hunting” or “military” rounds do not. This is more expensive ammo but it’s more effective for defense. Shoot some to make sure it works in your gun, use cheap stuff for training and target practice.
• TEST DIFFERENT TYPES OF AMMO! Some guns are picky and can jam and or be really inaccurate with certain rounds.
• Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) are usually your practice type round. It’s lead with a copper jacket around it. THESE TYPES OF ROUNDS WILL GO THOUGH WALLS AND OTHER THINGS EASILY, so you really don’t want to be using them in a defense situation because it can hit and kill people behind your target. Hence, load defensive rounds if you expect you’ll have to shoot in self-defense. Think about who’s on the other side of walls in your home, you won’t want to shoot in those directions in general.

Quick and easy specific round types and brands: 9mm:

• For practice: 115 or 125 grain (grain is the weight of a bullet) FMJ. Most brands are decent, PMC and Fiocchi are my usual preferred.
• For defense: 124, 135, or 147 grain hollow point defensive. I like Hornady Critical Defense, Speer Gold Dot and Federal HST are also popular favorites. 5.56mm: 5.56 NATO guns can also shoot .223 Remington, but .223 guns are likely to eventually blow up if you shoot 5.56 through them; 5.56 has more pressure.
• For practice: 62 grain M855 or 55 grain M193 (sometimes branded “XM193”), pretty much any brand, see what shoots better in your rifle. PMC brand 55 grain .223 and M855 are my usual go to.
• For defense: Hornady Critical Defense 73 grain .223, Barnes VOR-TX 70 Grain, Fort Scott Munitions TUI any grain solid copper spun (SCS) are my picks.

To augment and train, .22 caliber all the way. .22 caliber is cheap, and gets you out training more. Get a cheap pistol, most are decent, to practice fundamentals. Hot take, but a shitty .22 is better to train with because you WANT IT TO JAM. It helps you to drill diagnosing and clearing guns. CMMG makes a universal conversion kit for shooting .22 out of an AR. They’re the same width bullets, just way less power. It’s stupid easy to install, just a drop in part and special magazines that come with it. You can get them starting at $150.

Alternative training without ammo - Mantis X. It clips on to most guns and the app guides you on fundamentals using dry fire. When you do dry fire, get yourself some snap caps (dummy rounds), it’s better for the mechanical components.

Learn and drill how to field strip your weapons, get some Cleanzoil CLP for cleaning, and a basic cleaning kit. Learn the wear points and where carbon accumulates.

Lastly, get together with like minded people to train together and develop community defense plans.

A couple of really helpful YouTube channels: Tacticool Girlfriend - a fellow trans girl gun nut. Her vids will teach you all you need to know of how to get set up. Honest Outlaw - least chud coded gun reviewer. Lots of budget gun reviews. In Range TV - progressive gun tuber Lots of others out there, you’ll see it in your recommendations.

Everyone else is posting good advice so I’ll just share a fun anecdote from my hunter/firearm safety course. We were practicing different carries for shotguns (empty in classroom), and the instructor called for my attention. I turned to address them and in doing so swept the gun at everyone in class. Oops! I became the “bad example” for everyone in class. Treat every gun like it’s loaded, always be aware of your target and what’s behind it, only point your gun at something you intend to shoot, and always maintain trigger discipline.

And another story - always seat the rifle/shotgun butt fully against your shoulder! We were shooting clays, and the guy next to me shot a 10ga with the butt a few inches from his shoulder - I just remember him having a very sore shoulder after that.

I used to fuck around and target shoot from Nordic skis a decent amount with a .22 and that was a good lesson in learning to still your breathing and steady your sights. I think training under duress like that is good for handling.

Also - just stay safe. Keep it locked up when not using it, treat it loaded at all times, and remember it is a literal last resort. But guns aren’t going anywhere in the US, so it’s very important to learn to use them safely and understand the gravity around their use.

Good on you for trying to do your due diligence.

To quote my mom when my dad wanted to buy another pistol - “if you’re so concerned about a home invasion, why don’t you start by locking the doors?” Ideally one will never fire their weapon outside of the range (ie in defense), and should ensure every other safeguard is in place before deferring to a firearm.

I’d love to collect what folks put here and add to this: https://hexbear.net/post/7372157

Additional notes regarding ballistics and combat.

We were trained in the military to do “failure to stop” drills. Two to the chest, one to the pelvic area. The idea is that the adrenaline of an enemy combatant can keep them upright and attacking with holes in their chest, so shattering the pelvis drops the attacker because they cannot mechanically stand.

This has further application in military combat where attackers can be wearing armor plates covering their chest and vitals. 9mm is useless against all common armor, including soft armor - but abs are squishy and don’t protect the pelvis. It’s also a bigger target than the head; and you will not shoot well in combat. It also somewhat incapacitates them from pain and a wounded combatant also requires further man power to extract them.

5.56 NATO will go right through soft armor and specific ammo will overcome some hard plates. The major factor of overcoming hard armor is velocity, 3000fps is the magic number. The longer the barrel the higher the velocity, lighter bullets will also go faster, but will transfer less energy into the target.

In combat there’s no time to calculate this out, so again shooting the pelvis allows you more time to align a kill shot if necessary. This is because the combatant will not be able to line up an accurate shot of return fire before you.

Either way, taking a hit to a hard plate with a low power 9mm will ruin your day, you will be in a lot of pain, much more so with 5.56. There’s also all kinds of calibers and situations where a round won’t overcome a plate, but it can still be fatal. The energy transfer can stop the heart and cause tissue damage. In short, body armor is not an invincibility cheat… And it is heavy and cumbersome. There’s a reason US forces have lost to insurgent forces that rarely wear armor.

Conversely, a lot of single pistol caliber hits are survived. So professional trainers for concealed carry encourage essentially mag dumping into center mass to “stop the threat” (legal phrasing is key in self defense shootings).

Pistols also require more training, they are harder to shoot, you’re not John Wick, that level is legit expensive to train to that level. The next best thing is shooting competitions.

Another note on war fighting: typically the force that gets the most rounds down range are the ones that win, so keep in mind the largest caliber is not something you should be seeking out.

Also, get a good tourniquet and take a stop the bleed course.

Edit: Maiming people is not ethical or good. Nothing in a war is good, it’s fucking hell. Avoid it if you can.

General advice for the newly armed:

-New shooters beware the carry gun. It’s common knowledge that small bullet means less recoil, but often overlooked that small, light gun means more recoil. The nastiest recoil I’ve ever felt from a handgun was from my aunt’s aluminum frame snubnose .38, a fanny pack camping gun designed to be used at very short range. On the other hand, I have a full-size steel .45 that’s actually quite comfortable to shoot, because the kick of the larger bullet is canceled out by the heftier gun. When considering any gun, feel the weight of the gun and then feel the weight of the bullet, and then consider Newton’s laws. Lighter weapon doesn’t always equal more comfort.

-If you have the funds for it, getting a .22 in addition to your serious piece can save a beginner a lot of money in the long run on training and drilling fundamentals.

-If possible, go to an indoor range and rent a variety of handguns until you figure out the kind of weight, style and caliber that feels best for you. Modern polymer handguns are great for a lot of people, but I can’t hit shit with them because they’re too light. On the other hand, I find myself more accurate with an “obsolete” steel frame. Your preferences may vary, so at least hold a bunch of guns at the store before you choose one.

-Once you’ve been to the range a number of times, see about signing up for a competition. Winning or losing doesn’t matter: the goal is to get used to shooting under pressure.

-Get comfortable with your weapon. Close the blinds and walk around your home with it, paying constant attention to the direction of the muzzle. When you turn with it, it should be pointed down. Play with it, rack it, get some snap caps and dry fire it. Doing all this will help loosen up the action and break it in.

-If you can spend the extra 20$ or so, I highly recommend a laser cartridge. I never shut up about them and while they’re not perfect (they produce no recoil and you have to cock it every shot) they’re an excellent way to train first shot accuracy on the cheap in the comfort of home.

-I have almost no knowledge of armor, so can provide no advice there

-If you anticipate a need to carry ammo for any reason, get a chest rig. If you lack money and/or aren’t sure what to get, get a Type 81 “Chicom” rig from ebay. They’re light, solidly built, easy to customize and cost $20-$30. It can be worn by itself or over armor if you get some later.

Gonna add more in a bit

Yet another tip - get electronic hearing protection. Do not buy Axil brand.

There’s no “license” to own a gun. Most New England states don’t even require a concealed carry permit, they have constitutional carry

I’d recommend a striker fired polymer pistol in 9mm, like an S&W M&P 2.0, a Glock, CZ P-10 C, Walther PDP. HK MK23 isn’t striker fired, is in .45, and I doubt it’s very cheap.

You get better at shooting by going to the range a lot. Take classes at first, then start going to the range on your own.

Get medical training before you start shooting, though. Take stop the bleed, get an IFAK with a tourniquet. You should be able to plug holes before you can make holes, or you might accidentally kill someone.

Once you crack the seal with “that pistol [you] have always thought was so cool looking” you WILL end up with more.

Bump

What’s the minimum and maximum range I can fire an RPG?

Dear FBI: This is obviously a joke post.

Do you have a local SRA chapter?