Demystifying Gun Shopping

Gals & Gun Shops: First Gun Buy

by Jennifer Kendall

When I visited the third shop I was pleasantly surprised at how much more relaxed I felt there after the shooting range experience. Here I was shown a Beretta 92FS for $649.99, a Springfield XD-9 for $499.99, and a Glock 17 for $609.99. All three of these guns are semi-automatics. After the last store suggested a revolver I decided to question why he suggested semi-automatics instead. His answer was that, “There is no reason for a pistol unless you want to throw it in a drawer and never use it.” He explained that as long as I was willing to take my new gun to the shooting range and get comfortable with it, he believed a semi-automatic weapon was a better choice. This salesman was the first to go through all the safety features and mechanics of each gun with me. At one point he mentioned that if I was willing to spend $800-$900, instead of $500, that a Sig Sauer, top of the line semi-automatic, would be a great gun for me. That’s when I realized that Roger at the first store had steered me towards more expensive guns than necessary. I left the third store feeling very well informed and even more relaxed about being around gun stores and guns in general.

Each store’s salesman referred me to a different type of gun.  Some preferred a revolver and some preferred a semi-automatic.  Each store was very different, but they all treated me with the utmost respect and kindness.  They all also agreed on one thing: once you decide on and purchase a firearm it is essential that you take it to a shooting range and get comfortable handling it.  The prejudices that I bought into were absolutely wrong.  As a young woman there are few stores that I have felt more at ease in then these gun stores, that is, once I got used to the amount of weapons surrounding me.

I checked out one last gun store and again was greeted with a smile.  Here, the salesman went very in depth about each guns safety features, shooting accuracy from various distances, and comfort of the grip and trigger in my hand.  The salesman was very enthusiastic about each guns capability and the different advantages they provide.  He suggested a Springfield XD .40 S&W for $485 because of the ability this gun has to shoot when it is pressed into an attacker’s body.  He also suggested a Smith & Wesson Lady Smith .38 spl +p for $526 and a Smith & Wesson Lady Smith .357 mag for $605.  He explained that because a revolver will never jam it is a good choice for protection. Before I left he said that, “Getting a firearm right now is very smart.” He explained that the government is going to make it increasingly harder to purchase ammunition.

Story continued Here.

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