Witnessed a first-time handgun buyer today

[lepmik]

Thought I'd share this because it was interesting to me...

I was browsing in a large gun store today (I think it's a chain) when I guy I presume to be in his early 20's walked up to the counter. The guys working there were very friendly and helpful, so they soon asked if they could help him. He said he wanted to buy his first handgun, but he wasn't sure what he wanted. I was lusting after some rimfire pistols next to where he was standing, so I listened in.

First he said he was interested in a Kimber. So far so good I guess. The clerk showed him the two they had in stock, but the guy quickly decided that was way more than he wanted to spend. Apparently he didn't realize the cost before he asked. The clerk kinda took charge after that, showing him some more affordable guns-- Glocks, XD's, S&W's, etc. The guy said he thought he wanted either a 9mm or a .40, but he wasn't sure. "How much do rounds cost in each caliber? How many do you get in a box? Is it legal to take this home in my car if I don't have a permit?" One could tell by his questions that he wasn't quite sure what he was getting into.

He looked at several guns, and handled a S&W Sigma a couple times, after the clerk ushered him away from the Hi-Points (disclaimer-- no offense to hi-point fans ) I could just feel it in the air that this guy had no idea what to buy, but he must have felt like he was obligated to buy something right then. He ended up getting a Sigma, not sure if it was the 9 or .40, but I did hear him asking the clerk about the capacity of each. I did not act on my urge to say to the guy, "Are you sure you want to buy that? (not d/t it being a Sigma, but d/t him being so unsure of any purchase) It just seemed like such an impulse buy.

I'm not much older than this guy, and I have a LOT to learn about firearms. However, by the time I bought my first handgun (CZ P-01), I knew a whole lot of information about it and comparable handguns. I waited until I positively knew what I wanted. A good friend of mine helped teach me about guns, and I also learned a great deal from THR and other gun forums.

Not much point to this post I guess, except to say thanks for any information I got directly or indirectly from any of you. Who helped you along when you were getting started?

 

[Kaylee]

Who helped you along when you were getting started?

The most help? Cumudgeonly old men.

Cumudgeonly old men with loooots of range or benchwork time. Lots of knowledege in those years, and they'll share it if you ask nice enough.

The second-most help? These forums. TFL and THR particularly. The nice thing is that even if a BS answer comes along, enough experienced folk will promptly (usually) correct it.

Neat story.. always awkward walking into a whole new world.

-K

 

[History Prof]

Well, I'm one of those guys who learned from Dad and older brothers. First pistol I purchased was an impulse buy, but I knew what I was getting. 'Bout the time I was 21, I was just hanging out at my favorite army surplus store (guy had an FFL, but didn't stock more than 2 or 3 guns at a time). He had taken this pistol in trade for some surplus stuff, and I was the first customer in the store after the trade and had some $ to spend that day. I already had access to several of my dad's. I often tell people that when I was in High School, I had access to more firepower than any school shooter (including the Columbine kids) and I never once went off the deep end. The guns didn't make them do it......

My favorite was my dad's "Flint Crippler" (Ruger .44Mag Carbine).

 

[Zedicus]

Hopefully I will be getting one myself soon.
although in my case it will be a well thought out and researched purchase.

Pistol wise, first I plan to get a Para-Ord 14-45 1911, for the second I am debating between a .475 Wildey & a S&W 500 mag.
(debating because I like the S&W 500 Mag, but don't care for the MFR)

 

[statelineblues]

I've seen this same thing happen many times when I've been haunting the gun counter. Good job on the clerk's part to steer him to more affordable guns, but I probably would have struck up a conversation with the kid (I'm nosey!) to find out his experience with guns and what he was interested in doing; target, home defense, just a new toy (these are the ones that worry me), and maybe steer him toward something closer to his interest.
Also, if he didn't sound too sure of what he wanted or about the guns themselves, I would have suggested he attend an NRA basic handgun course, because it would give him more information to use when making that purchase. I understand that in some states they are required before you can buy a handgun. And it's better than blindly buying something that you may or may not like down the road.

 

[Zedicus]

We have a place in Boise that you can rent Pistols and try them at an indoor range, works well as a "Try-Before You Buy" system.

 

[Ryder]

Who helped you along when you were getting started?

Nobody. There was no internet back then. The focus of training was on how to shoot, not what kind of gun or caliber to use.

My first - I heard this guy I knew of wanted to sell a pistol. I talked to him, it was for sale, and he was willing to sell it to me. I bought it. Nothing complicated. It was a S&W Model 19 357 Combat Magnum with a 4 inch barrel that had been worked on by the head of a military pistol marksmanship team. Great gun, a single shot was always enough.

There are some guns I won't personally own but I'd probably take a Sigma if someone was handing them out for free.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

My two cents

I hope that this guy did not buy a 40 caliber. Since he is a total newbie with no experience with handguns, the first round he lights off with that 40 is gonna kick his butt. He would be much better off getting a Ruger 22, practicing and getting comfortable with that, then perhaps going to a 9mm. To just dive right into the 40 with no pistol experience = big mistake. He'll develop a bad flinch which will be hard to get rid of.

 

[Geronimo45]

Prices. I was debating whether to get a CZ 75 of some sort or a Beretta 9mm. The CZ was gone by the time I was ready to buy - the only one left was in the used collection (don't want a junk gun for a first hangun). So I went with a gun that was pretty cheap - the GI45. I'd read up on it, and it sounded good. It was good. Still is.

I always suggest you study up on the gun you're wanting. This was one of the places I looked for. Sites like this have people that use the guns in question for more than the average review for a gun magazine.

 

[bogie]

Campers, if you are witness to this sorta thing...

"Dude, if I could be of assistance? You're shopping for your first portable boomstick? And you're sorta familiar with the genre?"

"What are you lookin' to do with it? (various answers will elicit various replies, ranging from "buy this Ruger MarkIIV.XIVCM.5 for plinking" to "Dude, you can't hunt bear in Canada with a handgun."

Let's assume that he replies that he wishes to protect his family and himself from bad guys. Fine motive.

What he wants in a handgun is ERGONOMICS. Any doofus can use sights. You can take all day, line 'em up, and start yanking. Whoopee. But if the gun FITS him, to where when he lifts it up, and opens his eyes he's seeing the target past the correctly aligned sights, well, his entire shooting world is gonna be changed.

 

[Majic]

Who helped you along when you were getting started?

The same grouchy ol farts who taught me all about shooting..........bless their hearts.

 

[Legionnaire]

Who helped you along when you were getting started?

My father-in-law introduced me to hunting, and he and my wife bought me my first firearm: Mossberg 500. After that, it was mostly my own research. I subscribed to several gun magazines (until I realized I wasn't learning anything any more), read lots of books, asked anybody who knew anything lots of questions. I did a lot of research before buying my first handgun, and I still have it, and am very happy with it. Same thing with my second. After that, I have done some impulse buys, kept some, and sold some. But those I have researched to fill a particular need tend to stick around.

 

[Bubbles]

I took an NRA Basic Pistol course before I purchased my first firearm. Best $60 I ever spent.

Having worked on the other side of the counter, I can tell you that seeing complete noobs in the shop is very common. I remember at one gun show a couple came up to the table and asked to look at the Kimbers. I pulled one out of the case (our guns were in glass cases to help stop grab-n-run thieves), locked back the slide, and handed it over muzzle-down. Guy takes it gingerly and it's obvious he has no clue how it works. In chatting he mentions that neither he nor his wife have ever shot a pistol before. I take the gun back, point him to a table where a local NRA-certified instructor was advertising his classes, and suggest they get some training first.

They came back to us at the next show and thanked me. IIRC he bought a Sig, she got a Glock.

 

[neoncowboy]

To just dive right into the 40 with no pistol experience = big mistake. He'll develop a bad flinch which will be hard to get rid of.

My first handgun was a .45. I bought it and immediately started shooting IPSC with it. IPSC was how I learned to handle the gun.

I don't (and never did) have a flinch.

 

[skipjack]

Sounds like the salesman did a good job.

Pointing a customer out of the store to get training sounds great on the internet,but that is not a salesman's job. Asking the right questions to ascertain a client's needs and then trying your best to fulfill them is,however.

I wouldn't be too pleased if another customer interjected himself into a sales situation. I don't sell guns for a living, but do and have made my living in sales all my adult life. I also teach hunter education and archery. It is an infrequent occurence when one of the local "experts" puts their two cents in and improves the student's learning experience.

I'm not trying to step on any toes, but that has been my experience. Now, if the sales clerk is being a butthead, all bets are off!

 

[Sean Dempsey]

I bought my first handgun just a month or 2 ago, I didn't know anything... I walked in, saw the XD Subcompact with the XML light on it, and just bought it because the light looked cool.

Luckily, the XD series of guns has become my favorite gun so far and I've learned a ton about handguns since. But still, I just wanted a gun and that one looked cool.

Oh, and I think the salesman said some magazine gave it "gun of the year" last year.

 

[AirForceShooter]

For some the learning curve can be very expensive.

AFS

 

[david_the_greek]

had been around top quality guns since litte (sig, BHP, kimber) so I wanted something fancy shmancy as soon as I could. Well being that I bought my first pistol at 18 I couldn't walk myself into a store and pick what I wanted. The High Road however helped me greatly because I searched and searched for a BPH and read aton about different types of pistols. well I couldn't find a 9mm browning but I did find a cz PCR located in my state. So I went with my "second" choice and couldn't be happier. Hell of apistol and I saved some cash. Thank You The High Road

 

[highlander 5]

I've been there done that except it was the sales clerk and noob I helped. Noob picked a Ruger P series 9mm good choice inexspensive reliable and decently accurate. ask sales clerk how does it take down sales clerk spent 5 -10 min he's up a tree with no way down. I politely stuck my nose in and showed them how to take said pistol a part. BTW this is the only thing I dislike on the Ruger P series I have this picture of the slide slaming foward on my finger and dancing around room screaming deleted exlitives tring to get it off.
Anyway both clerk and noob were very thankful and I went on my merry way figuring I done my good deed for the day

 

[SRYnidan]

This brings back memories.
My Father was a part time gunsmith, hunter, and fisherman all the years I was growing up at home (fulltime RADAR crew chief for the Air Force). I grew up around guns but not handguns. The only pistol in the house was a Colt vest pocket .25 that belonged to my maternal grandfather.

I joined the Air Force in 1979 and upon arrival at my first duty station (Omaha NE ) was initiated by five homicides in one week in August (this wouldn’t phase me today but I had grew up in northern Montana and this was more than the Annual average. The military was obviously well on its way to adopting a new sidearm in 9mm so I called my father for a recommendation. There was no hesitation, get Browning High Power. Some of the best advice I have ever received, 27 years later I own four. Rather I have one customized by Cylinder & Slide (old friends from my years in Omaha) that my wife lets me shoot when I can pry it away from her. One each for my two sons and the one I am trying, without much success, to convince my wife to use so that I can get mine back.

I went in well advised and left well armed. I frequently carry a Glock because it is rugged and just a tool but the guns I love to shoot are my GP35's.

 

[JoeHatley]

Who helped you along when you were getting started?

No one. Lots of trial and error, and expensive mistakes where my introduction to shooting sports.

After a few decades... I've started to figure out a few things...

Joe

 

[Baba Louie]

Grew up around guns and gunny type males (Marines and Cop Uncles, Dad was a gunsmith/machinist) shooting 45 auto's, 9mm Lugers and .38/.357 revolvers.
First handgun purchase(s) when away and on my own was a Ruger MkII followed immediately (one month later) by a Colt Gov't 1911, followed by (yet one month later again), a Dan Wesson 15-2.
Knew what I wanted, knew how to handle them, got to try my hand at haggling (all were NIB so no go there).

 

[Zero_DgZ]

True to my usual form, I obsessively researched the options available before I bought my first handgun (I do the same with computer parts, cars, knives, tools...) and I think when I finally went to buy it I knew more about it than the clerk at the gun store did!

Then came the impulse purchases later. "Ooh, that looks neat, I'll buy it."

 

[SOG/MACV]

I guess that this topic is appropriate for my first post. My father was a 32 year LEO aand every year since I was 10 or so, he would take me out to the local range for his qualifications plus I got my first intro into the world of the handgun and a lever action remington. After I went in the service, I got the priviledge of using a winchester SG and .45 springer as my main weapons for my two tours in SE Asia. In reflecting back, If it wasn't for my father teaching me the basics. I'm not sure how I would have reacted to being shot at by the NVA. I guess that those 7-8 years of training by him (he was a weapons instructor at the LEO academy) taught me a heck of a lot. Now I'm one of the old geezers passing my experience and knowledge onto my son-in-law who is headed to Kabul to work for a private security company.

 

[Cromlech]

To just dive right into the 40 with no pistol experience = big mistake. He'll develop a bad flinch which will be hard to get rid of.

My first handgun was a .45. I bought it and immediately started shooting IPSC with it. IPSC was how I learned to handle the gun.

I don't (and never did) have a flinch.

While I definitely don't have anywhere near the experience that most of you guys do here, the first ever handgun that I fired was a .357 Mag. The next day, I came back and tried the .44 Mag and .45ACP, both of which were fun. I would be lying if I said that the Magnum rounds weren't a handful, but they were rather pleasant, all things considered.

I do agree, however, that if he isn't expecting it, a decent power round in a polymer frame for a first gun could end in tears.