Ah yes………..the road less traveled. When it comes to buying your first handgun the road less traveled will yield the greatest results.
Have you ever been to a gun show? If so then you are familiar with the hustle and bustle. If you pay attention to the people you’ll learn a lot, especially about first time gun shoppers. They have lots of questions but can’t get the attention they need because the booth has few workers and some are temps for the weekend and aren’t all that knowledgeable.
Many first time buyers are accompanied by friends or spouses who have a gun. Everyone has good intentions but those intentions are not realized in many instances. Why? Oh, lots of reasons. Busy booth workers don’t have the time for all your questions. They have no idea what your objectives are for a gun purchase and they need to be selling what they stock. With this in mind, they are more than willing to guide you to what’s hot or what’s overstocked. Sorry!
Spouses sometimes have all the answers and are more than willing to guide you unintentionally to the wrong gun based on what they think you need. WOW! No wonder so many people end up buying the wrong handgun.
If you end up not liking your purchase you won’t practice with it. There’s no sense in that. And if you aren’t careful you may make the same mistake twice. How do I know this? Because I bought the wrong handgun twice.
A few years ago I found myself in need of personal protection in my profession as a jewelry appraiser. I carry around several cases of “stuff” that I use in my travels for appraisals. To the casual observer I look like a jewelry salesman going in and out of stores. The truth is all I have is a few pieces of testing equipment, laptop, and printer. The rest is gemology books. None of this is fencing material. Since bad guys think I’m someone I’m not, I ended up having several dicey experiences that caused me to consider personal protection.
I got advise from another appraiser in the business and at the next gun show I bought a Ruger 357 magnum. It was heavy, all steel and I soon found out that it not only kicked like a mule on steroids but weighed so much it was dragging my pants down and made me self conscious.
After a while I consulted with a personal friend who put me on a path to buy a small poly 32 caliber Kel-Tec that fit in any pocket and was undetectable. I sold the 357 at a loss and bought the poly pocket gun. It certainly was undetectable but at the range was not very effective. Shooting 100 rounds through this gun was not my idea of a swell time. I sold that also. So far I had bought $800 worth of guns and took a $275 loss on selling them. Not a great showing.
In looking at my situation I realized that with all my major purchases (except for these two handguns) I had done my due diligence………….with trucks, cars, computers, printers, lawn mowers, watches, etc. Why should handguns be any different? So I set myself on a path to find the right handgun for me. I spent much time studying handgun features, etc and then consulted with YouTube. After deciding on several handguns I went to an indoor range, rented these guns, and tried them out. Through this process I made a wise choice for me.
Having gained a lot of knowledge I now shortcut the process and help friends through their first handgun purchase. Each new venture has resulted in success. For me to personally spend the amount of time needed with each person I now charge $250. If you live in the Dallas Metroplex I’ll be glad to help you. The problem is I have a limited amount of time to walk people through the process. Also if your budget is $400-$500 you may not want to spend $250 on my services…..or maybe you would. Who knows?
Anyway, that caused me to design and create this website that emulates what I was doing personally. No, I didn’t pay someone. And since people are all different I have created three pathways. One for men, one for women, and one for seniors. Ladies, you’ll be glad to know most of your videos are made for women…..by women.
I have scoured the internet for good videos that will reinforce the process of buying your first handgun. The process is best followed in a serial fashion and that’s how the site is constructed. This is a membership site. Once you’re a member, just log in and you’ll be taken to a page that has all the menu items for your pathway.
I value you and your info, so I protect your information. I don’t sell, share or swap member info. And I detest when that happens to my info. Have fun, and if you follow your pathway and don’t stray or think you’ve got it figured out too soon…….. you will end up with 2-3 handguns that will be good choices for you.
Good hunting….so to speak,
Tom (TR) Ryan
