Priority one

     As I discussed in my last post my wife (we) decided our first priority is security, so I will first discuss how we began this to work on this step.  Remember every in self sustainability is an ongoing project that will require vigilance and adjustment as things change. 
     We already own a shot gun and .22 rifle both are 40 plus years old but the work as good as they did new.  They we given to me by my grandfather.  The said thing is I have to have them locked up in Virginia because Washington DC has strict gun laws making it difficult to have hunting and defense tools.  FYI you have to register Pepper Spray with the police department as well.  Since we are live on a tight budget we could not just go out and buy a small armory so we will have to buy guns one by one.
    I decided that we would start by getting us each a handgun.  The main reason I went with a handgun first is a simple reason and a reason any of us who are married understand.  We went with a handgun because that is what she wanted.  This is not simply just a good idea to keep mama happy but it is important to give each family members a vested interest.  So I decided to buy her a handgun first.
    Picking out a handgun can be a complexing and confusing decision, especially for someone else.  I am going to give you a quick background on my wife so that you will better understand my thought process.  My wife is 5'1", petite and had never fired a gun before.  Therefore I had to get her a gun that would be safe, she would enjoy shooting it and have confidence that it would stop a bad guy.  There are many different calibers but I settled on 9mm.  A 9mm is common round that is cheap enough to shoot regularly and will stop a bad guy.  Plus I had experience with 9mm and I knew we could get a 9mm that would be light enough for her to carry.  Please consider weight and size of the person if you plan to gain a concealed carry permit. 
    Now picking a 9mm handgun is still difficult because every company carries one, so a lot of it is open to preference.  Most handguns if maintained properly will last almost forever.  I am a firm believer in buying the most gun you can afford but a cheap gun now will defend you better now than an expensive gun later.  So after looking around for months and considering our budget I decided to go with a Taurus 709 Slim.
    I read all of the reviews and considering our budget seemed like a good fit.  I am not going to give a thorough review of the gun because there are lots of better sources for a review out there.  There are couple of things we realized after putting 700 rounds through it.  One thing we realized is that this is probably one of the safest guns possible with a safety on the back and then a pressure safety in the trigger itself.  It is incredibly safe almost to the point of being annoying.  The second thing is that this gun does not like some of the cheaper rounds, specifically the tulle ammo.
     Now that she has this handgun she has become interested in handguns and is always willing to go places to look at handguns and is allowing me to spend more for my handgun.  I am looking at getting a Smith & Wesson MP 45acp.  If I had not bought hers first and got her interested in handguns she never would have allowed me to spend this kind of money on a gun. 
     We went to a gun show yesterday to look around and it was fun to see all of the innovative products out there.  We went for the entertainment value because we had no intention of buying anything.  When looking at guns make sure you shop around.  Most places seem to sell the guns at a consistent price no matter where you go but you want to find a place that can help you after the sale.  When teaching someone to use a gun of any kind SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT.  Please take the time to integrate safety into your shooting time but do not make them scared of the weapon.   
     Now I firmly believe security is not only about guns and there are many things people who own there own home can do.  Since we live on base we cannot make changes to the house I decided to focus on another aspect of security.  I am going to start taking self defense/martial arts training.  I think it is important to be able to defend yourself without a gun.  Also an important thing that you gain from this kind of training is learning to keep your mind working well being hit because human tendency is to act on rage once we are hit.  I will give updates on how this goes. 

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