Okay, you just bought a gun. Now what?

Before I began my career as a photographer, I worked a few years behind the counter of local camera stores, getting to know the industry and the gear. When someone bought a camera from us, we made sure they bought an “accessory kit” to go with it to help start them off right, and the store made almost as much profit on the kit as we did on the cameras.

And it’s must the same for a self-defense firearm. I’m assuming you’ve purchased some kind of compact or full-size handgun for protecting yourself or your home, and if you’ve just bought a gun like that, there are a few things I’d highly recommend you purchase along with your new gun that will help you enjoy it to its fullest. 

1. Ammo
   A gun without ammo is an expensive and rather unwieldy club. You’ll need two kinds of ammo for your gun; Defensive ammunition and practice ammunition.
   Defensive ammunition is something like jacketed hollow point (JHP) ammunition that’s designed to expand and not punch through what it’s being shot into. You want this because if, God forbid, you need to defend your life, you need ammunition that stops the threat, not punches a hole in it and moves along to hurt someone else. 
   Practice ammunition is usually Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) ammunition that’s cheaper and easier to produce than JHP ammo. At a bare minimum, you should purchase three times as many rounds of defensive ammo as your gun holds, so you can be certain your ammo of choice works smoothly in your gun, and purchase at least 100 rounds of practice ammo so you can learn the basics of how your gun operates (and plan on spending a LOT more on ammo after that.). 
2. A Cleaning Kit 
   Guns are dirty things. Gunpowder doesn’t burn up 100%, and the oil that makes a gun operate smoothly attracts dust and grime. Get an inexpensive cleaning kit and plan on using it often. 
3. Some way to safely secure a loaded gun
   No, NOT a trigger lock. It’s too easy to make your gun go BANG while fiddling with a trigger lock, and a gun that’s unloaded and under the bed is a pretty useless defensive weapon. Secure your gun with a good locking case, or better yet, a quick-access safe, and will be there when you need it and safely stored when you don’t. 
4. Training. 
   Unless you’re Rob Leatham and were born with a .45 in your hand, shooting a gun accurately is not something we know how to innately accomplish. Getting training as you start your journey with firearms ownership will help eliminate or reduce bad habits done the line. 

I’m always amazed when I walk into local gun stores and I don’t see them putting together package deals that offer new gun owners a starter kit that give them everything they need to enjoy their new guns right from the start. 

Okay, gun stores: Add-on accessory kits have worked for camera stores for decades. Get on it. 

Team GunBlogger Tip: Tag Your Stuff Before Your Next Range Trip

Here’s a simple tip that could save you a great deal of money and heartache.  Before you leave for your next trip to the range, make sure you include your contact info in your range bag, rifle case, spotting scope case and any other gear you’ll be taking with you.  An index card, sticker or a piece of paper with your name, email address and/or phone number is all you need to include in your case or bag to exponentially increase the chances of recovering your important belongings, should you ever leave something behind.

Even if you’re only taking a couple of items with you, or you believe you will never make the mistake of forgetting something, I would highly recommend doing it anyway.  I consider myself a responsible person, but I accidentally left my competition belt out at the range last year.  I was VERY fortunate that the match director found it and sent an email blast out to those that shot the match that day.  

While there’s no guarantee you’ll get your stuff back, the shooting community is by and large some of the kindest and most honest group you’ll ever be a part of, and I know for a fact that they will go out of there way to try and reunite a lost item with its owner.  Let’s all make it easier for each other by adding contact information to anything that’s going out to the range.