Bought my 1st handgun today!

[BAMA JAMMA]

Proud owner of a new Springfield Armory XD 40 Tactical in matte Olive Drab finish. I bought it from Hoover Tactical Firearms. Real nice bunch of folks and really helpful in helping me decide. I bought this gun for personal and family protection. The 16 GA is hardly effective to carry around . I lvoe the way it feels as I tried several guns today but kept coming back to the XD. I also went ahead and bought a Blackhawk holster, 20 Pow'R Ball rounds for personal protection use, and 50 Independence rounds for range/practice use.

I plan to hit a range soon and hopefully with some good shooters or LEO's to get some good tips. I'm looking for the best place that has folks willing to give me tips on firing the good accurately and safely.

Wife wasn't too happy as she is scared to death about guns and it's understandable. She is worried about those stories you read about kids finding their parents guns and shooting themselves. I reassured her I will take every precaution necessary to keep the gun safe inside the house or around the family. I also told her I want her to come with me to the range and learn to fire the gun should she ever need to when I out of town or something. She finally said she'll give it some thought after I explained why I think it's important she be able to protect our family or herself in the event someone is threatening her/our life.

Anyways here's the OD beauty....

The "business end"...

In the Blackhawk holster...

Left-handed of course !...

Pow'R Ball rounds...

Independence rounds...

 

[BamaPride]

Congratulations. That's a nice firearm.

BTW, I would edit out the serial # in those pictures just to be safe.

 

[RollTideinGA]

Wife wasn't too happy as she is scared to death about guns and it's understandable. She is worried about those stories you read about kids finding their parents guns and shooting themselves. I reassured her I will take every precaution necessary to keep the gun safe inside the house or around the family. I also told her I want her to come with me to the range and learn to fire the gun should she ever need to when I out of town or something. She finally said she'll give it some thought after I explained why I think it's important she be able to protect our family or herself in the event someone is threatening her/our life.

I admire you taking full advantage of your right to own a fire arm, and commend you on your selection. But your wifes fears may never be changed. Absolutely get her to the range. However I would have someone else teach her initially so she doesnt feel pressured to like it. Let her learn on her own terms. I had a Glock up until my children were born and my wife was terrified they may find it so I sold it.

Keep in mind that alot of guns purchased for home defense end up being used against the home owner. Either the criminal finds it first or the owner is unwilling to pull the trigger. When I was in the Army I saw soldiers lock up when faced with the decision to shoot another human being. Paper targets dont shoot back and they sure as heck dont bleed.

Good luck with the firearm and I hope it brings you some sense of safety. I also hope that you never have to make that decision to pull or not pull.

 

[Argo]

Excellent choice of a weapon. As stated above, keep you firearm in a safe place, but keep it accessible in case of an emergency. Also, I would recommend taking your wife and children to the range. Let the wife fire it if she likes, but most importantly, show your children just exactly how that weapon will react when fired. Do that, and they won't be as curious when they see it.

 

[Bamaman37]

Very nice purchase. Like Argo mentioned above, it is a good idea to not only take your wife to the range, but you kids as well. The main reason for so many incidents involving children and firearms is curiosity. If you show them how the guns reacts when fired, teach them proper firearm safety, and make sure they understand that they should never touch the weapon with your supervision, they will be less likely to try to find and fire the gun.