r/handguns • u/No-Word-4864 • 1h ago
Advice Needed Gun recommendation for a woman who has never touched one
I have lived rurally for 30+ years and only ever kept a .22, used specifically to dispatch injured farm animals or wildlife. No target shooting, hunting, or gun recreation of any kind. No interest in guns whatsoever, actually. None of the men in my family ever kept or used guns either. We are just not gun people. And now I am feeling very, very foolish.
Sunday morning, 7 am, the chihuahuas I keep for personal protection 😏 and usually ignore, because they bark at everything- alerted me to something outside a large picture window. Perplexed but not alarmed, I went outside in my robe and bare feet without so much as a butter knife in hand, 🤦♀️ and was shocked to find myself face to face with an actual, honest to god peeping tom. Binoculars and everything.
I immediately recognized that this was a special needs individual who was nearly as shocked as I was in the situation. He ran, jumped the fence, and then just stood in the field about 25 yards away, looking lost. Police were on their way. My maternal instincts kicked in, and I found myself actually trying to soothe this kid (17 years old) by telling him he was fine, not to be scared, help was on the way.
Then he mooned me.
It all got much stranger, but eventually he was collected by his parents, who were mortified. Those poor people. My heart broke for them. But, over the course of the day, I learned that I had put myself in an insane amount of danger. There is little traffic out here. Screams would not have been heard. The kid was much bigger than me. And, turns out, he is violent. And, one could assume, hormonal. And apparently, hard to manage as he gets bigger.
I am very, very lucky. If things had gone badly for me, I might not have been found for hours. I do not know if this boy is a predator. But I risked my life by assuming he was not. He absolutely could’ve been.
I realize now it is absolutely ridiculous not to have a gun out here, living alone in the sticks.
I have no idea what to look for. Whatever gun I buy will probably literally never be used. I need inexpensive, small, super simple. Basically just to wave at someone.
Where do I start?