The best time to buy a gun is before you need a gun.

If you have any inkling that you might need a gun, you need to have one right now. It will take a little time to get, it will cost a bit of money. You’ll need to buy ammo, cleaning supplies, holster, safe storage, range bag, extra magazines. You’ll need to go to the range and practice with it, regularly. You will need to learn safety through that practice. You’ll need to learn how to field strip and clean your weapon. You’ll need to learn how to handle malfunctions quickly and safely. You’ll need to become familiar with gun laws where you live. Depending on where you live, you’ll probably want to get a concealed carry license (not applicable everywhere). Then maybe you’ll want accessories like better sights, light, magazine loader, scope.

Before all of that, you’ll need to decide what gun(s) will satifsy your own needs. Strictly for home defense, shotguns would be great, and they’re the cheapest option, too. Some have detachable magazines, some are tube magazine, some are single or double shot break action. Rifles are quite accurate at distance, but they can be on the expensive side.

Semi-automatic pistols come in various sizes; larger have better accuracy, and smaller are more concealable. Revolvers don’t leave shell casings on the ground, and should be less susceptible to malfunction, but a malfunction will take more time to clear, and loading is slower. They also hold fewer rounds, generally speaking. Pistol caliber carbines are out there, but they can be quite expensive. If you match the caliber with your pistol, you only need to have one kind of ammo, and the carbine will bring greater accuracy.

With regard to caliber, there are so many options. 9mm for pistols is readily available, and a good choice. 22lr/22 is dirt cheap. I’m not personally versed on shotguns, you’ll have to dig into that yourself.

So yeah, there’s a lot to it. To repeat, if you find yourself seriously thinking that you might need a gun, the best time to get one was two months ago. The second best time is right now.

Pretend you’re all Republicans?

Pretend to be conservative, I think.

Edit: I replied from my inbox. As it turns out, I’m not as original as I thought.

Socialist Rifle Association.