Looking to get my college age son a handgun to keep with him while in college any suggestions on a gun

Killed a few.
Do you think the church wants the mobile home

A revolver, just pick a caliber.

unless he's very experienced with handguns,and I assume he isn't since he doesn't own one, get him a Smith & Wesson 38 Airweight. You can't get any simpler,no safety to forget about and no learning how to quickly clear a jam. It's safe with the long double action trigger and small enough for him to carry. The addition of a lazer grip would be very nice.

LOL I wondered where that went. A friend had asked me if I had killed any rabbits. I'm selling his church a home for a needy person. Sorry was suppose to be a text message lol

642 S&W

LC9s

M&p shields are great concealed carry guns. Especially with a Celtic holster. It has a safety but with a little practice it will become second nature to knock it off when drawn. I have a Springfield xdm which doesn't have a manual safety but rather a grip and trigger safety. Most if not all Springfield XD series have these safeties. Is he going to UA?

Shelton right now

I would never start a newbie with a semi auto. Too many small things can go wrong and probably at the worst time.

642 S&W

When does he start college Earl? If it is next fall he should have plenty of time to aclimate and be comfy carrying anything. Keeping in the truck is one thing, carrying at all times is another.

I'm sure you're more experienced than I on this subject. At what point in a persons concealed carry career should the consider carrying a a semi auto?

I do agree with Wiley but I don't think it takes a tremendous amount of time to become proficient with a semi-auto. There are significantly more errors that can occur with feeding, ejection, etc., but all those can be explained and taught on the range. If you go the semi-auto route, I would advise some significant range time with the ammo that you plan to carry. If it does have feeding or ejection issues, you'd rather discover that on the range instead of when it's needed for defense. Also explain to him why it's not a good idea to change ammo without test firing some on the range.

First off 9mm or 45acp. Keep it common and simple for him to buy carrying and target ammo. Any smaller than a 9mm in a pistol you might as well get him a 22lr.

If he has any experience shooting go 45acp. The recoil is very smooth and very easy to manage with proper mechanics. Now if you're going the subcompact route get him a 9mm unless he's a large guy. 6'+ 200lbs+. If he has no experience shooting or an anticipation problem start him with a 9mm.

The 40s&w is a GREAT caliber, but the snappy recoil takes a little experience.

Go Springfield xdm/xds/xd mod2 or a glock all day! For the price ~$500 they can't be beat. Both great guns. It's kind of like chevy or ford more or less. I'm a xdm guy myself. The springfield will take the edge on accuracy and the glock on reliability al beit a marginal edge. If you like the grip of a 1911 you'll prefer the xdm if you didn't then go glock.

I've got an xd 45 tactical, xdm 45 compact, xdm 40, xds 45, and I got the gf a xd mod2 9mm for christmas. My favorie by far is my xdm 45 compact! I'm 6' 205. I love them all and they all have their role.

IMHO 3.8" is the absolute sweet spot for a pistol barrel. Great for open carry and concealed and shooting.

One can't mark a date on a calendar and say "he's had 6 months so he's good to go". It has to be when the individual can say with full confidence that they are 100% comfortable with the weapon. It took me a year or 2 of part time carrying a 1911 style pistol to accept that it was safe to have a round chambered AND the hammer back when carrying. It was just a mental thing.

Well in that case an XD series handgun, several boxes of ammo, and some dry fire practice at night and he should be well on his way. Have you ever considered that one of the "small things that go wrong" for newbies is running out of ammo? I bought an xdm 4.5 9mm for a reason as my first handgun for a reason! Lol 19 round mags go a long way. And yes I concealed carried it too at 165lbs soaking wet. On the other hand maybe there is some value to statistic that most self defense shootings happen at 7' and 5 rounds is all you need.

You should never need 19 rounds in a standard concealed carry situation.
1. you shoould try and get away without shooting anyone. Shooting should be a have to thing unless you want to go to jail.
2. If you cant hit someone in 5-7 rounds you prolly shouldn't be shooting anyway.

I agree with the first statement but I can think of a situation or two where I would want more than 5-7 rounds. When I had my shield I ALWAYS carried an extra mag. So regardless of which gun I was carrying I had at least 15 rounds. Sorry to hijack the thread.

Notice I said standard situation. Most of the time you will be dealing with 1-2 ppl at a max distance of 5-10ft. I agree though always better to be prepared. I would say the most important think is to pick a gun you like that you can handle well and spend plenty of time shooting said gun.