The biggest step in purchasing a handgun is which one is right for you. I recommend a 9mm for the following reasons.
1. Ammunition is cheaper. Target ammo is can be bought for 50 rounds for $5.00. Buy more expensive ammunition for the home defense side.
2. These are very common rounds and can be purchased anywhere.
3. There are several different sizes of gun to purchase from.
4. 9mm are easy to learn to shoot and big revolvers and huge handguns can kick quite a bit.
5. The 9mm has good stopping power.
6. Most homes need a handgun that a man or woman can shoot. The 9mm fits into this category. Sig and Ruger have some good models to choose from. I recently suggested a Sig 2009 pro for a friend and his wife. The retail around $400.00, this model fits well in both their hands.

The next step is which one. If you do not have any close friends with handguns. I recommend going to a gun range that rents handguns for you to try out. Pickup as many as you can and hold them and see how they feel in your hand; it should feel comfortable in your hand. Make sure it is not too big or too small. If there is another person in your household, that will be using it also, take them with you unless you plan on purchasing more than one handgun. If you have children in the house, I would suggest a gun safe that uses a fingerprint or pin code for quick access.

In order to purchase a gun, you cannot have a felony or domestic abuse on your record, and be 21 years of age or older. When you purchase the gun, you will have to sign a form and answer several questions. You will go through a background check. This can take anywhere from instant to 3 days. I have known people with no record and it took 2 days. Others get instant.

Where to purchase.- Gun shows are a great place to purchase a gun. After you have selected the model and brand that you wish to purchase. You can go to a gun show and look around for it. Take a notepad and a piece of paper. Make your way around the gun show at least once. Compare the prices of the gun that you want and go for it. You can also purchase from dealers online. But they have to ship to an FFL dealer who will run the background check and then transfer the gun to you. Gun shows are listed in the Calendar section of the website. You can also check the gun store/ range section of the website to find a place to rent or shoot a handgun.

No, you do not have to register private handgun purchases.

Some handguns are single-shot, but most have either a magazine, in the case of a semi-automatic, or a cylinder, in the case of a revolver.

Revolvers come in either single or double action. A single-action revolver must be manually cocked first, then the trigger is squeezed before it can fire. A double-action revolver is cocked and fired in one motion when the trigger is squeezed.

The semi-automatic pistol, also known as a self-loader, came about when many gunsmiths saw the potential for handgun applications that could be applied to Hiram Maxim's recoil-operated machinegun in 1883. Notable among the early models were designs by Borchardt, Paul Mauser and Georg Luger.

Although there are many famous semi-automatic pistols the most recognizable one is certainly the Colt Model 1911. This firearm is still manufactured today unchanged from it's original design and remains extremely popular. Sam Colt designed this pistol and it was adopted by the U.S. military in 1911 (hence the model designation).

The concept behind autoloading weapons is that part of the energy freed during the firing of a bullet is redirected to perform the work of ejecting the spent bullet casing and subsequently loading a new round into the chamber. Pistols, unlike revolvers, have only one bullet chamber and barrel. The bullets are held in a magazine which is removable and thus allows a semi-automatic pistol to be reloaded very quickly.

The trigger function of semi-automatic pistols is split into two types; the single-action trigger performs only the one action of releasing the hammer to fire the bullet and assumes that the hammer is cocked; double-action triggers will pull back the hammer into firing position and then release the hammer to effect firing.

Semi-automatic pistols are bulkier and more complex than revolvers; the barrel is surrounded and backed by a laterally movable slide. When a bullet is in the chamber and the slide is forward (closed and locked) the firearm can be shot. When the trigger is pulled the hammer hits the firing pin or releases a striker and the bullet is ignited and the projectile shoots out of the chamber and barrel. Using the principles of Newton's Third Law which states that "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" part of the energy of the controlled explosion is used to move the slide backwards - opposite to the direction of the bullet. This backward movement of the slide performs 4 main functions, namely

(a) to pull the spent casing from the firing chamber (extraction).
(b) to forcibly remove the brass from the firearm (ejection).
(c) to push a new and unfired round from the magazine into the chamber.
(d) to recock the hammer and / or striker

Because of the differences in operation between the pistol and the revolver the two usually require different ammunition described on the Pistol and Revolver ammunition difference page. An excellent detailed description of the function of the 1911 Colt can be found at 1911 Org - Principles of Operation as well as the Wikipedia description

The revolver, also known as a wheel-gun, revo or round-gun, is the successor to the many different types of handguns and until the effective semi-automatic pistol was developed it was the undisputed ruler of the handgun world. Before Sam Colt was issued U.S. Patent #138 on February 25, 1836 for the Patent Arms Manufacturing Company established, Paterson, New Jersey there were a number of different types of handguns available. All of the Colt's predecessors utilized the concept of one bullet per barrel. Since the advent of the muzzle loader the goal of firearms manufacturers was to increase the accuracy, rate of fire and power. With Sam Colt's invention the rate of fire was dramatically increased, and soon afterwards the invention of the modern self-contained cartridge did even more. The Pepperbox had multiple barrels that remained fixed.

Sam Colt's idea was to have a firearm with just one barrel but to have a revolving chamber that could contain a number of bullets which get rotated into alignment with the barrel in succession. As with so many other revolutionary ideas this was a simple one and it revolutionized shooting.

Initially revolvers were designed as single-action, meaning that by pulling the trigger only one action is performed, namely dropping the trigger onto the primer in the bullet to fire it. Single-action revolvers require the shooters to manually pull back the hammer, which would also rotate the cylinder with the bullets to the next chamber. With the advent of the double-action revolver, firing became simpler. The double-action trigger performs two actions when pulled - the cylinder is rotated and the hammer is released. Most modern revolvers are double / single action; meaning that the revolver is basically a double-action one but the hammer can be locked back and subsequently the revolver can be fired in single-action mode, usually with a very light trigger pull. Originally the hammer was designed to strike the primer in the bullet directly, this type of firing mechanism required, for safety's sake, to have an empty chamber underneath the hammer to avoid a negligent discharge. New revolvers use a transfer bar or other blocking mechanism to ensure that the hammer cannot inadvertently hit the bullet and thus all chambers can be kept loaded. The number of rounds in a revolver depends upon the caliber (bullet size), it's power and the overall size of the revolver; usually revolvers can hold up to 5, 6 or 7 rounds.

On September 14, 1994 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms established the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, also known as the 1994 Crime Bill. The law was created to restrict the manufacture, transfer and possession of certain semiautomatic assault weapons. This is referred to as the "ban". If a semiautomatic assault weapon was manufactured and assembled before September 14, 1994 it is a "pre-ban" if it was manufactured and assembled after September 14, 1994 it is a "post-ban" . The actual law itself is, as can be expected, rather complex and difficult for the lay person to understand but it is available in it's entirety here or at this ATF listing.

Post-ban semiautomatic rifles with a detachable magazine may only have 1 of the following features:

(i) a folding or telescopic stock;
(ii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;
(iii) a bayonet mount;
(iv) a flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor; and
(v) a grenade launcher;

While pre-ban rifles that were in that configuration as of September 14th, 1994 may have any or all of the above. Therefore it is understandable that pre-ban configurations of pre-ban rifles are much more desirable. Even though they are at least 10 years old (as of the time that this law was written) they command higher prices and are more difficult to find than their more modern successors.