Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”

If you are willing to commit the time and money necessary to become proficient with a gun, the first one you should by should be a Glock 9mm. (17/19/19X, its up to you) .
This is by far the firearm that combines best reliability, ease of use, accuracy, simplicity, durability, magazine capacity, lightweight and commonality. Because of all this, its no surprise that most elite shooters, law enforcement and tactical units around the world use the Glock.
I can attest that in South America, US and Europe, among tactical shooters its hands down the most popular choice.
Once you get your Glock, it should be by far the weapon you shoot the most.  If you expect to maintain and acceptable level of proficiency with it you will take classes with it, training and use it in sport competiton. It all helps. It all adds up combining defensive skills and tactical knowledge with speed and accuracy.
Having said that, guns are like Barbie dolls (or butch, manly 70’s muscle cars, yeah!.. that…) You cant just have one. You will want something else.
I also firmly believe that for those that will NOT commit to take classes and train with some regularity to maintain those skills, then a revolver is the better option. Not the best weapon, not the best combat handgun, but the best option for that specific kind of person. The kind that will take one safety shooting class and maybe shoot a box of ammo or two per year tops.
In that case the simplicity of the revolver is your best alternative. Any good 357 magnum revolver will serve you well, Smith and Ruger being two of the most popular choice.
One revolver you probably haven’t heard much about is the Manurhin MR73, currently made by Chapuis in France and original conceived as a hard use tactical revolver for the GIGN French anti terrorist unit. This is a hardened tool steel revolver, capable of shooting well over 200,000 rounds of full power 357 magnum while maintaining match grade accuracy. It has a short double action trigger pull that can be regulated to suit each shooter, and a match grade trigger pull in single action. The MR73 did not leave the factory if it could group 5 rounds in under an inch at 25 meters. Today it is still issued to GIGN operators. Even if the Glock 17 is more popular, many still carry the MR73 as a secondary handgun. It also helps that the revolver has a stunning black glossy finish, along with golden trigger and hammer and walnut grips.

Yes, the gun is as expensive as it sounds and to be honest its not worth it for most people that just want a reliable revolver “just in case”. Keep an eye out for it though. If you ever come across one for reasonable money, know that it’s certainly the finest combat revolver ever made.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”