[Stevedore]

My wife & I received our firearms ID cards & handgun permits on Thursday; 9 weeks start to finish. I actually expected worse from NJ.

So now when the local gun stores open up, we need to decide what to buy.

We went to an indoor range with our son & his wife before the pandemic started, & used their guns. He has some version of a Springfield Armory 1911 in .45, & she has some version of a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield EZ in .380. We each also got aout 1/2 hour of instruction from the range officer, but will probably go for some further formal training.

My wife liked shooting the S&W, and will probably just buy the same as our DIL has. She's not much of a researcher or procrastinator. I enjoyed both, but found my son's 1911 a little hard to operate. Maybe something I would just need to get used to.

So I need to decide what to buy. Our primary use will be target shooting at the local indoor range. Secondarily, I'll feel comfortable having guns in our house for home defense, as unlikely as I expect the need to be. Ammo for .380, .45., & 9mm all seem cheap enough for my purposes.

I've looked on the web at well-known brands, but being a noob, I get confused easily with all of the features of the many various models, even within the offerings of a given manufacturer.

So I'd appreciate any suggestions, recommendations, etc., with regard to what I should look at. The local range seems to have a good inventory of rentals, so i should be able to try out any possible candidates. FWIW, I'm looking at pricing from $500- $1000.