A couple people had expressed interest in this topic, and I have a bit of extra time for a couple days, so here goes:
Bona fides: I am a former infantry NCO and sniper, hunter, competitive shooter, reloader, hobby gunsmith, sometimes firearms trainer and currently work in a gun shop, mostly on the paperwork/compliance side. Back in the day, was a qualified expert with every standard small arm in the US inventory circa 2003 (M2, 4, 9, 16, 19, 249, 240B, 21, 24, 82 etc.), and today hang around the 75th percentile of USPSA classifications. I've shot Cap-and-Ball, Trap and Sporting Clays badly; Bullseye and PRS somewhat better and IDPA/USPSA/UML/Two-gun with some local success. Been active in the 2A community since the mid-90s, got my first instructor cert in high school, and have held a CPL for almost twenty years now.
I certainly don't claim to be an expert in every aspect of firearms, there's huge areas that escape my knowledge base, but if you've got questions I'll do my best to answer.
Technical questions
Gun control proposals for feasibility
Industry
Training
Wacky opinions
General geekery
Some competition links (not my own) just for the interested.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=U5IhsWamaLY&t=173
https://youtube.com/watch?v=93nEEINflXE
https://youtube.com/watch?v=utcky0zq10E
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Notes -
So long as you have safe storage and a good grasp of the safety fundamentals, you're covering your bases for responsible keeping.
That will have no bearing on your ability to use the firearm should the need arise. That takes training and regular practice to have any real confidence in your ability to operate under stress. If you are serious about defensive gun use, I would say dry-fire weekly and live-fire quarterly to stay in practice, assuming a good base of training beforehand. Shooting skills are quite perishable.
It also takes a certain mindset, which not everyone has. Understand that guns are life and death. If you have a gun for protection, that directly implies a willingness to kill people with it (under the correct legal and moral, low probability circumstances). I weed out about two thirds of the people who want to train just by socratic dialogue on this topic. If you think you're going to scare people with a gun, guns are not for you. If you "would never use it, just want to have it", guns are not for you. The minute you hear someone talking about racking rounds and chasing people off, guns are not for them. Guns are to defend your life and the lives of your loved ones and community. Using them effectively means potentially ending the life of someone who is threatening those lives in a real and pressing manner. If all that sounds terrible and barbaric, defensive guns are not for you.
One of the worst things you can do as a gun owner is to bring the firearm to a violent situation that you are not willing to use it in. It's a free gun for your opponent and escalates the stakes of any violent encounter.
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