First firearm purchase

I had decided. After months of shooting different guns, and different calibers, I'd decided. Mostly.

Before I say what I decided on, I want you to know my initial thoughts on what firearm I'd choose. They were simple; No 9mm. No Glocks. After one month, I'd decided on (say it with me) a 9mm Glock. A G19 to be exact. I didn't much like the way it fit my hand, but I could shoot it well, and the 9mm recoil was manageable. I was decided.

Or so I thought. I kept reading about the Springfield XD "out glock-ing the glock," so I decided it was worth checking out. (just another excuse to go to the range!) When I tried it out, I found a gun with sig-like internals, glock-like polymer frame and trigger safety, and 1911-like grip safety. It had a loaded chamber indicator, and it fit my hand much better than the glock! I though I had instantly changed my mind. I wasn't as good at shooting it, but I knew that would come with time and grip and trigger skill development.

Over the following month I researched the hell out of the two guns, and carefully balanced the reliability issues, safety issues, and control issues. I decided on the G19. The XD9 was highly favored, but the Glock had many more years of development and active duty on the XD, and that was what it really came down to. Sure the glock was a bit more expensive, but I knew better than to hinge my decision on price.

My mind was made up, and I was planning on buying it from Turners in a few days when I visited my uncle and dad and talked to them about my decision. They were a little concerned about a firing pin issue (one I'd never read about) that caused LAPD and LBPD to no longer approve of usage of glocks. Apparently both departments had a number of issues with the firing pins failing to strike the primer hard enough. They could take the misfired cartridge from the glock, and fire it with no problems in a different gun. My faith waivered a bit. I convinced myself that (as many glock-o-philes have stated) glocks take up a large percentage of the market (especially in LE), and we hear about more failures simply due to market volume. In the back of my mind I realized that I was making excuses.

When the time came I went to Turners, and saw the G19 waiting for me behind the glass. While I was waiting (3 other people were buying guns at the same time) I noted that the XD9 and 40 were on sale for $459. My eye twitched involuntarily A clerk asked me if I needed help, I told him I'd like to buy the G19, and he told me we'd have to wait just a bit for one of the other clerks to finish up. So I talked to the clerk for a bit, it turns out that he picked up an XD9 (over a glock) over a year ago and has been enjoying it, and since they put it on sale they've been selling much more than usual. I waivered a bit more, worried about my decision, I redirected the conversation toward the Glock. After talking a bit more, I realized I didn't have my HSC card (stupid), and would need to pick it up; I excused myself.

Longest car ride home ever. It was only a few miles there and back, but in those few miles I changed my mind no fewer than 6 times. I reentered the store not knowing what I was going to buy. When the other clerk asked me If he could help, I said, (without knowing how I'd finish the sentence, or if I'd just chicken out to think about it more) "I'd like to buy an XD9."

Now we play the waiting game.