The Practical Guide to Guns and Shooting, Handgun Edition: What you need to know to choose, buy, shoot, and maintain a handgun. (Practical Shooting Guides)

As a beginner, I found this book to be highly informative. From technical differences between guns, to safety, to shooting stances and grip, this book really has all you need to know if you are thinking about owning a handgun. I would recommend buying it before the gun so you know all the golden rules of gun safety, as this is the most important thing to consider. It's well written and an easy, quick read with digestible information. As someone else pointed out, the author definitely has a conservative lean, but it's not like he's trying to change your views. As a pretty left leaning individual, it did not bother me at all. He sprinkles in humor throughout to keep the reading light, which I appreciate. Overall, you can't go wrong with this book if you are just getting into gun ownership. It is not an exhaustive review of everything there is to know, but it gives you what you NEED to know to safely own a gun. I am very happy with my purchase and I envision myself referencing this book a lot in the months to come.

This book was exactly what I was looking for. It wasn’t overly complicated or difficult to understand. Lots of humor sprinkled in to keep my attention. Didn’t often introduce a term without immediately explaining it. I think I would have included a few more labeled pics and a glossary or terms at the end but the descriptions were very helpful. I feel so much more comfortable now. The author clearly is conservative with an undertone of misogyny, but that’s most fun owners so, really, is anyone gonna blame him? He is nice and explains things well. That’s the main point.

I enjoyed Tom's words of wisdom. I have a basis in rifle shooting but no knowledge of handguns. Easy to read, humorous, I particularly like the way he takes time out of the narrative to explore the language of handguns. If you are new to the concepts as I was I can recommend this book.

My daughter told me she wanted to learn how to shoot a firearm and and asked if I would help her. I was happy to hear she wanted to learn that skill and delighted she ask for my help. Shooting and guns were very familiar to me since I got my first firearm, a .410 shotgun, when I was ten years old and spent many years in law enforcement. I told her I would happy to teach her the proper skills of owning, shooting, and being responsible of using a firearm. The first thing I looked for was a good book concerning guns and the responsibility of owning and using one. That's when I ran across The Practical Guide To Guns and Shooting by Tom McHale. Before I gave it to my daughter I thought I would skim through it first to see if it was any good. As it turned out I read the whole book in half the day and learned a few things myself. What I really liked about the book other than a ton of good information, is the authors style of writing. He uses humor though out the book to make learning points. It is very effective and makes the read fun. I highly recommend this book for amateurs and knowledgeable folks both. I guarantee you will learn something.

For me, this book was terrific. A lot of basic info on handguns including safety, researching, buying, training, practicing, further reading... a really good primer. Valuable read without the confusing back and forth with attitude you get in so many online forums. I got the sense Mr. McHale is truly concerned with the reader learning, he’s not just writing to show how smart or right he is. Funny too, had me actually laughing out loud while reading in a room by myself. Ok, that part was a little unnerving, but still... After reading about how to research, and then walk into a gun shop for the first time and behave well and ask the right questions, it took the nervousness out of it for me - gave me confidence, and made my first purchase enjoyable. Much thanks to Mr. McHale.

The book does have good information for the beginner handgun shooter. It covers a wide variety of topics without lengthy technical jargon The book appeases to not have had an editor l, though. There are at least a dozen, if not more, times where a word has been forgotten or misused. Not a big deal, but it’s surprising how many times it’s happened it this book. Also, the comedy used by the author is a bit overkill. I know it’s lighthearted and meant to be entertaining, but, enough is enough Overall a decent book, but grammatical errors occasionally and to often cheesy comedy is used

I’ve had my Concealed Carry license for 20 years. But I just recently decided I want to learn so much more. I don’t have any close family or friends near me, so I started researching and teaching myself. This book explained so much. I just can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate this tool. I highly recommend it for all beginner to intermediate shooters who are simply trying to educate themselves beyond just hitting a target. And the humor is very welcomed as well! It’s so simple to understand and breaks down absolutely everything.

I have had training and practice but time passed. This book did a fantastic job of reminding me of all I learned and more. It also will act as a excellent outline for helping others to learn the proper way of all things gun related. This book was as near to perfection as it could be, relative to my needs. I have likely never given a training book such high praise.