I would say buy an inexpensive non-semi-auto .22LR rifle. Maybe a Henry H001 lever action, Marlin 981T bolt action, a Mossberg 802 Plinkster bolt action, a Savage Mark II-G bolt action. If you absolutely must have a semi-auto, go with something like the Mossbers 702 Plinkster or Marlin 60 or 795. I would hold off on the Ruger 10/22 at first. For shooting out-of-the-box the other guns mentioned are better and cheaper than the 10/22 (the Henry is little more expensive than a 10/22, but a far better shooter). However the 10/22 may be a good gun down the road if your passion becomes creating a "tacti-cool" looking rifle. But you don't know what your passion will be yet.

It seems like you really don't know what you're planning to do with this new rifle (and I wouldn't expect you to at this point). So don't try to get something that you think you'll be able to hunt elk to squirrels to turkeys with. You would end up with a Jack-Of-All-Trades, Master-Of-None contraption.

Start simple. Learn marksmanship. Don't overbuy trying to outguess yourself in what you may want to do down the road. A .22 is your best start IMHO. Every gun owner ends up with a .22 at some point, the majority probably buying this as their first gun.