MrB - an EXCELLENT post.

I'd like to add a couple of things from my own perspective.

Regardless of whether you choose a single weapon or an entire armory, none of that weaponry is going to be worth a tinker's dam unless you and everyone who will have access to it learn how to use it in all the conditions in which it could be used.

There are thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of people out there who have the money and who buy a good selection of weapons to get them through what may become hard times. A huge percentage of these weapons go into a gun safe and are removed only infrequently to clean or maybe take to the range a couple of times.

What I've chosen to do is to guess about the likelihood of the type of emergency situation that's coming soonest and prepare for that one. As time, training and budget permit I'll then expand the arsenal.

I started with an AR7 and a Springfield M6. Not because they were the absolute best choice, but because they covered a wide variety of potential circumstances and they happened to be available at the times I was able to buy a gun.

Since I purchased those two my circumstances have changed. I now travel 11 states in the Northeast - some of the most heavily populated areas of the country. My take is that the next emergency will be either a natural disaster or another terrorist incident. My concern is not so much the cause of the emergency but rather the civil unrest that will follow. Think about Katrina.

My choice of weapon was thus a 1911 in .45ACP. Why? Not to hunt, but for personal defense. Although I could certainly shoot a pretty big dog with it if I had to and they're not bad eating. I like the fact also that I can (and have) purchase a kit to covert the pistol to a .22 cal for small game and a carbine for larger game. A .45ACP coming out of a 16" barrel is going to be travelling at about 1000fps, and will pack enough wallop to bring a deer down at 50 yards (the practical maximum range for the gun, even though it will shoot much farther).

The key is training. I've been training with the .45 for awhile and will continue all the way through combat training. Once I get to the combat training stage, I'll also be learning about combat rifles and shotguns and will then make a choice as to whether and which I'll buy.

From what I've learned so far, everything mentioned above is correct and valid. I would just recommend a little more strongly that anyone in more densely populated areas obtain a handgun in significant caliber and learn to use it well. And rather than buy a whole bunch of guns and then sit and look at them, buy them one at a time and learn to use them properly.