“I would get me a good shotgun”
I absolutely agree with Tarpon on this. Get yourself a good pump shotgun. An 870 seems to be a popular choice, although Mossberg seems to be a good choice too.
Buy a magazine extension for it so you can load it with 8 or more rounds. Ammo is still available for it.
If I could only have one gun, this would be it. You can hunt anything from squirrels to bears with it, and loaded with 00 Buck its a real man stopper. The only disadvantage is 35 yards is about its maximum range for self defense.
Buy one of these and you will still have money to eat with!
Shotguns are one of the few things that haven’t gone crazy price wise, and they are very useful in a variety of scenarios.
there are some very reasonable shotguns but i dont know anything about shotguns. never shot one. there are tons of different rounds for them and i have no idea about any of it
If you use rifled slugs, you can reliably hit a man-sized target out to about 80 yards or so. And it will knock him down.
Other than that, I completely agree with you — a 12 ga is the single most useful and versatile firearm anyone can own.