>I remember something else from years ago; a batman comic that said
>Commissioner Gordon doesn't give his men 9mms (I think it was) so that
>any shots his cops miss don't hit a kid a half mile away. I think it
>was a thing set during or near the No Mans Land event.

Hello new shooter! I liked your safety rules, those are practically religion to me and mine. The rule of thumb is that the _lowest_ grade round, the plain .22LR, is still possibly-lethal at 1 mile.

...there is .22 _short_, mind, but that's... a rare thing to encounter.

Personally, I highly recommend owning all the guns ever. That being said, a new shootist could do a lot worse than a single-shot .22 rifle for the absolute basic "which end does the bullet come out" shooting, and there is far too many directions to go from there to offer any sort of advice at all beyond "try and try before you buy" and "don't shoot anything that hasn't been OKed by the manufacturer (new gun) or a reputable gunsmith."

One of the best ways to get an idea of what a given caliber of bullet can do or will do is to wiki the caliber. Lots of lovely information about the history of the round and the physics of it.

I love guns, from a machining and historical and self defense and art and hunting standpoint. I get a laugh out of some of the weirdness though. My carry weapon, a Kimber 1911 chambered in .45 ACP, uses almost the exact same lead as my hand cannon, a Smith & Wesson .460 Performance Center build (13.5" overall length, 8lb dry weight, $2.30 a round last time I checked). But the .460 has so much more powder behind it, they're completely different rounds.

I haven't seen Gryphon post a single piece of information I find 'wrong', and certainly nothing I'd class as 'dangerous'. All his info has been solid, especially if you're a history geek :)