I know next to nothing about guns. I was in the Army and I have shot all kinds of weapons but that is easy, they just give it to you, teach you about it and tell you to go shoot. Now that I am retired and living off of a nice secure (ha) base my wife and I have been discussing home defense. She has come around to wanting to get some firearms. We will both be taking a basic pistol course together to start and will then go to shotgun and then rifle. I have been watching YouTube videos, reading reviews, and articles about home defense. I have decided that given our limited experience I need to keep it as simple as possible (at least to start) and want to have a pistol and rifle that are the same caliber and can share magazines. While my wife agrees that we need to have some guns she isn't keen on spending a ton of money, I believe the purse strings will open up over time. To that end I have been looking at the Ruger EC9s / PC Carbine. I am not married to this combo, it was probably the easiest for me to match. I would appreciate any and all input to my decision process. Additionally I have been to a few gun stores and felt treated like a dummy for not knowing some basics. Can you recommend a gun store and or instructor?