Need a cheap gun that can kill a person, cougar, or bear. Not a freak- just looking for a way 2 protect myself?

Well for a bear, you're not going to stand a good chance of killing or injuring it with any small caliber. You'll need a very high caliber. Unfortunately these kick really badly, and are not recommended for novices. If you're serious about that, you'll need to start a long road to safe gun handling and practice. Eventually working your way up to at least a 45, but I wouldn't be comfortable with anything less than a 44 mag for a bear. Now that's a problem, because these guns aren't small, nor are they easy to handle. As a little over 5 feet, 107 lb female who is buff as hell, a 44 mag gun kicks my ***.

Honestly, I wouldn't be to concerned about shooting a bear. Read up on how to get away from various bears. Some you play dead, some you'll climb trees. Just don't count on killing a bear with a gun you can handle. Sure, you could kill a bear with a 22 if you hit it in just the right spot, but what's the chance you will? Don't shoot at a bear, follow the appropriate survival guide.

Humans and maybe cougers on the other hand, that's another story. For humans I'd be fully comfortable carrying something as small as a 38 special. For a cougar, I'd feed comfortable with a 9mm.

But you really really do need to understand how important safe handling, storing, and operation is with guns. Take the safety courses before you buy one. Learn how to operate it and be safe in doing so. Go to a shooting range and practice. No matter what caliber you have, it does you no good if you can't handle the gun or hit your target yeah?

You also need to understand that even though carrying a firearm may make you feel better, you may not be a good candidate for one. Let me be clear. Guns are not to scare people. If you draw it you damn sure better be willing to use it. You can get yourself in a lot more trouble if you don't shoot, and the person in question takes your gun, or if s/he realizes you won't actually shoot them. As for animals, lots and lots of practice. Fast moving targets. If your life depends on this firearm, you'd better be good.

And do be aware that this may not actually be legal. I do believe most states, if not all of them require a special permit to conceal carry and violating this law is a serious crime. You may be able to open carry on the waste, with the piece fully visible, check out your state laws.

Other alternatives. Be familiar with survival guides. Shooting an animal isn't the only way to escape unharmed. Hike with a partner if possible, preferably a male partner you trust. Make sure you let someone know where you're going and when you should be back. Carry a cell phone if you get reception. Also, if you're hiking you should always have water, food, a decent sizable knife, matches, string, and first aid supplies.

Being you add a bear in the mix you have limited your choices in a handgun. I am assuming you want a handgun

Few calibers are adequate to use on a bear and you to walk away from the encounter.

So answer a couple questions. Is there a chance at all the bear ever will be a brown bear? or Grizzly?If there these bears are there then no handgun will work. Your going to be bear chow.

Do you always camp bear safe? food put up and away? Just saying for the most part a black bear will go out of their way to leave you alone. Pepper spray is good to carry for a first line of defense for ALL those threats.

Okay the cat still leaves really only two good choices. 357 magnum or better a .44 magnum for the bear as well. Either will drop a human. I highly recommend you go to a shooting range an try shooting a few as they take some getting use to. Here is a place to get some ideas on prices

http://www.gunsamerica.com/ Edit: Hike / camp where bear encounter is unlikely then I would say a .45 ACP Colt would also be fine option.

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Well, stopping a person or killing a bear are two completely different classes of guns. For your generic criminal you can find cheap glock 9mms on gunbroker.com

Now, as for bear, a 9mm isn't gonna do much more than piss it off. To put a charging bear down I wouldn't reach for anything smaller than a .357 magnum and bigger. Problem with that is the size of that gun and the like. Realize that a criminal will likely weigh 180-250lbs realistically. Bears (depending on the species) are frequently 500lbs and up... The kinetic mass of the bullet needed to stop the momentum of those two things are drastically different.

I would recommend visiting a local gun show. You can talk to vendors about firearms and likely will get a much better idea of the "stopping power" you actually need or can safely handle.

I'm not an advocate of carrying guns in the back country, except for hunting, but if you must. A bear is not really anything to worry about, make some noise, throw a few rocks at it, and the bear will leave. A cat attack is a valid concern, since California discontinued hunting them they have begun to attack humans. In the event of an attack I think a pistol would be best, you are talking about close range defense. If you are going into the back country with stock you should always carry a pistol powerful enough to put down one of your animals if necessary. This is allowed even in National Parks, the weapon has to be unloaded and carried inside a pack, not much use in a defensive situation. Though I've never had a ranger search my tent to see what I'm sleeping with under my pillow. More than 35 years backpacking/ horsepacking experience, over a 1,000 nights in the back country.

Well, when you throw bear in there, you pretty much limit your choices to incredibly powerful handguns that are still only marginal for the job (.44 Magnum, .460 Casull, .460 S&W Magnum, .500 S&W Magnum) or a 12 gauge pump shotgun shooting slugs.

Either way, if you have little to no experience with firearms, you're going to hate shooting either type... and if you hate shooting them, you aren't going to practice, which means that when you are accosted by an aggressive bear, you're probably going to die.

I'd suggest you stay away from big bears, and pick a full-size .357 Magnum revolver for self defense against humans and cougars. The Ruger GP100 and Smith & Wesson 686 are two options. They'll be more expensive than a 12 gauge shotgun, but they'll also be more compact. Still, either one will weigh somewhere in the vicinity of 3-4 pounds, including ammunition and holster, so they aren't lightweight by any stretch.

Understand that bears, even black bears, take a good bit of work to kill. A .357 Magnum with heavy loads might drop a black bear, but it's not guaranteed, and trying to defend yourself from a brown bear with a .357 Magnum would be borderline suicidal.

About the only other suggestion I have is to get a .44 Magnum and shoot .44 Special from it for self-defense against humans around town or at home, and use full power .44 Magnum loads when you're in the woods... but there's no guarantee even with a .44 Magnum that you'll stop a charging grizzly.

Glock 26's and 27's are nice if you're looking for a smaller weapon. The G26 is chambered for 9mm. It probaby can't kill a bear, but it'll take care of a person or cougar. The G27 is chambered for .40 S&W. It's more powerful than the 9mm, and with good shot placement can kill a bear. A lot of people say hate on 9mm, saying that it's a weak round. It's true in that it's weaker than a .45, but it's still a bullet! It still hurts to get shot by it, a lot.

Cougar Gun

You need a British 303 my friend. Exelent gun for both. It's short but powerful and in canada the most popular rifle for bear hunting untill more powerful stuff emerged. If it can take down a bear it can take down a man.

A large framed 357 with 180gr, would be the smallest for bear.

Taurus has nice revolvers, that won't break the bank.