Guidance on firearm choice

Hey all,

Former Army veteran here and concerned about the state of things. I’ll be honest I’ve owned a few pistols before and still have my grandfathers semi-auto shotgun (built like a tank). I am not really a “gun enthusiast” and never really felt like I needed to own one. We live in a safe quiet suburb at the back of the neighborhood.

That said, the times are changing. My hope is in a few years I feel like I don’t need a firearm and I can sell these back but in the meantime I’d rather be safe than sorry.

I’m looking at 2 firearms right now, but not sure what to get. I definitely need a pistol for concealed carry but I’m waffling back and forth between a rifle (either AR platform or potentially a PCC like the smith and Wesson FPC) or getting a modern shotgun (the one I have has worked fine whenever I shot it but I don’t want to trust my life to a 100 year old gun). Any advice is welcome. I’m looking at about $1200 all in and the pistol is going to be about $400 so that’s an $800ish budget on the shotgun or rifle. Would love to hear some thoughts.