Marie, good for you. Sounds like you really kept your head.
I have very little experience with guns, but I intend to purchase a handgun in the near future. I want to do it right, so I took a gun safety class with hands-on experience at the range. I highly recommend taking a class to anyone that wants to get comfortable with them. I still want to get more range time before I make the purchase, but I know what to do and not to do now, and I'm comfortable both shooting one and being near them when others are shooting. It made a world of difference.