My dad bought me a 10/22 and 22/45 in the early 90s so I could learn to shoot. I shot the hell out of those and his old pre-68 H&R topper single-shot 410. This was in North Carolina, so when I got an apartment during college he gave them to me with an admonition not to shoot my eye out. First gun I bought was a Taurus PT-111 Pro (don't judge) which was actually 100% reliable and a great gun that I CCWed for years.
When I started learning more about guns I bought a Springfield XD when they were fairly new to the market. Being an engineer I quickly determined that there were several mechanical shortcomings (the extractor was pressed into a blind hole, so it if broke you just throw the gun away, this might be different on newer versions), so I took it back to the gun shop, put it on consignment and bought a glock 19. I carried either a G26 or G19 for about 15 years until I moved here. I recently bought a P365 and it's an awesome carry gun, but I'm sticking with my glocks because i have so many full-cap mags (like 60+, back in the free states) and parts for them, and sig is very proud of their mags.
I was a die-hard AK guy for YEARS, took a bunch of classes with them etc. but right before Sandy Hook I purchased several ARs as an investment. I discovered that they were not fragile and unreliable as I had thought, and in fact the ergonomics and weight was superior to the AK. Also I got into suppressors and figured out they are easier to suppress than an AK (the muzzle threads are guaranteed to be square and concentric, you can increase buffer weight or get an adjustable gas block etc.), so I ended up selling all my AKs and replacing them with ARs.
So at least for me, it has been an (expensive) journey, figuring out what works for me and my specific use case and what I like. IMHO a glock 19 is a great first gun purchase, but don't get myopic and think a certain platform is the end-all, be-all. Everything has its pros and cons and some guns may simply fit you better.
