Guns

I realize now that I have yet to discus weapons; specifically guns.

Living in California makes it particularly difficult to buy or own guns. And I won't even go into concealed carry or automatic weapons.

The basic list, in my opinion, of fire arms ownership is as follows:
Pistol
Shotgun
.22lr Rifle
Heavy caliber rifle (.556m/.223cal or higher)

And you should probably buy them in that order, although pistol and shotgun can be swapped I think, depending on you situation and need.

Please note that I WILL NOT discuss here what brand, type or caliber of fire arm you should purchase. I can't. Those decisions will always depend on you. I will give you some things to think about before purchase.

The way to think about what to get would be similar to when buying a car or computer: How much are you willing to spend? What are you going to be using it for (hunting/property protection/personal protection)? How easy it is to repair and availability of parts? And for guns, can you handle that one? With most fire arms you can often go to a firing range and rent them to find out if it something you are comfortable with.

Pistols
Something to think of for women is, smaller is not necessarily better, bigger frames means more mass to control recoil when you fire. Women also seem to be more comfortable with and better shots than men with revolvers.

Question to ask yourself: Are you going to carry concealed? Then is that pistol too big? Should you carry extra ammo? How much? Where?

My suggestion if it's only for home defense and you are not going to carry it would be the biggest damn gun you can find. The .50cal Desert Eagle is stupid huge, but it is the only handgun in the world that comes with it's own special effects! And believe it or not it doesn't kick as hard as you think.

Shotguns
Hunting, property/personal protection
Yes, you can do all three with this firearm, but, you will need a variety of shells to handle your different needs. On the plus side, because of so many different loads available you can do a lot with just this one firearm. You  have many choices of models and prices so you should do your homework about what you are going to need it for to better decide which one to get. Shotguns may be the most modifiable firearm available (depending on make and model) For size length, capacity, options, color, whatever.

.22's
This is basically for hunting small game or rodents.
It is a very small bullet and won't kill anything much bigger that a medium sized dog at best. I personally would go with a .22 rifle over a .22 pistol, simply because I aim better with a rifle, and if I'm hunting the shot must count. Your millage may vary.

Rifles
Hunting, property/personal protection
This one you should consider very carefully as they are expensive and fit a tight niche. On most survival blogs and sites you will hear a debate between .223 and .308 (which happens to be NATO standard military calibers and therefor assumed to be plentiful in case of SHTF {Shit Hits The Fan}) I originally had a .308 until my Ex stole it, but as the years wear on that this was getting heavy! What with rifle and ammo (In the rifle plus extra mags to carry on me) was weighing in at around 30-35lbs. It doesn't sound like much until you have to cary it in your arms hour after hour, day after day. Plus, my kids would not be able to shoot it for at lest 10-15 years until they get big enough to handle it.

One last thing to consider; If you are going to be with a group, or even just your family and they are all (or most) going to be armed, then everyone should have the same basic tools, so that the parts and ammo are interchangeable.