As long as you are legally able to own a firearm, you could receive one as a gift from your relatives. You'd still need a purchase permit, which would mean getting one from your local PD or sheriff's office. As for the ammunition, to make things easier, I'd say get a 9mm, that way you can use your father's ammo, and just give him money to "replace" what you use.
If you get what I'm saying.
As for all the flak you're gonna get for buying a Hi-Point, just ignore it, and go visit the
Hi-Point forums for moral support.
The nice thing about a Hi-Point, when you run out of ammo, you can toss the gun at the bad guy, and probably do even worse damage.