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OK, I'll pipe in on the "initial purchase/first firearm" part because I just carried out this exercise with my never-even-shot-a-BB-gun brother. I actually tried to talk him out of a firearm until he'd taken care of water, food and basic meds but he didn't bite. Weird how people react, he's a total hoplophobe.
I'll have to describe the selection criteria. First, his decision (actually my sis-in-law's decision) to get a firearm was initiated by Katrina and a realization that a breakdown in civil order is possible. The firearm will be locked away, unloaded, and there will be no chance of it being employed for self-defense in a break-in; this is strictly an anti-zombie piece. Add in "cheap to acquire and shoot" because that was a major factor in his decision.
He shot a selected sample from my finger and toes collection: Remington 870, M1 Carbine, SKS, and a 16" Bushmaster flattop w/ EoTech. My thinking, which turned out to be correct, was that he would be recoil-shy, hence no FN-FAL or M1A.
Even though I always thought it was something you did once and then learned your lesson, he kept short-stroking the 870 -- a no go. Moving on, his favorite was the AR w/ the EoTech, because he could hit something with it. Its cost knocked it out of the running. His next favorite was the M1 carbine, which I had him shoot as an example of the "camp carbine" class. I think for his purposes that might have been the best choice - a pistol-caliber Marlin or Kel-tec. What he ended up with was the SKS, primarily because he's cheap and I offered to give it to him.
All in all I think the SKS is not a bad choice for a one-gun house. Cheap, rugged, moderate recoil, relatively inexpensive ammo, and hopefully it will keep running when dirty and dry (I'm certain that the cleaning demo I gave was the last time that rifle will ever see a patch). Surprisingly, stripper clips weren't a stumbling block.
Bonus: If he does forget how to load it, it makes a decent club and it has an integral bayonet.
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