TexasCHLforum.com

There are several pump shotguns available for less than $200 which make an ideal choice for an HD gun - especially given the wide range of ammo types and availability.

To be blunt, the nature of the question, and the tight budget, might suggest a fairly low overall interest/enthusiasm level - which probably means that range time is probably to be minimal if not non-existent. If that is likely to be the case, a handgun is probably not a great choice, especially one that might need a bit of debugging.

But for a cheap, well-regarded semi-auto pistol, CDNN has the CZ-82 at $150 and up, depending on desired condition.