I've been working on a character for a lower power, gang oriented game that Digital Heroin is running, and the one thing I can't really figure out to my satisfaction is what level of firepower would be in character/setting for the setting (a gang operating out of Loveland, to be specific).

Personally, I've been thinking along the lines of a machine pistol as a primary, day-to-day weapon with a backup pistol, and maybe a shotgun or cheap SMG kept somewhere safe in case bad things go down.

Any suggestions?

I'd go with an inexpensive Light Pistol of choice (or, for some style, maybe a pair of Streetline Specials in hidden arm slides), with an Uzi as a backup weapon. Assuming you're more interested in flavor rather than optimizing your points since that's going to require two skills rather than just one.

'Course, you could always ask him if he'd consider using a house rule that gets rid of the goofy Automatics skill and consolidates them with Pistols (for Machine Pistols and most SMGs) and Longarms (for Assault Rifles). That would fix things up nicely, both logically within the rules, and for being able to build more flavorable characters without being punished due to the silliness that is the Automatics skill.

Yeah, I'm definitely going for flavour more than anything else....the idea of my ganger is that he's the guy that goes out and makes deliveries/pickups...drugs, extortion payments, that sort of thing, so a weapon would need to be reasonably compact and easy to hide in case he has to go into a civilised area or through a checkpoint.

Hmm...streetlines. Hadn't considered that.

Oh, and he'll carry a knife or two hidden somewhere, 'cause that just seems practical.

Rule #9: Never go anywhere without a knife

Look at gangs today: 9mm (i.e., Light Pistol), maybe a MAC-10 (Machine Pistol), zip guns and things (Holdouts)…

Just by fluff alone I'd say either the Streetline or the Colt America L36 (for something a little bigger). If he's going to be something of a hand-to-hand fighter (some skill at least) I wouldn't totally rule out the Raecor Sting. I didn't look in Aresenal, but something along those lines for a primary gun. By the sounds of things, it's the 'hey, I'm packing here, lets not get too carried away" type of firearm. For those big gang fights, might I suggest the Roomsweeper.

Loveland is considered one of the most densely populated and violent part of the Puyallup Barrens, with the syndicates and the bigger gangs setting the tone for a lot of what you can get away with there. Plus I would think that the existence of trolls and relatively cheap body armor has made relatively bigger guns more popular in the Sixth World than they are in our day. So as long as you're not packing a custom Alpha or some other glitzy piece of hardware I should think you don't need to worry -that- much about what category your weapon comes from exactly. Still, I would stick with things that can be put away even if not completely concealed or at least don't scream "I'm out for blood tonight." An old beat up AK-97 is about as cheap as a brand new legit Ares Predator and smuggling makes them easy to get a hold of but that doesn't mean people won't be on edge if you saunter around with one, even in a place where people are used to being armed. I'd say get yourself a Colt Manhunter; they're cheap, they've got laser sights and the availability is about as low as a gun can get. Probably because it says they're popular with law enforcement and thus are likely manufactured in good quantity.

If it was an area like that, I'd definitely consider a big ol' Ruger Super Warhawk. Not threatening enough to make people scream when they see you coming, but powerful enough to do some serious damage. Nice and cheap, too.

That's a "ask the GM" question, as it's pretty game specific.

Pretty reasonable; I kinda consider heavy pistols to be the bare minimum for actually trying to kill someone, particularly with gangers since they're not exactly known for their dice pools. Plus, a lot of the poor and downtrodden are disproportionately orks and trolls. Not exactly known for going down easy.

After Tempo, I see the Barrens as an armed camp. Everyone who wants to live brings out his biggest baddest guns that they can afford/steal/somehow or another acquire. The minimum I see that a surviving ganger in the Barrens as having is an AK. This isn't everyday, or rather this isn't everyday like yesterday anymore.

I wouldn't suggest this route. Instead, I'd look at what cinematic near future gangs from 80s movies used. This means machine pistols and SMGs are common, with a few assault rifles too.

*shrug* He said lower power. Certainly, there are gangs armed like that.

Lower power is mighty subjective. It doesn't take more than a few BP worth of nuyen to pick up low availability SMGs and even AK-97s. That's not to say that they are fully kitted with high-end recoil comp and smartlinks (but they might be - those are not too much either).

Oh, absolutely. Guns are stupid-cheap. I assumed 'lower power' *didn't* mean 'low budget', for that very reason. Anyway, whatever works for that specific game.

A shotgun with a folding stock fits nicely under a jacket if you strap it right.

Going to have to second the shotgun. Hunting shotguns and the like are a relatively easy to acquire, compared to assault rifles and submachine guns. Things like the Defiance t-250, the remington 900, and the street sweeper. All have an availability of 5 or less. They also pack a decent range with slugs instead of flechettes. I'd consider a sling mod and a long coat, probably one of the armored ones from arsenal. Concealability makes a difference. Remington also has some good sport rifles in arsenal, at availability 4.

I'm going to concentrate on low-availability weapons here. No more than 2-4 range, for what its worth, maybe 5. Also cost, and concealability. Since street level ought to have to use what's affordable, and keep it hidden, lest you lose it.

As I've seen pointed out here before, packing a heavy pistol is looking for trouble. A light pistol is a reasonable middleground. The ares lightfire is a good option, and also has a low-availability silencer(well, it adds +250 to the weapon, which is a3r)

The warhawk is probably going to be your best bet for a heavy pistol. Its hard to argue with 6p ap-2 for 150 yen. The walter secura is worth considering, due to a cheap smartlink. Then again, there's the ares predator for that.

Tasers aren't a bad option. The defiance EX shocker packs a mean punch at an affordable price, and still uses the pistol skill. also legal

Also consider your accesssories. Someone carrying a silenced pistol is obviously looking for a silent kill. The internal mod may be better, but a silencer can added, removed, ditched, or just left at home so you don't raise suspicion. Laser sights are dirt cheap, and have a low availability. External smartlinks are a bit more expensive, but still well within the low-availability range.

Lets consider your ammo choices. Flechettes are easy to get ahold of. So are gel rounds, injection darts(ew, dartguns), flechettes, and regular bullets. In arsenal, capsule rounds are availabilty 4, and legal too(so are Splash grenades, gas grenades, and smoke grenades). Frangible and hollowpoints are both availability 6, but fairly common among police forces, and not too unreasonable for street level assets to have got their hands on.

Other weapon related things. Flashpaks. 200 yen for a -4 to attack rolls at availability 4. Good stuff. Ceramic knives are a bargian buy at 75, due to passing through MAD scanners, but a survival knife is a cheaper GPS. Shock gloves can be surprisingly nasty. Convince someone to shake, use both hands, and suddenly 5 stun twice. For clubs users, telescoping staffs have no availability, no penalty to concealment, and only cost a hundred.

Shotguns are nice, cheap and offer the widest utility of any of the weapons.
Also you can't go wrong with a Pred 2 (basic heavy pistol with a laser sight in the grip, in sr2 or 3 they had a street markup of something like .25-.5 making it less expensive to buy a stolen one than a new one)
Baseball bats are nice and ubiquitous. Mostly what I think defines a street level game is low availability. look at your table and go with what ever is the easiest to get. and remember that rebar makes good bolts for a crossbow, all you have to do is snip the ends into a pointy shape and away you go.

Look at something like Availability < 5 and Cost < 500 (cost for 1 month squatter lifestyle) and you should be in a typical gang weapon range.
Now you only need to decide how much trouble larger, non-concealable weapons will mean for you - a question best answered together with your GM.
A duster with some basic chemical seal might be a good idea if you can pay for that, since you will probably be out in the rain quite often and it helps with concealability as well.

And don't forget a melee weapon of some kind, like a baseball bat for intimidation and for dealing with those day-to-day troubles on your turf you want settled without shooting.

I would succest a Fichetti Tiffani Needler, easy to hide, awesome damage code (8P +5AP) and only costs 500 , on the down side it only has a 4 round clip.

Actually, as far as availability goes there's virtually no differences as long as you're sticking to the low end options available in each class of weaponry. Never forget that the Sixth World is a balkanized, constantly warring hellhole with massive smuggling and patchwork legal codes built around the notion that some companies essentially are their own countries. There are quite literally places in the former US where you can walk a few miles and cross through as many jurisdictions on the trip, and in some of those jurisdictions that AK-97 is perfectly legal if you have the right permit (although carrying one around is still seen as less than polite).