Acquiring a gun early without murdering innocent shopkeepers

One thing that I have noticed is that acquiring some form of gun, be it a pistol or shotgun, makes the early game in Spelunky far, far easier to handle.

I have random luck with finding pistols in boxes, however those are few and far between. Having enough gold to purchase one in the randomly-generated weapons shops is also often difficult, as shotguns are quite expensive (though I have been able to purchase the random pistol).

I am curious if there is any surefire method for increasing my ability to acquire a weapon without murdering the shopkeeper, as dealing with his relatives at each successive exit becomes a pain, and often leads to my brutal, bloody death at the hands of a shotgun blast.

Solution 1:

Besides finding one randomly or from a shopkeeper, you can find shotguns beneath graves labeled "ASH" (a reference to the Evil Dead movies) on Restless Dead type Jungle levels. This can be as early as the fifth level, not sure what your criteria for "early" is.