The Bible doesn't specifically say you need to join a church, but when the early believers came together, that WAS church. There was only one. There wasn't even the Bible, yet. But even as early as Paul the Apostle, there were beginning to be divisions and issues where people forced their opinions over what was the true teaching.
My only advice is to watch out for the changed meanings and translations as you read and interpret for yourself. This is where having a church that is led by an educated pastor is very helpful, as he can help with cases of "well this says xyz, but if you look at the way they would have written it in Greek, it translates more as ABC, but if you take into account the Jewish laws, then this is saying LMN" (I hope that made sense.)
Just reading the Bible is still a good start, in my opinion. And you may find you want to learn more and more. Not knowing you, but you being on a gun board, I'd recommend the Evangelical or Baptist churches if you want to go, since like I said they're typically more conservative.
Baptists tend to have the most food.