I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who are looking into getting their first, sometimes ONLY, gun. And the same sort of question comes up a lot. I will offer the same advice here, and you are definitely free to throw it away. My answer ALWAYS revolved around 3 points.
1) Are you/wife/whomever going to get into shooting and practice with the gun on a regular basis. I.e. at least one weekend a month. Worst case, at least once every 2 months?
2) Is this going to be probably the only handgun you/wife/whomever is going to own?
3) Is it going to be used for self or home defense?
If you/wife/whomever are not going to be practicing with this gun often; and it's probably going to be your/hers/whomever only real gun; and it's going to be used for self or home defense; then you NEED to buy a revolver. This really is not debatable. Debatable means that 2 different positions will be discussed in the hopes that one position might be able to persuade the other position to change their view. I personally will never change my view on this. I've trained and shot a lot of weapons. I am definitely not the expert on just about any of them. But I do know very well what the human mind will go through if the time ever comes that you will need to use the weapon for self/home defense.
Your heart rate with race, your adrenaline level will skyrocket, you will be scared as hell, your mind will be going through hundreds of choices and what ifs. Basically, your mind will not have time to think about HOW to use the gun in your hands. And worse yet, WHAT to do with this gun if it doesn't work. And all humans will go through this mental process. Those who tell you that they've been shooting for 30-40 years and it doesn't bother or affect them, is letting their ego speak for them. Even the trained soldier who has to come face to face with someone and pull the trigger on that person, still has this mental rush happening. It's the ones who don't think at all that are really dangerous. The fear level has gone so high, that they don't think about who they are shooting at. These are the people who have accidentally shot non threatening people. Including friends and family. But anyway:
A double action revolver, is basically point-and-click. You don't have to worry about safeties. You don't have to worry about the round feeding into the chamber. You don't have to worry about an empty case stove piping on the gun. You don't have to worry about a round jamming or misfeeding from the magazine. You don't have to worry about anything. With a revolver, you simply pull the trigger. And even if you come across a bad round, simply pulling the trigger will give you the next round.
In a defensive scenario, the gun will NOT save you. The gun is simply a tool. Just like pro-gun people say; "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". Well the same in reverse. "Guns don't SAVE people; People save people". The gun is just a tool. But just like anything else, it requires training. The gun part in a defensive scenario has to be "Muscle Memory". You have to not even think about the gun. If it's a semi-auto, you need to practice to the point where if it jams, misfeeds, misfires, etc... that you clear it and have the next round without even THINKING about it. Your mind is thinking about other things. HOW to use the gun shouldn't be one of those things.
And there are those that believe that you need a 10, 15, or 18 round magazine. No you don't. You're not a cop who is PURPOSELY looking for bad guys. You aren't going to be shooting through walls, doors, car windows, at multiple gang members, etc... You are going to be dealing with the 1 or 2 robbers on the street or in your house. The mere presence of your gun, or if necessary the first round fired, is going to be enough to neutralize the situation. The bad guy will go after an easier target. And that is your goal; to stop the threat. You should be totally aware of your situation. If you can't stop the threat with 6 rounds in a revolver before having to reload, you really shouldn't have been there. And at 20-25 feet (Which is where your threat is), there is absolutely no reason if you can remain calm, to not be able to hit your target. But again, your brain is doing a hundred things. The gun part has to be muscle memory and automatic.
Anyway, get the revolver, unless you/she/whomever is planning on doing a LOT of practicing on a regular basis, all the time.
