Something else to consider if it's a CCW gun is to look at a 380 gun. The problem I sometimes see with women and small 9mm is that the gun snaps more on them causing accuracy issues. I had a friend that would consistently shoot better with my 1911 45 than her smaller 9mm(part is sight radius part is recoil etc.)

http://www.chuckhawks.com/concealed_pistols.htm

Springfield also makes the XDs now, which is basically a single stack XD. I'm sure it would be great for carrying (belt or purse), but it has shit for magazine capacity.

http://www.gunsandammo.com/files/201...ld-XDS-001.jpg

I've got both the smith & wesson m&p 9c and a kel-tec pf9. My wife has a beretta storm compact in 9mm.

Is you are shooting paper the beretta is the hands down winner. The catch is the first shot is often tough due to the long double action. After though firing single action the break is crisp and it fires very nicely. Almost 1911'ish nice i think. The m&p doesn't shoot as well on paper but isn't far behind. Double action but striker fired and the trigger is pretty decent.

The pf9 is my carry weapon though. Small enough to pocket carry and can be accurate but has a steep learning curve. Loooooong double action trigger with a so-so break. I found a trigger kit you can get that is supposed to help but I haven't gotten it yet. The thing about it though is the recoil. It's quite lively. Actually harder to deal with than my brother in law's SR45. I see a lot of ladies that want a pf9 and that's cool if they're experienced shooters but I'd hate to put a new shooter behind one. Definitely not a "shoot all day" pistol.

Honestly it happened regularly in 1960s and it happened even less than 2 years ago.

California passed their first law banning loaded open carry....ironically under Ronald Reagan. The reason they did that was because the Black Panthers were legally carrying rifles during their protests to protect themselves from the police. Even though there hadn't been any specific incidents of violence from them carrying the firearms for political events the politicians wanted the firearms out of the hands of the black protestors.

Shortly after they passed the law banning the loaded open carry of firearms in CA, the police started coming in an breaking up(sometimes breaking skulls) of black panther protests.

The same events happened MUCH more recently, do you think it's a coincidence that during the original Tea Party protests that they tended not to get broken up by the police? Many of them legally carried their own firearms.

Contrast with the Occupy movement that regularly got their skulls cracked by the police breaking up their protests.

Is it a sad reality that protesters may need to carry firearms to prevent the police from using abusive tactics to silence them....yes 110%. But it's not rocket science, when both the cops and the protestors have guns you have a pretty clear balance of power(or at least one that's close enough to be painful to all). This compels both side to negotiate a peaceful solution.

When only one side has the guns and the other side doesn't then that side has a clearly superior position of power. They can and do come in an crack skulls to remove you. So long as they don't kill or permanently cripple someone they often get away with whatever abuse they want.

Is it sad that when one side has power and the other doesn't they will abuse that power to enforce their will? Yes...but that is the world we live in.

I looked at the Storm when I was on the market for a compact, but just dry-firing it at the gun shop was enough to remove it from contention. Trigger sucks on those.

That's fair enough, but even if say, protesters, had firearms, if any of those firearms are used to fire upon police, doesn't that just give the police an excuse to use force anyway?

The point is because both sides have force(baring someone being crazy) neither side is likely to use it because the result is bad for everyone. When one side has a significant force advantage they can and often do use it.

Like I said it would be nice to live in a world where force isn't used to resolve our differences but that isn't our world today. When people have a force advantage they use it, because it's fast and it's easy....reaching an agreement is hard....

I actually like the trigger on the wife's storm. This is why the advice to rent and try was good, though. Mileage really varies when you're trying to find "your" pistol.

Recently got a bodyguard 380 smith and Wesson for ccw

It's badass

Glock 26 or 27 are good as well

S&W Bodyguard 380 Pistol - It's failry lightweight and has a built-in laser sight.

She really needs to try them out. Grips are different, some more comfortable than others in a woman's hand. Please don't decide for her, let her try them and once she says she likes one over the others, purchase it for her. It's all about personal preference.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/plrIr7oHrJo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Walther PPKs or the Bursa thunder lines. Are pretty female friendly.

http://carnival.saysuncle.com/images...nder_380_L.jpg

No mention of a Glock G19?

http://us.glock.com/products/model/g19gen4

9mm
15-round capacity
compact size
comfortable to shoot

Reference Apr 1775. The largest most powerful Gov. on the planet attempted to take the residents only means of self defense.
A few muskets ,powder and shot.

Kindly Butt out. Since you are a citizen of the commonwealth of that very nation. You have been indoctrinated since birth and can hardly be considered an impartial observer.

This depends on the ladies size. 5ft 100lbs or 5'10" 160lbs.

Ask her
If she's honest she'll say "Bigger is Better".

The smallest adequate round is 9mm. The largest that she can handle , probably is 357 mag.

The larger the weapon the better the performance.

What I tell everybody.

2 things you should always rent before buying to see if you like them - cars and guns.

Don't start at the gun store. Go to your local shooting range and spend enough to test out a bunch of their guns over a couple of months. She should start to have some idea of what she likes, then go to the gun store and get a smaller version for carry, of what she already knows she likes.

Advice on this topic isn't worth much.

That said, here is my advice. The smaller and lighter gun you buy, the more likely your wife is to have it on a daily basis. Carrying daily is a PITA. If her gun is really small and really light, she will carry it. But these are usually pretty uncomfortable to shoot.

So get something very similar but bigger and heavier, even better if it is by the same company, for range sessions. Even so, she has to continue practicing with her carry weapon and better if it is with the same defense rounds she is going to carry.

A light .32 you have on your person is better than the .45 hand cannon you left at home because carrying is a PITA.

There are awesome guns today for carry. You can get mouse guns that hold 6-8 rounds of 9mm. IMO, one of those is the way to go. Small, light and 9mm, but it will be hard for her to shoot. That is why you practice, practice, practice.