whats best

Question
I'm a single mother of two and now feel the need to purchase a small hand gun for protection. I have always feared guns because my mother was shot by my father when I was a teenager. I am planning on taking shooting lessons at our local range. I am 34 years old and weigh 210lbs. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

Answer
It is very important that you do take some shooting instruction. The local range will probably have a good selection of guns for you to rent so that you can try out a few.  Then you can decide which type you like best.  If you are going to keep it in the house (locked away fromm the kids!), I suggest that you try a .38 special six shot revolver with 4 inch barrel and adjustable rear sight.  Although semi-autos are more popular than revolvers, if a jam occurs when you really need the gun, it could cost a few seconds to figure out what's wrong.  But with a revolver, there is nothing to jam, and you can easily see the condition of the gun.

My suggestion is a little large if you plan to carry the gun, so in that case you may want to use a 2" barrel.  Semi-autos are ok also, and are a little smaller.  But make sure that you get some practice to recognize a jam and how to clear it quickly if you decide to get a semi-auto.

Hope this helps!

Dave