I bought a Bersa Thunder .380 for my wife. She is not a "gun person". When we went to the hunting camp for her to learn how to shoot it she hated it. Too small, too light, felt like it had too much muzzle flip etc... I put a Ruger GP100 .357 mag loaded with low recoil .38 spl loads in her hands and she loved it. we eventually worked her way all the way up to some "hot" hand loads and even my hunting bullet of choice for the .357, Federal 180 gr castcore. I ended up selling the Bersa to a friend and now her home protection gun of choice is a Taurus Tracker 4" bbl 7 shot revolver loaded with the Federal Hydrashoks. Have him take her to a range that will rent out guns and let her try them out before buying anything.

If they are not really familiar with guns I would steer away from the 1911's. I feel like they are more for experienced shooters. Baretta 92FS 9mm is a great one as long as they're not really looking for concealed carry. Glocks may be one of the easiest to operate. Load magazine, insert magazine, rack slide, point (aim) at what you want to shoot, and pull trigger. Another one I like is the Springfield XD line. Available in 9mm, .40, and .45. Good luck in helping them find the right one.



If that is the case I have seen several times where a 410 has been recommended. A load of #6 shot at close range will do anyone in and doesn't have the penetration power to go through walls behind the assailant. If the revolver is still the gun of choice, then maybe Taurus' new judge would be worth taking a look at. It fires .45 Long colt or 410 shotshells. Check this out... http://www.taurususa.com/whatsnew/revolvers.cfm