What do you think the best defensive handgun in ...

A 38 Special Revolver is a good choice if you have minimum experiance with a handgun. If it is going to be a household gun You should get a barrel length of 4 to 5 inches. If you are going to carry conceal, a "snubby" or short barrel will hide better under your clothing. 38 Special amunition comes in several types. In both standard and +P (high pressure). The +P has more stopping power and I recommend it with 38 Specials that can handle the extra power. Some 38's are rated for +P and some arn't. Don't use the higher performance +P in guns not rated for it. The kick of a 38 Special is very low. Even with +P ammo. The 38 Special has proven its self as an effective weapon with over 100 years of use in Police and Military. It is still today the #1 owned handgun worldwide. My personal recomendation is a 38 Special that can use +P ammo. Taurus is a good quality and affordible choice of a gun. Use 125 gr. (grain) HOLLOW POINT +P bullets. Take a gun safety class and practice with your gun with your target placed ONLY at 15 feet. That is the distance of most attacks and gun fights. Start, if your a beginner, start out at hitting the target at only 10 ft. Clean gun afer every use...

I am a professional gun and ammo instructor. I have over 30 years of handgun experience, I'm also a certified NRA Gun Safety Instructor.

The 9mm. Became popular in the early 1970's. Smith & Wesson came out with their model #39. It was unique because it had a 13 round clip. Police officers like the fact that the advantage of the weapon was less reloading time.  The actual 9mm. cartrige had no real advantage over the 38 Special. A little better stopping power over a standard 38 special round. But no advantage compared to 38 special +P. But, few people know that  Police officers can purchase more powerful ammunition that is not availible to the general public. The general public can purchase the standard 9mm which is a 115 gr. Police officers can purchase a deadly 124 gr.+p. that has a lot more stopping power. Police carry 9mm. because they are likely "multiple groups" of bad people. They need a gun with multiple shots in the event they encounter a gang with several shooters in it. Home protection and personel protection usually is an encounter with 1 burglar or 1 robber. And, the average gunfight is 2.5 shots fired from both defender and agressor. The likely hood of needing a gun that shoots 10 rounds (for home defense) would be rare. Unless a whole gang was banging down your front door. Revolvers are better than semi-autos. Semi-autos "jam" and they do it a lot. Watch COPS on TV and you will see officers semi-auto jaming all the time. Revolvers don't jam! They are easier to use, just point and squeeze the trigger. Revolvers are also a lot less expensive than semi-autos. You can buy a new 38 Special for under $300. A semi auto is gonna cost at least $600. And, don't buy a used gun. Only a skilled handgunner can tell if its "used up" and most gun shops won't give you a warranty like you get with a new gun. If it's gonna be a household gun that's likely to spend most of it's life in a bedroom drawer, a 38 will serve you well. If you live in a neighborhood filled with gangs and walk thru it to get home at night, a 9mm. may then be the correct choice. I own both 38 and 9mm. My wife enjoys shooting the 38 more as well. Smaller gun handle. There is a saying with shooters. It goes, "If you need more than 6 bullets, your not in a gunfight, your on a battlefield". My personel belief is that if I can't stop an agreser with just 2 shots from my gun, I am in trouble. And, a gun shop would love to sell you the more expensive 9mm instead of an inexpensive 38 Special.

P.S. The standard of accuracy. Good quality revolvers and semi-autos can hold a 2 1/2 inch, 6 shot group on a target. There is no difference betwixt the two gun styles.

That's right! If the 38 special is loaded with 125 gr. +P it would equal or exceed the 9mm performance. Consider this. A gun is a tool like a hammer. There are may different types of hammers used for different things. Bullets are like nails. Many different sizes of nails to do a job. ie; you would not use a sledge hammer to drive a small nail. Correct hammer for a small nail is a small hammer. Thee point is, you need the correct gun, and the correct ammo to match your shooting. Semi-auto jam mostly due to the fact that most semi-auto were designed to shoot "full metal jacket" (military style) bullets. Both 9mm and the 45 auto were basicly military handguns. They were not designed to function well with modern hollow point amunition. The tip of a hollow point bullet is flat. Millitary ammo is rounded to " function" well. Some semi auto are so sensitive to function, if you hold them in your hand wrong it can jam. All guns function correctly with timing. A semi auto may function well with military ammo but constantly jam with modern ammo. But you don't want to be restiected to military ammo cause the modern hollow points have better stopping power. I've never seen a semi auto that didn't jam. If you need a semi auto, any caliber, buy one with an "open top" slide. Most semi autos jam after thee shot has been fired, the slide then ejects the brass bullet case thru a slot in the side of the slide. Problem is sometimes it misses throwing the case thru the hole. Result is a jam. An open top slide ejector has a larger opening and easy for the gun to eject the used case. Beretta and Taurus Brand semi autos use this open top slide feature. That is the same style and model the US Army currently uses. I would only recommend this model semi auto. But the Baretta in 9mm or 45 acp will run around $900. Taurus makes the exact same gun for around $750. I have the Taurus model PT 92F an 18 round semi auto in 9mm. It functions almost perfectly with a variety of different types of ammo both modern hollow point and military.