re: The Art of Selecting a Self Defense Weapon for the wife/gf...

Lots of good info.

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.380 is nice as it has little recoil and should be easily handled by most women.

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Although the 380 doesn't have heavy recoil, it is very "snappy" w/ a lot of muzzle flip when shot in a pocket gun like the Kel-Tec 380, Ruger LCP etc. Most of the women I've shot w/ don't like the muzzle flip of the 380. Depending on the gun, a pocket 380 may actually have more muzzle flip than many 9 mm's.

For concealed carry, I think a shrouded hammer revolver (like the pictured LCR and S&W ) is a much better choice than a regular or bobbed hammer (like the pictured Ruger SP101) as it has less to snag on during a draw.

As far as semi-auto's, I many women find it easier to handle and conceal a single stack mag gun (Kel-Tec 9PF, Ruger LC9, Kimber Solo, Beretta Nano, Kahr CW9, Taurus 709 Slim and others) than a double stack mag (Springfield XD, nearly all Glocks, all S&W M&P's). Be sure the woman can reliably operate all the controls and rack the slide on a semi-auto.

Re: women and shotguns, strongly consider a "youth" model. Many women find it easier to handle a "youth" model as opposed to a full size version. Mossberg makes a nice 20 gauge "youth" model.