Don't think when all the factors are added up that most people would disagree that the 9mm is the best OVERALL defensive firearm, especially for LE, it's the way the FBI led LE agencies around by the nose back to the original starting point is what irks most people.
When I was with Dallas PD there were 60-85 LE shootings per year. Unlike most cities we had a wide range of guns and calibers available...any S&W, Colt or Browning in: .380 (investigators only) 9mm .38 Super .38 Special .357 Magnum .41 Magnum .44 Special .44 Magnum .45 ACP .45 Auto Rim .45 Colt
Factory ammo or handloaded ammo...as long as it wasn't explosive or incendiary you were ok...
Our "hit" factor was up about 66% when the rest of the nation was about 29%...the was the 1980s... As a result there were a lot of data on what worked and what didn't. The ONLY officers I knew who changed guns and calibers were 8 of the 9 I knew personally who shot people or things with a .38 Special. Other than that one caliber I never knew anyone who who changed guns, caliber or even the brand of ammo they used.
Had several friends or co-workers who shot people with 9mm with several different loads and not one of them had any complaint. Remington HP, Federal HP and Winchester Silvertips...no problems... Then along comes the FBI shooting and all of a sudden the 9mm sucks...what sucked was the training and tactics that the FBI had to coverup and they did so by blaming the bullet.
They then brought LE...the 9mm Subsonic...disaster... 10mm...couldn't be handled by the "average" LE officer and the guns were so big people listed to one side... .40 S&W...better but still beyond what again is the average non-shooter LEO and being in a gun designed to handle 9mm was hard on both the gun and the shooter....and now 30 YEARS LATER we are led back to...the 9mm...because there was nothing wrong with it in the first place.
And the excuse is, well now there are "magic" 9mm bullets....BS....you don't need a XTP, Critical Defense, Xtreme Defender or any other big name bullet...what you have to do is plant one of them where it will do the most good... Are some "better" than what was available back in 1986...sure...but marginally so.
There are too many variables in every shooting to worry about your designer ammo... Pick a system that hits where you look and you can carry all the time...that's what's important...
