Many people would be better served with a double action revolver. Increasing numbers of people have decided that they need to be armed with a firearm. Many of those people are arriving at that conclusion for the first time in their lives. The vast majority were not raised on a farm, and do not have military experience, therefore, they have never touched a gun before, and their only knowledge of firearms comes from what they have seen on television. On television, these days, everyone shoots a semi auto. In the real world, all the policemen carry semi autos. The cat behind the counter at the gun shop, and the only "gun guy" they know, or are related to, carries a semi auto. As a result, they figure they need a semi auto, too.
Well, there are problems with this: Females, older folks with arthritis, and younger people with injuries have trouble with slide manipulation, Those same people can have issues getting magazines fully loaded. There are cheat devices that help load mags and force back the slide, or even firearms that feature "EZ" slide manipulation and in some cases, tip up barrels which never need to have the slide retracted. They can help those who are dedicated to learning their firearm.
The alternative is a revolver. Specifically, a double action revolver. Push the slide release forward, downward, or pull it to the rear. Use the fingers of your support hand to apply pressure from right to left. Drop one round into each hole and close cylinder. Need to shoot? Pull the trigger. Still need to shoot? Pull the trigger again. Bad primer? Pull the trigger again. (Tap, rack, re-assess is never this quick in a Semi Auto).
"But 5 or 6 rounds might not be enough!" I get that, and understand completely, but let's be realistic. Only the gun you have on you, when things go $hitty is of use to you. If the only thing you can count on having with you 24/7/365 is a 5 shot J frame, then carry it till you wear the finish off it. On the flip side, if you can carry a full size G17 on the same time frame, then by all means....
I've taught a few CCDW classes, and I have seen a slew of the little 380's and compact 40's, etc. Regardless of gender, I find that folks often have trouble with them. More than that, mostly I honestly believe that a large portion of folks would be better served with a revolver.
