Bottom line, ANY gun is better than no gun and although we would love to kill all the bad guys, the most important aspect is stopping the threat.
Also, I do not believe that .380 will only penetrate a couple of inches.....I do believe, however, that it's not up to FBI standards because they need more effective weapons, but for day to day personal protection, a .380 will do just fine
Bc, you have articulated your reasons for carrying your 380, and that's what it's all about: YOU make your decisions as to what's a minimum for YOU. The last thing I am trying to say to anyone by starting this thread was that folks should carry what I think is appropriate.
As for the bottom line, yes, you're absolutely right: stopping the threat is the goal. What one decides is the minimum or optimum caliber/gun/load for stopping the threat is a highly individual decision. Whether the FBI or your local patrolman needs a "more effective weapon" than I do as a CCW citizen is debateable; in my case, I've made the decision to carry weapons that meet LE backup gun minimums
at least, which for my former departments and my local sheriff's department is 9x19mm/38 Special.
I will say this, though, after debriefing many, many, many cops who've been involved in a shooting. None of them ever said they wished they'd had a smaller gun/caliber going into their fight.
