It depends where she lives. In some places, you can leave your front door wide open and not have any worries. In other neighborhoods it is common for houses to have bars over all the first floor windows.
I think any sane and responsible person should have a gun in the night stand. While the comments in the thread are helpful, nothing beats hands on. What I would suggest is that you go shooting, have who ever you are going with bring multiple handguns in multiple calibers, and decide what is comfortable to shoot. In both of terms of how the handgun feels and how well you manage the recoil. Close your eyes, extend your arms as if you are going shoot, where is the front sight? Closer to being lined up the better. The one that fits you the best will be the one that points naturally. Don't be afraid to shoot a gun, but at the same time, don't allow some (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*) blow hard give you a gun you cannot handle. It is dangerous and can be deadly. When in doubt, load one round into the magazine/cylinder. Better to have a mishap with an unloaded firearm than a loaded firearm. Gun shops are full of myths and voodoo: Don't buy into caliber fanboy bull(*)(*)(*)(*). Anything .380ACP and bigger does just fine. Don't let some blow hard sell you on a gun that you cannot handle/find comfortable. Don't buy into brand fanboy bull(*)(*)(*)(*). If it is a good quality firearm with a reputation for reliability, then it will work. Practice with full metal jackets, carry jacketed hollowpoints, carry what the police carry. Don't buy into the hyped RIP bull(*)(*)(*)(*) or other sketchy ammunition types. Revolvers are not fail proof. .22LR is not the most deadly round in the world. Can't argue physics, almost everything has more energy than .22LR. Birdshot for self-defense is bull(*)(*)(*)(*). Shotguns don't fill rooms with lead, as close range, you still have to aim them like a rifle. etc etc etc
I would suggest a .357 magnum revolver loaded with +p .38s until she practices a lot. If she doesn't know much about guns, she should take a gun safety course and a course in defensive use of handguns.
That differs by state. In FL, you can have a loaded handgun in a car, provided it takes two actions to ready. Unsnapping a holster and taking gun out of holster counts as two actions, BTW.
A .38 Special will make a the same size hole as a .357 Magnum and the second shot on target is more likely.
A snakeshot round is useless against people unless you can shoot their eyes. It can't penetrate a leather jacket. From what I've read, unless a cartridge can penetrate a few layers of sheetrock, it probably has inadequate penetration for self defense. Using snakeshot in self defense against people is suicidal, IMHO.
If she gets good, a .357 is better than a .38 (more velocity=more energy with the same sized bullet). The .357 gives the option to shoot either .38 or .357.
Looks like Bird Shot, XX Buck or Slugs would be vastly different and they would Not be still standing. Ammo means more than the caliber gun. Just saying.
The .357 just seems to be a bit of an overkill (no pun intended) especially for inside a home where over-penetration is (should be) a concern. Hunting game with an N Frame and a .357 w/250 gr. bullet is a good choice but I prefer the lighter more than adequate .38 Special in my snub-nose. Of course if all one has is a Ruger Redhawk with a 7.5" barrel and Winchester Super X .357, then that is the best gun cartridge combination for home defense.
I think that nobody should have a gun in nightstand, because it's dangerous and will not help if somebody will sneak unnoticed while you sleep. Really, most of gun owners are stupid and can't explain why they're still have weapons!
Probably the most common answer is because we have the same Right you have. The Right to keep and bear arms. The second most common answer is because the criminals are as well armed as we are. Then the next best answer is tyranny. school's out......................
Any gun that is suitable for self defense will have over-penetration problems. I would never recommend a snub-nose for night table use. Also, there aren't many medium frame .38s made, much easier to find a quality medium frame .357. - - - Updated - - - Hmm, I have lived most of my 49 yrs of life in homes with pistols in the night stand--my father did it, and I keep mine under my bed (in a locked case). I don't think it's particularly dangerous.
Would explain why a snubby is a poor night stand weapon? So you do not believe Smith & Wesson to be a quality medium frame revolver?
I still wouldn't hesitate to suggest a .357, especially as a home defense gun. You can still fire .38 ammo from a more substantial 4-6" gun with better sights and it's always good to have options. A former boss of mine bought his elderly MIL a 4" .357 after a burglar broke into her house. The heavier frame made it easier for his MIL to handle firing .38 ammo and the revolver was easier for her to manipulate.
(Also, Joe, I love the sign you made. I think that would probably work as good (or better) as the 'home-protected' stickers, lol. Thanks)
Smith & Wesson model 642,5 shot,.38 caliber with n9o hammer to get snagged pulling it out of the drawer
Good choice. The one I got my daughter has an exposed hammer but I gut it used and cheap since the finish was kind of screwed up. Usually if you buy used, most handguns have not been fired that much so are just as good as new but you get a better price.
Alright then, if we're gonna put up pictures and make recommendations, I'll recap a little bit of my own recent search for the "ultimate" little defense gun. For someone who has never owned a gun, I would very strongly urge them to look at this: http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/02/daniel-zimmerman/gun-review-glock-42/ It's big enough to allow you to gain some purchase on the grip. It has "real" sights. It's still small and narrow enough to be easily concealable. .380 is the smallest caliber that I would consider for defense. For what it's worth, it "pokes the same size hole" as .38 special or .357 Mag. At the end of my search, I bought the Gen. 4 Glock 26. My decision was made for some of the same reasons that Ms. really? would be considering. Small enough to conceal. Powerful enough to stop a man with one or two shots. Very easy to control, even with +P ammo. It can easily accept tritium night sights. The standard magazine is 10 rounds, but it can accept and function with the standard magazines for the Glock 19 (15 rounds) or for the Glock 17 (17 rounds). I chose the 26 over the 27 (the 27 fires .40 S&W) because I already have the 19 and 17, and my ammo storage is all in 9mm. There are a LOT of guns that I scratched off of the list. A coupla' pages ago, we saw the Kahr CM9. That's fine for a "gun guy" like Orlando Chuck, who has no problem with the temperament of the Kahr. One of the biggest drawbacks I found with Kahr was found in a review. The magazines have inadequate feed lips. They don't keep the cartridges in the magazine well enough. If you carry a spare mag in your pocket, expect some to work loose and come out. I dismissed the Sig P-290 because during the test, after about 300 rounds, the magazine would fall free after the first or second round. The guy sent it back to Sig. They didn't fix it, and sent it back. If the gun can't keep the magazine in place, it's gonna' get me killed. The Beretta Nano gets high praise in some places. It has developed a reputation for failure to eject. If the gun fails to extract a fired case, it can't chamber a fresh round. That gets you killed. I switched to Glock a few years ago. Until then, I was a Ruger guy. I have a P-95 that develops problems with failure to eject. That moved me from Ruger. A lot of people like the S&W Shield. I've seen no reason to disagree, but they use a hole in the breech to serve as the loaded chamber indicator. That just doesn't look right to me, though there's functionally nothing wrong with it. Here's the list of reviews from "The Truth About Guns": http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/ttag-reviews/ I'd advise that you bookmark this page, so you can refer back to it any time you hear about a gun that sparks your interest. Before you even look at anything made by Taurus, be warned that they're known for quality issues.
