Perhaps, you are asking too much of granny. You've mentioned that she old, arthritic and weak. You've also mentioned 22lr, 22wmr, 5.7, and 380, none of which are my choice for home defense. Whether for home defense or CCW- as you know- one should be well acquainted with the firearm. One...
This is the thread of the day. Great confusion created from a simple question. That said, I have not considered a lot of the comments before. For the OP, the answer is "no".
Forgive me if this has been mentioned already....
Try not to buy a 38 caliber revolver. I know you don't want a 357 magnum, but buy one anyway and use 38 cal loads instead of the magnum loads. Gives you options.
What in the world are you talking about? No matter the popularity of 9mm, we are in no way ever leaving the other calibers behind. Experiencing market hard times and a current demand for 9mm doesn't mean we will always have market hard times and the demand will always be 9mm.
If a Gen 5 is worth more than a Gen 3, then upgrade the Gen 5. You will have a very desirable and resellable firearm...(if you ever wanted to resell). Although there are exceptions, older Glocks dont often carry the appeal that the newer ones do.
Daniel Defense or custom build one.
My guess is no matter what you buy, you will end up replacing parts anyway. Handgaurd, grip, trigger, sights and/or scope etc.
Mine are. A smoother, nicer trigger (even a BX trigger) might make one better than another. IMHO, generally speaking, in a world of firearms, 15-22 is forgettable.