Advice for first firearm for a female shooter w/kids at home?

[cantoncmd]

I have been thinking about getting my stepdaughter her first firearm(handgun) for Christmas. What is your advice for the first firearm for a female shooter w/kids at home? She has children ages 5-16, so safety is a concern. Obviously, safe storage of said firearm would be her responsibility. Should I look at a revolver, or semiauto? The next question is caliber 9mm, 38, 45? I guessing this may be her only handgun for a while and she may elect to get her carry permit, but for the time being I'm assuming it will be her only weapon for a while. So reliability, safety and ease of function would be big issues as well. Anyhow, fire away and let me know what you would suggest. Thanks.

 

[Ken Ford]

Training, Training and more Training.

Take to a range that has rentals and let her decide. Trust me...

 

[Cadcom]

A Glock 42 or Shield 9mm seems to scale well to smaller hands. I'd take her up to big woods goods on a Tuesday night (ladies night) and let her shoot them.

 

[HVACGuy]

Suggest having her try them out at the range, everyone is different. Is that a possibility, or is this a Christmas surprise?

 

[Lazarus]

My suggestion is to take her to a range/shop and rent her different calibers and sizes.

 

[Just1more]

It's hard enough to pick out one for yourself...even harder to pick one out for someone else. She needs to try several and then pick one she is comfortable with. Then as said above...train, train, train.

 

[Greg_D]

Try a H&K VP9, easy to shoot, slide easy to rack, one of the smoothest out-of-the-box triggers, customize to fit any size hands.

 

[HVACGuy]

It's hard enough to pick out one for yourself...even harder to pick one out for someone else. She needs to try several and then pick one she is comfortable with. Then as said above...train, train, train.

Agreed! I went through several to find one for my wife. Hopefully a 9mm works out, it's cheaper to shoot a lot!

 

[Allsmiles]

Something with as many safety features has you can find (kids) if a semi. There is no substitute for training and being comfortable with the weapon you choose. Let her shoot a bunch as she may like something completely different than you are thinking. Women often are attracted to guns for different reasons than you and me.

 

[Tactical Beaver]

Training, Training and more Training.

Take to a range that has rentals and let her decide. Trust me...

^^^^^THIS ALL DAY^^^^^

Let her find out whats she's comfortable with and then Train, train, train like Ken Ford said.