Well I guess I'll add my two cents worth. Okay, I'm a talker, so this will be more like my dollar and a half worth. As a law enforcement range master, I suggest what others have said and find some place where you can rent handguns and find what works best for you. What works well for you may not work the same for your wife. I have a variety of handguns and although the revolvers are more simple for my wife to use, she does not like them slamming in her hand. They do not have the recoil spring to take up some of the recoil like semi autos do. Be careful with her with some of the semi autos, in particular, the ones with a polymer receiver or lower end. Some women have problems with them due to wrist strength and the weight of the slide creates a strange action with the wrist that causes extraction and feeding problems. Someone else made a great point about caliber. Shot placement is the key rather than size of round. I have investigated many cases where people were shot with large caliber weapons and survived and others where one well placed round with a small caliber weapon can take a large man like me out. A .22 can be quite devistating because they have a tendency to bounce around and off of things inside the body. I investigated one case where a woman was shot point blank in the back of the head with a .357 and she survived. Her husband was shot with a .22 and died. For home defense, I would recommend a twelve gauge pump shotgun. Do not keep a round in the chamber and if someone is entering or has entered your home, the sound of you racking a round into the chamber will stop them cold. Take it from an old cop who has been on the receiving end hearing that sound when entering a building after someone. It will stop you in your tracks and may loosen your bowels somewhat.
