[LostAbbott]

If it is for home defense, then your best bet is a shotgun. They are the easiest to fire, have great stopping power, one pump will usually get anyone out of your home with out having to fire a shot and when you do have to shoot they are much less likely to go through walls and hit the wrong people...

However if you are set on a hand gun then get out to a range with your wife and shoot as many as you can. I would suggest spending about thirty minutes with each gun you are interested it so you can get a good idea about how it fires and how to work it...