by Ryan Thomas

Created on: February 03, 2009   Last Updated: February 05, 2009

In a society where the issue of self-defense has been put on the backburner, we have found ourselves in something of a tough spot. With the attitude of "let the police protect us" proliferating in pop-culture and media, criminals feel more comfortable than ever. After all, 3 out of 5 convicted felons admit they're more afraid of an armed citizen than a police officer. If you're reading this, then you have most likely made the choice to take on the task of every responsible citizen: protecting yourself and those you love.

Firearms are the most time-tested and effective means of self-defense than anything else on the market. That's why police officers still carry them as their primary line of defense. In this article, we'll take a look at everything from derringers to desert eagles, and hopefully you'll be able to make an informed decision about which handgun is right for you.

Revolvers (also known as "wheelguns") are handguns that fire cartridges by means of a revolving cylinder that cycles one chamber each time the hammer is cocked, which can either be done manually or via the trigger. Many people prefer to practice shooting a revolver by cocking the hammer before each shot, as this makes the trigger pull very light. However, in a self-defense situation there would not be enough time to do this, therefore making the trigger pull quite long and stiff.

Although revolvers are renown for being 100% reliable due to their simplistic design, I would only suggest them for home defense. Considering the large, bulky cylinder that holds and cycles the cartridges, they are somewhat impractical for concealed carry. Many companies do offer hammerless, ultra-light revolvers, but the cylinder is still a problem for many people. Another issue is the very limited round capacity, which in most revolvers built for concealed carry is limited to 5 rounds. Contrary to popular opinion, revolvers are no more "powerful" than automatic handguns of comparable caliber.

Automatic handguns (also referred to as "semi-automatics") utilize a spring-loaded magazine to feed cartridges into the firing chamber of the gun. Each time a shot is fired, the energy from the round pushes a spring loaded slide back. Upon returning to its original position, the slide pushes another round from the magazine into the chamber. Depending on the kind of mechanism in the particular gun, this same action will also either cock an external hammer (like on a revolver) or partially cock an internal firing pin.

In my opinion,

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