What kind of handgun can be used as self –defense.?

You are heading down a bad road.

If you feel the need to pull a gun to defend yourself, you should have the sense of "my life is in danger".

If you 'shoot to scare' or 'shoot to wound', some drugged out person is gonna clean your clock.

Shoot to stop the threat.

Efang

Please take this in the spirit in which its offered. . . You will get yourself killed if you think that a gun is a tool to scare someone with. You may get yourself killed if you carry a defensive gun that is not powerful enough to stop an armed agressor. You really need to think this through and get some training on the appropriate mindset that you need to be in if you are going to carry a gun for personal protection.

My.02 worth.

Look at it like this... it's quality vs. quantity. In an SD situation you're going to have to meet a certain level of force to successfully defend yourself. Now quality is the stopping power of the round and your accuracy. Quantity is the number of rounds you're going to have to put in the bad guy.

Lower quality, higher quantity. Higher quality, lower quantity.

That make sense?

With a .22 you're going to have to put more rounds in a smaller space (vital areas) than you will with, say, 12-gauge 000 buck with which one shot often suffices.

See?

That said, .22s have been use successfully in SD situations. It's just not very common. I'm not sure I'd play those odds if I had an alternative.


-T.

If you want to avoid killing someone, don't shoot them. The suppressed .22 is a favorite assassin's weapon, AFAIK. It will most certainly kill, especially at defensive ranges.

If killing someone is not justified, don't shoot them! Don't shoot at them, around them, or in the air!

Shooting someone in self-defense is all-or-nothing.

If someone is an imminent threat to your life, as in he is attacking you with a knife, you want to stop the threat. You have neither the time nor the moral obligation to place your shots anywhere but center-mass. If it kills him, well, better him than you -- you're the innocent party, here. What matters is that you and your loved ones are kept safe.

A .22 beats the hell out of a chopstick. A .38, 9mm, or larger caliber gun with good ammo will be a better "stopper" -- which is what you want. There are various arguments about the balance of magazine capacity, bullet weight, energy, penetration, overpenetration, recoil, etc. But .22 is on the bottom end of the scale, so there's no need to get into that here.

He's trying to kill you.
You're trying to scare him.
How do you expect this to turn out?

Whoooaaa.....You've already been given some good advice...take it! Guns are good for many purposes...frightening people isn't one of them. If you are going to own a gun for protection, you have to be willing to use it. You don't pull one to scare someone, you pull one to stop the threat.You have to be willing to pull it and fire it if your life is threatened. And you have to be willing to fire it until the threat is stopped...once...twice...as many time as it takes until your threat is not a threat any longer. Your self-defense gun should be as large a caliber as you are comfortable and accurate with. Be sure and practice with whatever you're going to use....Good luck,

If you do not need to use DEADLY force, DO NOT shoot anyone.

efang--please use whichever gun you feel best about for self-defense. However, we would all want you to make an informed choice, by which I mean be aware of the potention problems with that choice. If, once you've considered the pros and cons, you make that choice--good luck and more power to you.

Potential problems: a .22 might actually be BOTH more lethal and less effective as a SD gun. Why? You hit someone ONCE with a .40 (or even a good 9 mm), and you have a fair chance they may not be able to continue fighting. With a .22, it's far more likely that you will have to shoot the attacker multiple times, and that carries a higher likelihood that at least one of those wounds will be fatal--may not STOP him right now, but may kill him from internal blood loss within the next few minutes, before advanced care can get to him.

During that time between when you shoot him--but don't stop him--and when he dies, he may be able to really put it to you, or to anyone else you're trying to defend.

A jury might (if trying you for murder or negligent homicide) look at your choice of .22 as suggesting an attempt to minimize harm, and so could use it as a mitigating factor--AT SENTENCING. It will have no impact as to whether they find you innocent or guilty of a criminal homicide.

A .22, even if you try to "wound," is deadly force. If you shoot at all, you have used per se lethal force; if you miss completely, or just chip his fingernail, you'll still have to answer to a charge of attempted murder UNLESS you were in fear for your life, etc. No matter where you were aiming.

Advantages: you like the gun, ammo is cheap, recoil is nothing (but quick follow-up shots are not part of your faulty "less-lethal" construct). To say the reduced recoil will enhance accuracy may be a stretch--both attacker and defender are usually moving in a gun-fight; that shot you aimed at his arm may nevertheless penetrate his heart--and yet fail to stop him for a while.

I agree, that if this is the ONLY gun you feel comfortable using (or are able to use), it's better than a hatpin. But a .22 is not considered a less-lethal weapon (even though it may fail to keep you from getting killed when deployed for self defense), and cannot legally (or practically, IMO) be used to "wound."

In self-defense, we are permitted neither to shoot to kill nor to shoot to wound--only to shoot to stop.

Best of luck.

In Texas, you cannot even pull a gun unless you are justified in using lethal force. Using a gun to wound or try to intimidate will certainly get you sent to jail, if the bad guy doesn't kill you first. Secondly, the .22 is a mouse gun that will require that you fire many shots to stop an assailant. Putting six or seven rounds into an assailant will almost certainly get you charged with some felony--even if that is what it took to stop him. You need to learn to shoot something at least in the 9mm/.38 Special +P range, preferably even stouter. My perference is for calibers that begin with a "4", as in .40 S&W or .45 Auto. You need to put the bad guy on the ground with one or two shots. And, shoot for the center of mass. If you aren't willing to do that, then you need to rethink carrying at all.

TexasFats said:

Putting six or seven rounds into an assailant will almost certainly get you charged with some felony

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. . . not so long as you were in fear for your life, etc.

Shooting someone on drugs with a .22 (while grisly to think about) might take dozens of shots (or more) to 'stop the threat'. You're not going to jail for defending yourself.

Now, if witnesses see you pumping shots into the offender after they're obviously 'stopped', that's where you get in trouble.

Secondly, the .22 is a mouse gun that will require that you fire many shots to stop an assailant.

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This is simply an opinion that is not based in fact. Although I don't carry a .22 because I like some of the other options, the last home defense shooting in my home town was with a .22. One shot and the guy died. It doesn't get any cleaner than that. The .22 is quite lethal on humans and this has been proved many many times.

The Ruger 89 is too heavy for you to use?

Honest question: Are disabled in any way?

Many here have it right. The .22 is a potentially lethal cartridge but has minimal shock effect. This means the attacker will be fully able to continue to attack after shot with a .22 until they either bleed to death or hemorrhage. The .22 is less humane because it will take more shots to put somebody down, thus increasing chances of death.

While the mere display of a firearm may stop a potential attack it it's tracks, that "intimidation factor" should absolutely NOT be relied upon.

Sorry, I thought we were talking about in-home defense, not CCW.

It can't be said better than it has.

Down here, 9mm is considered the minimum caliber for self defence. Nobody would argue with you for trading our a full sized 9mm for a concealable wheel gun in a reasonable caliber.

Jeff B.

Any gun could be used for self defense if it's legal to own in your location. I would not suggest anyone use an NFA weapon in self-defense for several reasons but legally you could if you legally own the weapon. I wouldn't carry a .22 for self-defense, but then again, some people think I'm nuts for carrying antiques and cap and ball revolvers and even a Nagant 1895 at times. Use what you feel comfortable with, and remember, you can only use it if you feel your life is in danger to stop the threat. Don't even draw it if that's not the case.

If you absolutely HAVE to use a rimfire, use a 22magnum with a 6" barrel as a bare minimum. 8-12" preferable. An 8 or 9 shot revovler would be good.

This should give you muzzle energy somwhere between a 380 pocket gun and a 9mm pocket gun.

Hah, or use a .32 or .38 rimfire (I've been known to carry one one occasion).

I carry a P85 every day. I carry it IWB at 8:00.

That said, I'm almost 70yo, have 4 broken vertebrae in the lower back, numb right leg and locked shoulder socket (right side.) I don't find it too heavy and often forget I have it with me.

Work with your carry holster / position until you find one which works...for you.

You are talking the difference in weight of ounces. Less than a cup of coffee. You are also talking about saving your life.

Pops

2) If someone use a knife or else , I can use my gun to defense, but if I use a .38 or other revolver, I may kill this guy, but if I want to do my best to avoid to kill someone and just want to scare him and prevent him to continue , maybe I still can concern .22 pistol.

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And if he wants to slit you open and bathe in your entrails, then you better be sure to load that .22 with something that can penetrate his braincase before he succeeds in his goal. Honestly I would give him the heavy advantage vs your .22, unless you shoot him a few times and are a good runner.