Welcome to the forum and thanks for asking our advice
MTD said:
Before you finalize what you want, I would suggest that you go to a few different pistol ranges; rent and try out as many different type of pistols and calibers to establish your own feel of what would be your favorite sidearm. Come back and look for opinion when you have narrowed down to 2 or 3 types that you like.
Good luck and have fun...
BYJO4 said:
I agree that you should take a basic handgun course to learn how to safely handle and shoot a firearm. Also, if you have a range that rents handguns, I suggest trying different models and calibers to see what works best for you.
All excellent advice above, but the two I quoted are the best of the lot.
Choosing someone else's gun is as risky as choosing their spouse.
One way of seeing a number of different handguns in use is to hang out at a range.
The best way to hang out at a range (and incidentally, develop good shooting skills) is to have a decently accurate 22 rimfire and practice.
Get a decent 22 rimfire, capable of good accuracy, and practice at a popular range. The practice will teach you good trigger control, sight alignment, breath control, etc, without the distractions of recoil and blast. And 22 rimfire is one-tenth the cost of centerfire ammo, allowing a LOT of practice time.
And while you are there, guys are VERY proud of their hardware. Very likely, if you show safe gun handling skills, are polite, approachable and interested, people at the range will be willing to show you their stuff and even let you put a few bullets downrange.
I'll wager you keep your 22, even after you decide which centerfire gun you want. They are a lot of fun.
Lost Sheep