While I understand and appreciate the input of all the people saying "you have to let her pick," let me give the background here.
First, it is not her first gun. She has a 20 gauge 870 that she shoots trap with regularly and loves it. She may be getting an upgrade to a 12 gauge 1100 for Christmas. We'll see.
I own 30+ handguns, of which she has shot at least half. Little does she know, but I have been taking notes on what she shoots well. I have asked her what she likes or doesn't like about various guns. In effect, she has given me her preferences, and I am not doing this in a vacuum. Here is the list:
Likes: single-action trigger pulls, manual safeties, 9mm (but prefers .45 to .40 because it is less snappy), easy control manipulation
Dislikes: triggers with a lot of take-up (DAO or Glock-type), fat grips, high recoil
Now, applying what I know about how she shoots and potential uses for the gun, I've narrowed it down to these general requirements.
I keeping with her preferences, I want a 9mm with a manual safety. It needs to have easy to reach controls (or readily available aftermarket extensions) because she hates having to shift her grip to reach safeties or slide and mag releases. It also needs to have a relatively small grip. She likes my Witness .45 but says that the grip is too big, hence I thought about a small framed CZ-75 type.
I have looked at the EMP. Two problems: mandatory cocked-and-locked and I cannot afford a thousand dollar pistol for my girlfriend.
Cocked-and-locked pistols are fine as house and range guns but (as others have said) putting a cocked pistol in a purse or anywhere else it can get jumbled and bumped is a bad idea. Hence, traditional double action with the option to put the safety on without decocking. I am not looking at this primarily as a carry gun, I just want something she could put in her purse if she needed to, which is to say, not a full-sized 1911. She doesn't have a permit yet and, as a college student, she spends about half of her time in places where she can't carry. If/when she feels comfortable getting a permit, we can shop for a dedicated carry gun. In the meantime, a range/house gun is what she needs, it just can't be so big/heavy that it precludes carry altogether.
She likes shooting revolvers, but only in single action. she loves my 4-5/8" Blackhawk in .357, but that doesn't really meet the intent here.
Last but not least: .380 is completely out of the picture. It is underpowered, ammo is tough to get these days and much more expensive than 9mm, and since most .380 are blowback and not lock-breached, they actually kick a bit more than some 9mms. Otherwise the CZ-83 would be high on the list.
And yes, I think the synthetic CZs and Witnesses are seriously lacking in the style department. Have you seen the way Europeans dress? They were obviously designed by a man who wears capri pants.
