RPRNY
Member
Even for lower 48 black bears?
Buffalo Bore has a good story of an Alaskan guide stopped a brown bear with his 9mm+P
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=388
But does this convince you a 9mm is good enough for bears?
That Phil Shoemaker was able to stop a brown bear with a 9mm does not make it a good choice for a defensive weapon in brown bear country. It remains Darwin Award material in my opinion. The risk of black bear attack is, in my opinion, less by a magnitude than the fairly slim risk of brown bear attack, outside some fairly well defined geographies. So, 9mm might well do. As I said, if I were deeply concerned about "hostile animals" other than humans, I would choose a rifle or 12 ga and slugs. If a handgun is enough for someone, then 9mm should do for black bear.