There are a lot of gun threads on here, browse them. I carry my M&P 40 everyday and love it. Trust my life to it. Other good options; Glock, Sig, XD, all good choices. 9 or. 40 are good, .45 I think is too expensive and magazine capacity usually sucks. A .22 is great to have for marksmanship practice and ammo is cheap. Just don't skimp and get a cheap gun, its not worth the cost savings IMHO. Feel out as many as you can, and shoot them if you can. When you get one, train, train, train. Btw, what are planning on using it for? Carry, home defense, target, varmints?