Handgun debate...

[Don McDowell]

Unless it is a 45 center of mass hit or a head shot, the chance of the shootee surviving are pretty good, and the chances the shooter is brought up on charges of some sort is pretty good no matter what the outcome of the incident.
Now the first thing to really consider is, will the permit holder actually draw and fire the weapon with the intent to kill? Probably not. The human mind/conscious thing takes over and even trained combat troops have problems in the early hostile fire situations.And probably accounts for the insane number of rounds cops expend these days and the bad guy still gets away..
So before a weapon is choosen there is a gawd awful lot that needs to be considered.

But to answer the cartridge question, for a new/small shooter, one of the pigmy sized 380's, and don't over look the 32acp, in a selfshucker, and those only if the permit holder can't handle the recoil and size of a 40 s&W or 45acp.
Revolver the 32 H&R would be a good lowrecoil round, then the 38 with +P , followed by 44 special or 45 colt of either vintage.