Hey,

So my Father in Law is looking at purchasing his second firearm... He comes from a LARGE non-gun-owning family and he is the first to break the curse when he bought a 22 savage rifle for pest control on their farm. He approached me last weekend about getting a home defense handgun for the house. My knee jerk reaction was a 4" 38spl revolver (smith model 10 or 15). They live in a ranch style house on 80+ acres in a semi-rural area. He is somewhat comfortable with handguns, and would like to practice a lot. My question for you is:

Should I push him to get a nice used Smith 38spl for ~$300 or try to get him into a glock/smith MP for $450? Personally, I would opt for a 38spl because of ease of use, but I wanted to see your thoughts. Ideas?

--SRS