According to the Sheriff, a three-inch-barreled, medium-frame, double-action .38 Special makes a good defensive gun for a lady. And he says the most important part of a defensive plan is proper training.

I was recently contacted by a lady friend in Arizona who felt the need to obtain a defensive handgun and the training that should go with it. She was open to suggestions and sought advice to help her get on the right track with a realistic personal-defense plan. Because I want to respect her privacy, I'll just call her Ann.

From our conversations I knew that Ann had some prior experience with guns, and she had a grown son who was a hunter and shooter. For these reasons, I didn't think it was necessary for her to start out with a .22 rimfire, learning the rudiments of marksmanship and gun safety. What I did think was that Ann needed a dependable, no frills handgun that she could understand and quickly learn how it functioned. I suggested a medium-frame, double-action revolver chambered in .38 Special.

Now, I know the high-capacity auto pistol crowd looks down their collective noses at the lowly .38 Special sixgun. It doesn't have the romantic flair or popularity that the big semiautomatics currently enjoy. You can't trick it out from one end to the other with all those aftermarket doo-dads that are available for autoloading pistols. And it sure doesn't come anywhere near the magazine capacity of the autoloaders.

However, most folks who have any knowledge at all of handguns have some idea of how to operate a DA revolver. In addition, modern bullet design and progressive ammunition have increased the defensive potential of the .38 Special cartridge considerably. Also, it's important to remember that magazine capacity doesn't stop gunfights nearly so efficiently as center hits do. The civilian who carries a defensive handgun uses it as an exit ticket out of a bad situation, not as an excuse to engage in a pitched battle.

I told Ann that I had just seen an ad in Shotgun News from J&G Sales in nearby Prescott, Arizona, that listed some used three-inch Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolvers. I have purchased some guns from these folks over the years and always appreciated their straightforward way of dealing. Ann didn't live all that far from Prescott, so I suggested that she begin her search for a defensive handgun at J&G Sales.

Ann worked her own magic at J&G Sales. She clearly told the salesperson who waited on her that she knew next to nothing about defensive handguns and had come to J&G because she was told that they would take care of her. Would they please pick out for her a good gun from among the assortment of three-inch Model 10s that they had in stock? Yes, ma'am, the clerk said. He would be happy to.

The S&W Model 10 she bought was a used gun in excellent shape. Ann later purchased a Bianchi hip holster for her revolver and has plans to obtain a fanny pack/holster in the near future.

At this point, Ann and I discussed her need for training with her new gun. Her first thought was to go to a local range and do some shooting with a friend who was into the shooting sports. Following that, she would sign up for the Arizona concealed-carry course that was required to get her carry license.

There were several problems with this sort of a plan. The first was that working with a shooting enthusiast is a real good opportunity to learn all of that person's bad habits. While I'm sure this fellow meant well, there was no indication that he had any experience in actually teaching a skill to someone else. Nor would he, necessarily, have the credentials to know what was needed in realistic defensive handgun training. Theory is fine, but it rarely beats experience.

The second problem was that state-run concealed-carry schools are mandated to teach the student what the state's applicable laws are regarding the use of deadly force. Having done this, they then test the student's ability to safely and accurately handle their defensive firearm. These schools are not designed to teach a student the basic skills of defensive shooting.