I keep a Norinco Tokarav nine with me in the truck. I can hit a paper plate at 25 yrds. It ani't pretty, but it works. It eats up hardball ammo but will not work well with anything else. It is also fun to shoot with corrosive ammo. As soon as I am finished, I break it down and scrub it with soapy water. Then I oil it up again.
My favorite carry is a Taurus PT-911. stainless slide aluminum frame in DA/SA. I have not allowed myself to get a SA only pistol yet. I grew up having a hammer and just like it that way.
In the house I keep a Taurus PT99(copy of Beretta M9). It is well worn but shoots well and holds like 17 rounds. It stays in a pistol safe under the bed. I can reach under and punch in a code and the door pops open.
I tried to get the wife to carry something, but she has arthritis and cannot pull the trigger/hammer on many guns. I finally come across the Ruger Bearcat. It is a small western style .22. Not a lot of stopping power, but she is not afraid to shoot it and can pull the hammer back. It is a six shot revolver, so if something goes wrong, she can pull the hammer back again and get a new round. The gun store kept warning me that a .22 was not big enough. I informed him that she could carry any size gun, but if she could not pull the hammer/trigger, what good would it do? If a "perp" (for you lawyers) sees a gun and does not stop, the loud bang of the .22 going off should work. If not, the little .22 bullet can get inside the body, bounce around and do a lot of damage.
Images above are for reference only and look nothing like anything I have ever seen or touched before. The above information is all lies. Please feel free to break in at any time and see for yourself.