The 9mm round has plenty of stopping power with good ammo. I personally use Speer Gold Dots +P. I have owned allot of pistols and now I only own glocks. My whole family has glocks in 9mm and they work for us. I personally carry a Glock 17, my wife a Glock 26 and other family members carry those plus Glock 19's. Glock are utterly reliable and rugged guns. I have never had a problem with them and have fired allot of rounds. I did however have numerous problems with almost every other pistol I have owned, that's includes high end guns like the Sig P226 and HK. Mags for Glocks are cheap and they are very reliable. Plus the 9mm Glock 17 mags will fit and work in the Glock 17,19,26 and I believe a couple others. My mags hold 17 rounds which you just can't beat. Add in a couple extra mags and you are ready for the bad guys.    I personally prefer Glock because they have NEVER let me down. I could bet my life on them. They are just as reliable as an AK47 which says allot when your life depends on your weapon.    That said go to an indoor range and rent some.