I was wondering which of my firearms to give my mother for her nightstsand.
Revolver was the clear choice. Like you said, no safety to fumble with, no slide to rack.
Some semis require 3 or 4 steps to go from secure to fire. A 70 year old woman with no experience cannot do that.
It told her; its ready always... point and pull the trigger... thats it.
Safeties will get you killed.
For home defense nothing beats a shotgun Slide the bolt in the hearing of an intruder and they will break their neck to get out of the house most likely it will never need to be used, but if you have to fire it’s a darn effective weapon that requires no sophisticated aiming etc....