Guess we hit on it instinctively -- had a friend whose husband ran off with his nurse and left her in a big house with three little girls under the age of 10 . . . and a loaded .38 on the master bedroom closet floor. (He was not only a jerk, he was an idiot too.)
She quite sensibly was afraid to touch it, and called us in for a consultation. We retrieved it and discovered it was loaded . . . then told her we would teach her how to use it and keep it safely. Took her to the range, started her with my little S&W semi-auto .22 target pistol, and worked her up to the .45 ACP (she decided to stop there and not try the .41 Mag.) But she REALLY liked the 1911A1, better than the .38 S&W she had.
My very first 1911 was a WWII era Remington Rand, I had modified. It's the only gun I ever gave a "name"....and it was in honor of the John Wayne movie Big Jake....I called her "Betsy."
My very first date with the woman who was to become my wife was to Church. The 2nd date was a trip to the range. Her daddy was a WWII vet and marine aviator legend. He raised her right. So, the trip was just a sorta "brush up." I bought her a nice Beretta M84 in .380ACP. It was almost a mouse gun but not quite and it held 15 rds as I recall. Anyway, she shot Betsy and I couldn't get her to turn loose of my 45! So I sold the .380 and got her a Colt Combat Commander and put Ashley "BIG DOT" tritium nite sights on her and that's been IT ever since.