Surprisingly my wife suddenly expressed interest in learning to shoot a couple of years back. Took her to a friend's range and let he try my .22 target pistol. Thought it was a hoot and half. Said she felt empowered. So paid for the XD9, 4" she picked out. From the get go she is a lot better shot (tighter grouping than me, might be my eyes). Nice to know she has my back.