You are settled on a semi-auto pistol as your first handgun?
You might want to consider a revolver first, until your basic skills are developed.
Buying a semi-auto (analogy coming) is like learning to drive for the first time on a stick shift.
This is what a friend of mine told me at a construction site.
What travis said. And unlike most will tell you...a revolver is fine for civilian self defense.
Its all about placement.