[AnAmericanMother]

Problem is, if you're going to the internet cafe in your shorts and T-shirt, you may well not carry the .45, and it's absolutely no use if it's home on the nightstand.

Even a small .45 is a heavy load in a pants pocket -- a .380 you won't even remember you have until you need it.

I can see both sides of this one, because I shot a rabid raccoon TWICE with a .380 -- it stopped him from charging at me, but it didn't incapacitate him. He ran away and I lost the trail at the creek (wet and hundreds of raccoon footprints). He wasn't going to live long in any event though (tremors and drooling).

On the other hand, I had the .380 in the back pocket of my jeans because I always have it there. I simply stepped out on our back deck to see what the funny noise was, and the so-and-so ran at me.

[yarddog]

I once shot a raccoon with a .45 auto. 3 shots all in the thorax and he still fought my dog for a minute of two. The coon was not rabid and they were hardball but a .45 isn’t always magic either.

I suspect if they had been hollow points or even 9mm HPs, the coon would have expired sooner.