The proliferation of semiautomatic handguns - bought even by those with zero prior handgun experience, is proof that marketing works, and also proof that government overreach magnifies marketing that much more!
MOST people do NOT need a high capacity semiautomatic pistol for home defense, or even carry defense considering the fact that MOST people will never be involved in a shooting situation, and if they are, they likely will not fire more than the number of bullets contained in a five-shot revolver.
Semiautomatic pistols are complicated...no, the "experienced" user won't agree, but still, compared to a double-action revolver they are indeed. They require a loaded magazine be inserted and a round be moved from magazine to chamber by act of retracting the slide. They then reqire some form of safety manipulation, or hammer drop, or worse still, a "live" trigger that only needs a few pounds of pressure from an errant finger, or a pen in a purse to result in a discharge of the weapon. Autopistols are also senstive to hold...weak wrists and hands cause malfunctions. Weak hands make chambering difficult, and in some cases impossible. Basically, the semiautomatic pistol is more of a professional's gun...or a serious enthusiast.
By contrast, the old-school, swing-out cylinder, 6-shot double-action revolver is stone-cold simple for even the novice. Once charged with live rounds, it will lay there waiting in complete harmony, requiring only that the user grab it and start pulling the trigger. And while many woman might have trouble with a double-action pull-through while playing at the range, under the stress of a real threat, their slender fingers will easily stroke that trigger as needed!
So it's a shame when I have people approach me asking about buying their first, and likely only-ever handgun, and they've already been told by a host of previous "experts" that they need a "nine millimeter" or a "forty," when in fact they are NOT "gun people," have no intention of being, and never will be. The LAST thing the average "newbie" needs is to be steered toward buying a Glock 19, or S&W M&P, or Sig Mk-25, or Kimber Super-Pro, Operator Custom XII Elite Spec-OPS mod - whatever!
And so, today, just as 35 years ago, an ideal "initial" purchase is a 4" barrel .357 Magnum of whatever brand makes one feel fulfilled. I've owned many .357 revolvers over the years, but my current bedside piece (when it isn't something else), is a Taurus M65 stainless stoked with garden variety, American Eagle 158 grain JHP which have chrono-tested at 650 lb-ft of kinetic energy. That's some serious horsepower for an 82 year old cartridge! And, as others have so well pointed out, it needs nothing more than to be picked up and start stroking the trigger. As an added bonus, one can shoot .38 Special loads during learning and practice.