Not noticed by many outside the community is that most handguns for self-defense, and many if not most that are used for concealed carry, have standard magazine capacities of > 10 rounds (and almost all > 7 rounds).

De jure or de facto shall issue concealed carry regimes are now in place in 42 states, and scholar Clayton Cramer and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) independently estimated this summer that there are between 7.5 and 8 million licenses outstanding (and more every day, especially as the US population ages). Screwing with these people, who tend to vote (older demographic, after all) ... is not wise. Just threatening them, as is being done now, will have costs in the coming elections.

And that's exactly what happened in the 1994-2004 period; there were plenty of standard capacity magazines for existing designs, but they got a lot more expensive and there was always the concern you might eventually use up all the ones you could procure. And for new designs....

Well, .45 ACP indeed became a lot more popular; if you're limited to 10+1 rounds or less you'd better make every one count. And M1911s ... well, everyone makes them nowadays. Even Remington returned to the handgun market with one. Despite thinking it's the best design---and certainly they don't fit everyone's hands, like the Glock doesn't for me---I'm just amazed. Of course, the design is long past patent protection, I'm sure someone has a affordable CNC package for them, and then it's just normal fitting. But, still.

And it's a century year old design!

An early-to-mid-20th century American soldier (US has always emphasized pistols as actual combat weapons more than other countries[1]) or a modern shooting sports enthusiast has the time and skill to clean one periodically (as to keep it in working state) and perform adjustments to prevent jams.

It's not reasonable to expect this of someone with no previous experience of firearms, but looking to protect themselves after receiving a death threat or seeing too many home invasions in their neighborhood. Doubly so if it's a Kimber or other model made to far tighter tolerance than was possible or intended in 1911.

These laws tend to benefit hunters, hobbyists, and target shooters like myself (who prefer muzzle brakes to flash hiders, match-grade full-length barrels to tactical coolness, etc...), but hurt people who want to use these weapons for self-defense.

[1] First trophy my grandfather (artillery captain in Soviet military) took during World War II was a Walther PPK in .32 ACP. Not ideal for defense, but far cry from a Nagant or a Tokarev TT (based on the 1911, but unsafe for carrying with the hammer cocked). Never heard of an American officer trading his 1911 for a Walther/Nambu/Luger/etc...

Don't buy a target gun, buy one specifically made to looser tolerances for self-defense. The design is very forgiving after all, it was for the field and back in a period when ammo was often marginal (hence its grossly overpowered mainspring, Mauser style positive feed and claw extractor, etc.).

I've never had to adjust any of mine to prevent jams or other problems once I got past one obnoxious one of my Kimber Pro-Carry flinging its brass into my face (slow and careful filing of the ejector fixed that). They can also get pretty dirty without needing cleaning. But, they are self-defense models, not target ones, they aren't super tight, although they're more accurate than I am with a handgun.

As for your other suggestions: moving can be a good idea but you might stil be tracked down, a dog can be killed (it was recently joked that the police could solve their ammo shortages if they just stopped shooting dogs), a shotgun is a really, really bad idea for weapons retention. Someone can grab it outside of your grip and rip it out of your hands, as I demonstrated to a nephew who's bigger and fitter than me. If a M1911 is too advanced for someone to learn I do recommend an external hammer DAO design (since carrying is a consideration striker fired guns are right out due to the holstering accidental discharge problem (not being able to detect that until it fires)).

And following the church of Martin Fackler, I recommend going for the biggest diameter that works for the person, i.e. .45 ACP > .40 S&W > 9 mm.

I don't, however, think that a normal Stainless Kimber is better (tolerance-wise) than the Target model. The only distinction (afaik) are the adjustable sights (which are actually amazingly sturdy for adjustable sights, to my surprised). You clear know more self-defense than I do -- so I'll defer to you (especially re: shotguns, etc...)

Re: other suggestions--

I was not covering the "I have a determined nutcase after me" scenario, I was covering the "increase in violent crime" (armed robbery, home invasions, etc...) scenario. I've had these questions recently because (for many reasons) San Jose has had a drastic increase in crime: moving to Saratoga/Cupertino/good part of Sunnyvale or to Fremont seems like a good long term strategy anyway.

To clarify re: dog, I wasn't suggesting having the dog attack the assailant, but more in the sense of having a dog wake me (and the immediate neighbors) up if a stranger is around at night.

Of course this is not a very reliable strategy, being in a safe neighborhood (with trustworthy neighbors), and having a firearm are far more important. However, it's useful: an alarm system only works if it's tripped, but a dog can smell from a distance. So far, the only times my dog has waken me up at night, was literally when there was a stranger directly in front of the downstairs living room windows.

Not in any way perfect, but sufficient to alert the neighbors, scare away a robber that has purely financial motivation, let me call the police, etc... before they attempt to break in (best confrontation is one that never has to happen).

I agree that the trend of police shooting family dogs is absolutely disgusting, but so is the trend of paramilitary police raiding family homes on shoddy evidence.

My favorite guns are Sig SAOs -- I've got a few X-Fives, and P220 SAOs, and a fair number of DA/SA and a couple DAK too. Really tempted by the new P226 SAO which came out yesterday -- I'd love a P229 SAO though, or an "X-Three" or something. Also really like CZ -- I started out carrying a Browning Hi-Power in Iraq (along with an AK), and then moved my way up to a CZ-97b once I had a reliable source of .45acp FMJ ammo. The only 1911s I have are Dan Wesson (awesome) and Taurus (no idea why I bought them except that they were $399 and I was stupid). I'd like to get a Wilson or Les Baer and some of the new Sig, Ruger, and S&W 1911s.

For a competition, I'd take tested/tuned P220 SAO or X-Five, but if I had to grab something out of the factory box and rely on it for 6 months with no prior testing, it would be a Glock 19 (or maybe a Glock 21 if FMJ-only, but I really prefer the 19). Similarly, if I had to hand a handgun to someone with minimal training, it would be a Glock (or a revolver -- love the 627 PC "8 times")

The nice thing about .45 ACP is that you aren't betting much on it expanding, and if it does, all things equal, if you follow Fackler, it'll be better than a similarly expanding 9 mm.

No argument with Gold Dot, that's what I use in .45 ACP. For me the question of "which gun" was settled by the ergonomics of the M1911 in my hand, obviously YMMV.

As a dude with small hands, I will write a personal letter of thanks to Andrew Cuomo if this happens: a modern polymer single-stack 9mm from a reputable manufacturer is long overdue.

I get the impression they're good, but I myself can't get past the "no external hammer" for preventing accidental discharges when holstering.

What a relief that nobody is talking about either banning all guns or confiscating assets.