Guns can be an extremely effective form of self-defense for women. Very few attackers are going to pursue the attack in the face of a gun and a determined-looking woman--the statistics which say that guns are more likely to be used on the owner's family than on an attacker are true re cases in which the gun is actually fired, but that's misleading: in the vast majority of self-defense situations involving a gun, the gun is NOT fired because the attacker flees as soon as it's displayed. (I haven't done research personally on this, but a friend of mine who is a strong advocate for gun ownership has: her Web page is at http://www.io.com/~cortese, and contains more info and links if you're interested.)

It is also possible to make guns safer for those with children. Some guns on the market today have slides which are too stiff for young children to work; others come with a bracelet and will fire only if the person holding the gun is also wearing the bracelet. (Various police forces are experimenting with guns that only fire if it corresponds to the chip embedded in the person's palm, but I doubt you want to go that far.)

Bear in mind that most guns won't kill or even disable most people right away. In particular, someone who's shot with a .22 has an excellent chance of being able to stay on their feet long enough to reach you; which is not to say that they will *want* to, since the usual response is (again) to run away. Also, a gun is also only useful if it's accessible, so using guns as an exclusive method of self-defense is only effective when the gun is available. Most areas have laws against carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. (Whether you'll be prosecuted for doing so is another matter--as is whether you think it's worth the risk of prosecution to be able to defend yourself using a gun.)

Remember also that using a gun in an adrenalized situation is extremely different from target shooting. In an adrenaline state, one of the first things to go is fine motor control, so aiming can be difficult. If you intend to use a gun in self-defense, I strongly recommend that you take a class targeted towards that purpose; otherwise, you may find it difficult to use in an adrenaline state. People have been known to have trouble getting their fingers on the trigger, let alone aiming. (Note, though, that unless the person is insane enough to press on in the face of a gun, you're not likely ever to have to fire it.)

My general feeling is that while guns can be extremely effective as a form of self-defense, I would not rely on them exclusively--primarily because they won't be accessible all the time, especially in many of the scenarios in which women need to defend themselves. (Would you be willing to carry a gun on a date? If not, perhaps it's not the best form of self-defense for such situations.)

That's about it for me on guns and self-defense. I think they work great in some situations, but I'd have something else available as a backup.