I signed up for classes the day I turned 21 and have been carrying ever since. I recommend it to just about anyone responsible. Im not going into all the debating because ultimately everyone has already made up their mind to whether they want to carry or not. Just remember, many criminals have guns and some of them wont think twice about using them. I've seen a couple recommendations for the Ruger LCP - I had one with lasergrips and heres my review of it. First the good: Its cheap, small, light and is a 380 (weakest round I would ever consider carrying). Heres the bad: lacks real sites, lacks a safety, has a terrible trigger, sucks to shoot past 20 rounds, and is a 380. Now thats not to say its a bad gun, I used my LCP for summer carry since they first came out and it really is an excellent gun for the price. With that said, my recommendation is the Kimber Solo - it replaced my LCP and Kimber Ultra Carry II. The good is that it has real sites, a safety, a great trigger, its still pretty light, and its 9MM (which is what I really the weakest round I feel comfortable with). The bad is that its MUCH more expensive than the LCP and is slightly larger (but I still use the same holster from my LCP) That's just my recommendation but I always say its best to research, figure out a budget, go to a gun store, see what feels good, GO HOME, research some more, and then make your decision.