RYP wrote:he forgot the mention the obvious. Handguns were never meant to "stop" people. They were created as sporting weapons and then carried by officers who at best could use them for a coup de grace after a sloppy execution. Even the 9mm parabellum was a "humanitarian" round. If you want to stop someone you have to use either a) put an object with mass proportionate to their weight and velocity or b) sever the nerve or muscle system used to propel them or c) use the person's brain and motivation to change his initial plan (Stop...or I will shoot) of d) use an artificial method that includes both like a grenade. large shotgun blast or large office safe dropped from ten stories (the Wiley Coyote method).
But dicking around with semi automatic handguns as a way to stop a 200 lb person from attacking you...nope.
I would really like to see your source on this because AFAIK the pistol was primarily a weapon of war and/ore fighting. Rarely as a primary, but mostly as either a last ditch (Officers &&etc) or as the opening salvos of a boarding party. Calvary (in the US) also used them a bit as firing a pistol from the back of a horse was almost as accurate as a rifle. Well, from a moving horse.
However I'm willing to accept that I may have an ahistorical understanding.