Effectiveness of the .380 auto. Thoughts? [View All]

[eqfan592]

With the possibility of CCW coming to Wisconsin within the next couple of years becoming very real, I'm starting to look at what sort of pistol I might carry. For me, something small that I could keep in my pocket would be perfect, and the same goes for my wife (who will also be getting her CCW when the time comes).

So I've been looking a lot at the Kel-Tec P3AT, the Ruger LCP and the new Taurus TCP. All are very compact, and all shoot the .380 auto. It seems more and more companies are coming out with these little pocket pistols chambered in .380. I've read from many that feel it is under-powered for a self defense cartridge, while others feel that it is more the adequate (especially some of the newer, higher velocity cartridges coming out) for close range self defense.

I'm just curious what the thoughts are among my fellow DU'ers on this cartridge and these pistols.

EDIT: I should have mentioned this earlier, but my hours at work were recently cut by 20% due to the poor economy, which has set my wife and I back a bit, so spending more than 3-400 on a new pistol is pretty out of the question for the foreseeable future.