Get a Glock. They're ubiquitous, extremely affordable, lots of aftermarket parts, tons of holsters, cheap magazines, and simple to operate and reliable. I had an OSI friend put me through a combat pistol course and it became apparent immediately why the Glock is everywhere. You can cock it off of a boot, belt buckle, clothing with little difficulty. This is hard to do with a 1911 or Beretta. Plus shooting/loading off hand is easy. The Glock 19 is king for good firepower with concealability. If you need more power for game/animal defense, get the equivalent pistol in 10mm. There are lots of purpose specific 10mm bear rounds out there. I carry a 19x every day around the farm for cougars. Used the same pistol in that combat course I was talking about.