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Originally Posted by sirrduke2010
I have rephrased the parameters of this question. We are talk a beginner. A person that has never worked with guns or had a gun before. My preference is the revolver because you don't have to worry about jamming as much, a round being in the chamber, and/or the safety being on. It is a point and shoot set setup where the ease of use in an emergency situation will benefit the potential victim.
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A lot of good answers have already been offered, but I would begin by asking to know more about the person who is the beginner. Are we talking my 80 year old Mother who has limited upper body strength, or are we talking a healthy 17 year old young man, or about a 36 year old woman in average health and strength? Is the person in good health, or are they in a wheel chair, or have other disability which might impact their ability to use both hands?
For most of the above, a good K frame .38 special would be a fine place to start for a self defense gun. The J Frame is just a little harsh with the recoil, and would not be as much fun to shoot for the beginner. In order for them to become comfortable, it needs to be fun at some level and perceived as easy, i.e. shooting a silhouette at 3 yards.
For the semi auto I'd prefer a Glock 17/19 or M&P in 9mm as there are no manual safeties to complicate things. The semi auto might require more time training off the range without ammunition becoming familiar with the operation of the gun and practicing dry firing and clearing malfunctions using dummy rounds.
Both of these guns will work well if there is sincere interest on the part of the beginner. They have to want to learn to shoot, and once they get a few rounds down range and the shooting bug bites, then they can experiment with other guns and find one that they like.