I have three daughters, a granddaughter and can only give you one piece of advice which echoes others, here:
Let her pick up a great many and let her choose the gun herself. Best if you can find a shop with lots of rentals to shoot, too.
Make sure she handles the Walther, Bersa, Beretta and CZ models. Small enough to conceal, but, heavy enough to pick up recoil. Also, get her online to certain sites that have women shooters selling concealed holsters to women. In holsters, what fits a man won't do for a woman... different torsos and waist lines.
If you want to make a day of it, drive the 130 miles to Royal Oak and visit Target Sports, on Woodward Ave. They have a very, very large selection of rentals and I've seen them not charge a thing if they believe you are serious about buying. They also have a great, well ventilated and well lit range. Lots of .380's and lots of J Frame S&W's.
A couple of thoughts about Target Sports, if you're thinking about checking it out with your wife (which I agree with the previous poster could be a good way to go):
1. In my opinion, the sales staff at Target Sports tend to feign knowledge that, in actuality, they do not possess. It's kind of one of those places where, if you ask a question, you definitely will get an answer, but you can't be 100% sure that the answer is accurate. The best thing to do, in my opinion, is educate yourself in advance so that you don't have to rely on the "knowledge" of others. On the other hand, the owner (Ray) is a really nice guy, in my experience.
2. Target Sports doesn't have any local competition of which to speak so prices tend to be quite high. The closest competitor is Double Action (Madison Heights), and their prices are really high as well. Case in point, last time I checked (a few months ago), Target Sports still was asking around $550 for the BG380, when the MSRP had been dropped to $399 (or thereabouts).
3. Target Sports does not carry the Kahr line at all, and I don't believe that they carry Taurus either. These are two manufacturers that have done quite a lot in terms of producing small firearms, and it would be a shame to not give your wife the opportunity to check out the Kahr and Taurus products. Double Action does carry both of these brands. On the other hand, within selected brands (e.g., S&W, Walther, Glock, HK), Target Sports has a very good selection of firearms and a great selection of rentals, so it's a good place to look around. In addition, as the previous poster indicated, the range at Target Sports is quite nice, far nicer than Double Action.
Another store to put on your radar is Action Impact in Southfield. Their prices are high too (or maybe I'm just cheap, because I seem to believe that everyone's prices are high), but they have a pretty good selection, both in terms of brand and in terms of particular firearms within brands. Last time I was in there, they had a whole case dedicated to subcompact semiautos from a variety of different manufacturers, which made comparing quite easy. In addition, the sales person with whom I spoke seemed to be quite knowledgable, quite helpful, and not at all like the stereotypical "gunshop guy". But, if I remember correctly (and I may not be), I believe you have to buy their ammo to use on their range, which can get expensive.
Of course, all of this is just my opinion, and your mileage may vary.
