Unfortuneatelty, I cannot edit my original post to update it (it's over a year old). Post #22 is my most recent one (other than this one, of course). Anyway, the more I read about the 1911, the more I'm leaning in that direction. For anyone who may not know, I'm currently in the army, so I have had some professional, correct training, and have a firm grasp on the fundamentals of proper and accurate shooting.
However, the army puts very tight restrictions on the possession of personal weapons unless the soldier lives off-base (which I most likely will when I get back to the States). But in the meantime, I haven't been able to get much experience with weapons other than the Beretta 9mm NATO. It's an okay weapon... I mean... it's good enough, but I don't think I like it as a personal weapon. The plus side is that it has a 15-round capacity, which is good for a combat zone, but in an isolated, "civil" situation, I'd like something more accurate, even at the expense of capacity.
Speaking of accuracy, I'm not going to teach my wife to target someone's eyeball. She's going to shoot center of mass. One thing that helps is practicing with an accurate weapon, so you can properly analyze your mistakes, trusting that a tight shot group was achieved on purpose, and that a loose one is the result of mistakes.
I tend to be somewhat of a perfectionist, and require tools that are capable of transmitting all of my skill into a result, rather than being limited by the tool/instrument.