I'm looking for a type of gun a young girl could use (age seventeen, average to slim build--not sure any of this matters, but looking for something she can carry/conceal easily--also one she can learn to use pretty fast). Is there any particular type that would be appropriate? Any help would be hugely appreciated (and will be rewarded with reppies ).
The real questions you need to answer are related to the story.
How important is it that reader have all the details about the gun? Simply write "She wrapped her fingers around the gun in her pocket, the one her boyfriend gave her to defend herself, and walked into the bar." Does that work?
Or maybe "She snuck her mother's Glock 19 out of the house. The gun her dad had bought her mom but her mom had refused to touch. It was big, but not so big she couldn't get her hands in position, and her dad had showed her how to shoot it several years ago. The magazine was fully loaded and she racked a round into the chamber, then slipped the gun into her boot, pulling her jeans down to cover the butt."
Or "David had bought the tiny Ruger LCP for her, lying on the form at the gun store and saying he was the buyer. At 17, she couldn't legally own the gun, but she needed it for protection in the world she faced. The Flash Bang Ava holster she ordered from the internet felt smooth against her belly, with it's purple velvet against her skin, and the gun tucked easily into that sweet spot just below her appendix. David had bought three extra magazines, loaded them with the Hornady Zombie defense ammunition she saw on the shelf and she carried those in her left rear pocket, in a case meant for cigarettes. Nobody could tell she was packing heat and the secrecy of the deadly defender provided a tension that was almost sexual in nature as she pushed her cart down the aisles at WalMart."
Now, go find a range that rents guns, take a concealed carry class and bone up on your character so you can actually write her. And if you're ever in Florida let me know, I'll let you try that Ruger in the sexy holster for yourself.
Jeff