Give me a idea of what is the best carry pistol, for your purse and purse mfg, asking for a friend and new to carry.

A female friend carries (and really likes) the LC9.

Options include:
642
638
Glock 42
Glock 43
Sig P365
Others too, but these options cover the bases.

Any good “sticky” pocket holster ought to work.

P365/P365XL or G43/43x/48.

Purse carry is dumb.

Any revolver or derringer can fire multiple times from within the purse.

Can you fire your firearm multiple times without drawing it?

The safest choices for a new shooter are either double action revolvers like the S&W 642  in .38 or similar,  or a (Glock 43 / 43x  / 48 /   19 / 23    H&K VP9SK etc.)   striker fired semi auto.

Where people fuck up ....  Rule 1.  Off target Off trigger
                                     Rule 2.  Muzzle Discipline   -  ALWAYS control where it it pointed.   This concept is similar to the idea that if you never cut toward yourself with a knife.... you will never cut yourself.  
                                     Rule 3.  Guns are always loaded even when you know they are unloaded.

People tend to grasp with their whole hand when something happens.... that whole hand includes the trigger finger.  Ex. Girl driving with boyfriend to range, misses turn, hits brakes while he is switching from carry ammo to range ammo ...BANG she died.  If he had controlled where it was pointed, or if he had kept his finger off the trigger, or had enough patience not to do that in a moving vehicle .......  
EX:  Gunsmith w 1911 that wont chamber because the feed ramp needs polished.  Holding 1911 in right hand left hand on slide ... slide goes forward into battery BANG.  (This is a thinking mans weapon.)  When the griip safety is depressed and the trigger depressed and the pistol is in battery it goes bang.  People grip with their whole hand.  If that trigger finger is on the trigger it's going to go off. Result was a new hole right next to the test fire tube.  

Ruger 22/45 Lite in .22LR could be a very good choice, because there is very little recoil which may encourage her to shoot it and become more proficient. SR 22 also a strong choice.

We had 2 perfectly good Ruger Mk 2s in the house.  MIL got a brand new Ruger SR22 b/c she couldn't rack the Mk 2 bolt from a dead hammer, while she could cock the hammer of the SR22 1st, then rack the slide.

Slightly older thread and this might be out of the norm, but an old friend of mine loved her Glock 30.  Carried it everywhere in any purse she got.  She typically went for "normal" purses as opposed to ones with concealed carry in mind for style reasons.  I believe she also carried on body if she didnt have a purse but we never really talked much about that.

I carry a Super Redhawk Alaskan 454 in my purse.


Seriously, there are many good choices available these days. I think the Sig P365X is tough to beat. I own 2 of them with RMSc's on them. Having said that, my carry choice is the G43X with S15 mags and it will have a RMRcc on it in a few weeks. Then you have Shields and Hellcats etc. Shoot them all. See which one sticks.

ETA: My wife carries a G19 in her purse. I've tried to move her away from purse carry, but imma failure.

My wife loves her G26. Mostly purse carry, but she has IWB holsters as well.

My (now ex after 16 years) wife carried a Ruger LCP with KelTec clip everyday.  She also had a Glock 43 and S&W Shield but rarely carried them.

She wore the LCP clipped at the top of her jeans. Easy to conceal with even a tucked in t-shirt.