You took the words right out of my mouth. After reading this forum over the last several years, there are a lot of very opinionated gun owners on this site. For a new shooter, who may not get to practice much, a 38 special revolver makes a lot of sense (or even a 357 revolver loaded with 38 special amunition). They are very simple to use. Point, pull trigger. No safeties to worry about, nothing to break. Frangible bullets would work well in the close confines of an apartment without the danger of penetration into your neighbors space.

A 9 mm would also work, but if you don't spend time practicing, could cause issues under stress. Racking the slide to load a round, manipulating the safety, magazine issues. I like them and practice with them. Frangible rounds are also available for 9 mm, as well as most other pistol sizes.

Whatever you end up with, practice. Most self defense gurus say you should shoot a minimum of 500 rounds of your self defense ammo through your weapon of choice so that you are certain that it will perform when required. 500 rounds of frangible ammo will fairly well break the bank. Certainly you should shoot 500 rounds of something that looks similar in profile, and at least two boxes of your self defense ammo.

It is always good to hear of someone new taking up shooting.