The 9mm is, of course, the poster child for small and yet shootable semi-automatics these days.  While I'd be the first to suggest that gun makers have gone a little far with the downsizing, making some of these pistols less shootable than need be, if you are comfortable with the old, first generation .380 auto pistol, there are any number of same-sized 9mm that should make you very happy.  In fact, happier, as they are more effective on bad guys than any .380 of old.

Won't a judiciously aimed and fired .380 work in combat?  Yes, so will a .22 rimfire up the left nostril, but it's a matter of putting the bullet where you want it ALL THE TIME EVERY TIME.  While we should all strive for the best marksmanship possible, we are ALL fooling ourselves if we think we will experience a personal shooting without our skills being somewhat downgraded.  If you have not experienced a life and death situation you can't imagine the stress--and more.  This is simply science and has been studied and studied and studied again.  Anyone that doubts this might start by reading forum article Altered Perceptions by retired police officer Jerry Webb, who killed two men in the course of his career.

Bottom line?  For me, carrying a .380 as one's chosen concealment pistol is simply a poor decision.  Too many things can go wrong in a gunfight already, I don't want to be limited to a gun that requires absolute precision and a target that will down with minimal energy delivered.  Nope, poor choice indeed.