Europe produces, arguably, the world's best handguns. Afterall even the US military use an Italian 9mm as their standard service pistol.
The main argument is mainly over the balance between stopping power and magazine capacity. The heavier and more effective the round, the less you get to play with. Most militaries have chosen in favour of capacity.
However in the 21st century a new factor has come into play, armour penetration. Most modern militaries use body armour as standard which makes both the .45 and the 9mm useless. The Germans have developed a 4.6mm round to deal with arour while FN has gone with a 5.7mm.
As body armour becomesmore and more widespread the compromise will become a complicated triangle of factors and will become far more interesting.
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Better to reign in hell, than to serve in heaven.
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