Liberal Gun Owners

The gap between even a compact 1911 and a .380 pocket pistol is pretty wide. They are both automatic handguns, but quite different.

If you aren't planning to carry, there's really no reason to pick a pocket pistol sized handgun over something else that is larger and more pleasant to effectively shoot. If you do want to carry (and are able to navigate how to make that happen in CA) a pocket sized .380 is a good option because the size and weight making it easier to consistently carry trumps shooting ergonomics in this situation. Sidenote: While I refer to all of these sub sub compacts as pocket pistols I want to mention I don't actually advocate pocket carry. It's stupid, even with those soft pocket holsters. Just get an IWB holster which will be nice and tiny matching the handgun in the ease of carrying.

Putting those pocket pistols out of the running assuming it won't be carried, the options are still open. At the point you get into the caliber and different operating system arguments. I think 9mm is tried and true. A striker SAO styled pistol is a pretty inoffensive choice. Glocks are popular, but if you aren't interested in the aftermarket upgrades I think these days there are better out of the box options like CZ P-10s and even the M&P series are better than a stock out of box Glock IMO.

But some people like 1911s or DA/SA guns. That's your choice. I think for 1911s, Rock Island Armory is still considered the go to 1911 when you don't want to spend huge money but honestly my information on 1911s lags a bit, they aren't really my focus. For a DA/SA I'll again show my Czech bias for the CZ-75 series.