Help choosing my first handgun!

First of all the Glock safety (firing pin block) is one of the best safeties you can have. It will not fire unless you pull the trigger! Most gun makers are now putting this same kind of safety on thier guns.

Best gun for home defense is going to be a shotgun, why do you want a handgun? Do you really want it just to go to the range?

Personally I feel for the money you can't beat a Glock. Buy it and shot the hell out of it! You may want to get a 9mm since you are worried about recoil but 9mm is not the best for home defense. Just about any handgun round is going to go through walls into other parts of the house if you miss your target, the 9mm may go into somebody else's house.

I carry a Kimber 1911, but they are more then $700.