THe above is what I've liked about reading Rich's handgun/caliber posts.
He sees more of the real world effects due to his job and the nature of where it is, regarding pistol lethality, and probably has a more accurate idea than most, especially taken over the long view/many samples, of how lethal, or non-lethal, pistols with the majority of calibers are. 80 percent of those shot no matter what type of ammunition survive being shot, often with multiple wounds, with common semi auto pistol rounds, and the more light performing revolver rounds. I agree that 357mag and 44 mag and other high velocity revolver rounds are a league apart from the common semiauto rounds.
My opinion on all the various types of "wonder rounds" for any caliber is that it's a game of inches. Millimeters even. I just think it's best to not wrap to much mind power around comparing the lethality of various common semi auto pistol rounds as it becomes an argument of "which of these things of which the world's very best isn't all that great, is better". Again, having a good performing purpose built ammunition/round isn't going to hurt anyone, but being concerned about a percent or two here and there of handgun ammo performance when a shoulder supported weapon such as a carbine, shotgun, even a pistol caliber rifle, is SO much more lethal than most pistol rounds - it just seems pointless for a weapon that is at best a secondary system or a last ditch/defensive weapon. IMO any of the decent defensive loads will suffice with a user who is able to be accurate and has a solid skill set that is maintained through training.
Smokinloon said it well IMO as well. I would agree with Rich as well, 147 gr stuff designed to be primarily used in suppressed weapons has shown a large enough gap in overall performance that I think it's safe to say to avoid it in 9mms unless you need a subsonic round. Having a wonder bullet moving so slow really degrades the effectiveness of all that "bullet tech" anyway, so it's not a very good option for much of anything IMO, even in a suppressed weapon I would just use ball ammo as the low velocity really doesn't allow expanding bullets to perform all that great, but that's really my only really consistent thing I have to say about common pistol rounds.
It's mostly about location. Like real estate. Location, location, location. The US Air Marshals have had 4 or 5 engagements, all of which ended up being lethal. This doesn't jive with the usual 80% survival rate for a reason. Many like to point to how the 357 sig is close to 357mag in lethality, and that is certainly a part of the story, but not the majority IMO. It's hit placement, every one of these engagements had the target being struck right in the t-line, with rounds striking the cone of vulnerability accurately and often. Do this, and any round type will work, although again having a good defensive ammunition won't hurt, again with the game of inches theory regarding lethality. If I had to pick one, for me it would be Gold Dots, but again there are others that perform, and many are close enough to not make much difference. Shoot some of any of these over a chrono, and you'll see enough variation in velocity that it makes arguing a few percentage points a moot issue anyway, when velocity can vary 50 or 70 fps with even the most expensive ammo.
