Indiana wants you to have a gun. I paid like $50 for a lifetime concealed carry half my life ago and never had any crap buying a gun.
I like the 1911 just fine, and that's the pistol I first trained on in the marines. But when the M9 arrived, everyone's scores on the ranged jumped enormously. I know competition people like their custom 1911s, and I have known people on the Marine Corps shooting team with guns built by Marine Corps armorers, but those aren't the pistols our units had in racks locked up in our armories. The Beretta M9 was a world changer.
The 1911 is about 30% more powerful, or it was at the time. They mess with the cartridges all the time. But the 1911 had an awkward, skinny grip, and the barrel was high on the grip and it gave a jerk that made it uncomfortable to most people. It wasn't actual recoil, it was a lever-arm thing. With the barrel higher above the grip, the pistol jerks more in your hand. The Beretta had the barrel lower and had a much more full and natural grip. Instead of the recoil happening high above the line of your forearm, it went right through your forearm and the muzzle didn't throw itself into the air.
Also, carrying a weapon with the hammer back doesn't appeal. In fact, the best modern pistols have no hammer and have much better actions than either the M9 or the M1911A1. I like the 1911 because it was the first pistol I ever shot and has some nostalgia for me. But it is long obsolete and if I ever get one, it will be a replica as closely matched to what I used way back when. I carry a Beretta Nano now--with long magazines which makes it fit your hand. A much better gun. No safety, no hammer, it's almost as smooth as the 1911 in it's double-action only and as simple as a revolver. And I carried a K-frame 357 for 3 years on Embassy Duty. Before these striker, no hammer autos, I was a revolver guy. You used only double action in combat shooting--no thumb on the hammer. These new autos are brilliant. This Beretta Nano is no bull5hit the best handgun I've fired. Very concealable, fits the hand well, beautiful action, simple, Beretta sells a conceal holster for it and it is invisible even in gym shorts.
This isn't a gun for your collection--it's a gun meant to be right there when you need it and has 9mm NATO power.