Whether the 38 special is "enough" for self defence is an absurd question that comes from too much time on the internet. The factor that outweighs all others for whether your firearm is "good enough" is if you have it when you need it.
- The odds of needing it are very very low.
- The odds that your attacker will be hyped up on military secret performance enhancing drugs, and wearing body armor is very low of the above very low.
- The odds of needing to legally shoot through a door, car, wall, or at a distance greater than 7 yards is very low of the above very low.
- The odds of getting struck by lightning is far greater than you needing more than a handy .38. So if you want to really protect yourself -- stay indoors.
The .38 special was stoping the bad guys for 70 years before we realized it was not enough to stop the bad guys.
The only place a .38 special will not kill someone is on the internet.